text:
Édith Piaf is almost universally regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Still revered as an icon decades after her death, "The Sparrow" served as a touchstone for virtually every chansonnier, male or female, who followed her. Her greatest strength wasn't so much her technique, or the purity of her voice, but the raw, passionate power of her singing. (Given her extraordinarily petite size, audiences marveled all the more at the force of her vocals.) Her style epitomized that of the classic French chanson: highly emotional, even melodramatic, with a wide, rapid vibrato that wrung every last drop of sentiment from a lyric. She preferred melancholy, mournful material, singing about heartache, tragedy, poverty, and the harsh reality of life on the streets; much of it was based to some degree on her real-life experiences, written specifically for her by an ever-shifting cast of songwriters. Her life was the stuff of legend, starting with her dramatic rise from uneducated Paris street urchin to star of international renown. Along the way, she lost her only child at age three, fell victim to substance abuse problems, survived three car accidents, and took a seemingly endless parade of lovers, one of whom perished in a plane crash on his way to visit her. By the time cancer claimed her life at age 47, Piaf had recorded a lengthy string of genre-defining classics -- "Mon Légionnaire," "La Vie en Rose," "L'Hymne à l'Amour," "Milord," and "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" among them -- that many of her fans felt captured the essence of the French soul.
Piaf was born Édith Giovanna Gassion on December 19, 1915, in Ménilmontant, one of the poorer districts of Paris. According to legend, she was born under a street light on the corner of the Rue de Belleville, with her mother attended by two policemen; some have disputed this story, finding it much likelier that she was born in the local hospital. Whatever the case, Piaf's origins were undeniably humble. Her father, Louis Gassion, was a traveling acrobat and street performer, while her Moroccan-Italian mother, Anita Maillard, was an alcoholic, an occasional prostitute, and an aspiring singer who performed in cafés and on street corners under the name Line Marsa. With her father serving in World War I, Édith was virtually ignored by both her mother and grandmother; after the war, her father sent her to live with his own mother, who helped run a small brothel in the Normandy town of Bernay. The prostitutes helped look after Édith when they could; one story goes that when five-year-old Édith lost her sight during an acute case of conjunctivitis, the prostitutes shut down the brothel to spend a day praying for her in church, and her blindness disappeared several days later.
Édith's father returned for her in 1922, and instead of sending her to school, he brought her to Paris to join his street act. It was here that she got her first experience singing in public, but her main duty at first was to pass the hat among the crowd of onlookers, manipulating extra money from whomever she could. She and her father traveled all over France together until 1930, when the now-teenaged Édith had developed her singing into a main attraction. She teamed up with her half-sister and lifelong partner in mischief, Simone Berteaut, and sang for tips in the streets, squares, cafés, and military camps, while living in a succession of cheap, squalid hotels. In 1932, she fell in love with a delivery boy named Louis Dupont, and bore him a daughter. Much like her own mother, Édith found it difficult to care for a child while working in the streets, and often left her daughter alone. Dupont eventually took the child himself, but she died of meningitis several months later.
Living the high-risk life that she did, Édith Gassion almost certainly would have come to a bad end had she not been discovered by cabaret owner Louis Leplée while singing on a street corner in the Pigalle area in 1935. Struck by the force of her voice, Leplée took the young singer under his wing and groomed her to become his resident star act. He renamed her "La Môme Piaf" (which in Parisian slang translates roughly as "the little sparrow" or "the kid sparrow"), fleshed out her song repertoire, taught her the basics of stage presence, and outfitted her in a plain black dress that would become her visual trademark. Leplée's extensive publicity campaign brought many noted celebrities to Piaf's opening night, including Maurice Chevalier; she was a smashing success, and in January 1936, she cut her first records for Polydor, "Les Mômes de la Cloche" and "L'Étranger"; the latter was penned by Marguerite Monnot, who would continue to write for Piaf for the remainder of both their careers.
Tragedy struck in April 1936, when Leplée was shot to death in his apartment. Police suspicion initially fell on Piaf, and the ensuing media furor threatened to derail her career even after she was cleared of any involvement. Scandal preceded her when she toured the provinces outside Paris that summer, and she realized that she needed help in rehabilitating her career and image. When she returned to Paris, she sought out Raymond Asso, a songwriter, businessman, and Foreign Legion veteran; she had rejected his song "Mon Légionnaire," but it had subsequently been recorded by Marie Dubas, one of Piaf's major influences. Intensely attracted to Piaf, Asso began an affair with her and took charge of managing her career. He partially restored her real name, billing her as Édith Piaf; he barred all of Piaf's undesirable acquaintances from seeing her; he set about making up for the basic education that neither Édith nor Simone had received. Most importantly, he talked with Piaf about her childhood on the streets, and teamed up with "L'Étranger" composer Marguerite Monnot to craft an original repertoire that would be unique to Piaf's experiences. In January 1937, Piaf recorded "Mon Légionnaire" for a major hit, and went on to cut the Asso/Monnot collaborations "Le Fanion de la Légion," "C'est Lui Que Mon Coeur a Choisi" (a smash hit in late 1938), "Le Petit Monsieur Triste," "Elle Frequentait la Rue Pigalle," "Je N'en Connais Pas la Fin," and others. Later that year, Piaf made concert appearances at The ABC Theater (where she opened for Charles Trenet) and The Bobino (as the headliner); the shows were wildly successful and made her the new star of the Paris music scene.
In the fall of 1939, Asso was called to serve in World War II. Early the next year, Piaf recorded one of her signature songs, "L'Accordéoniste," just before its composer, Michel Emer, left for the war; she would later help the Jewish Emer escape France during the Nazi occupation. In Asso's absence, she took up with actor/singer Paul Meurisse, from whom she picked up the refinements and culture of upper-class French society. They performed together often, and also co-starred in Jean Cocteau's one-act play Le Bel Indifférent; however, their relationship soon deteriorated, and Piaf and Simone moved into an apartment over a high-class brothel. By this time, the Nazis had taken over Paris, and the brothel's clientele often included Gestapo officers. Piaf was long suspected of collaborating with -- or, at least, being overly friendly to -- the Germans, making numerous acquaintances through her residence and performing at private events. She resisted in her own way, however; she dated Jewish pianist Norbert Glanzberg, and also co-wrote the subtle protest song "Où Sont-Ils Mes Petits Copains?" with Marguerite Monnot in 1943, defying a Nazi request to remove the song from her concert repertoire. According to one story, Piaf posed for a photo at a prison camp; the images of the French prisoners in the photo were later blown up and used in false documents that helped many of them escape.
Before the war's end, Piaf took up with journalist Henri Contet, and convinced him to team up with Marguerite Monnot as a lyricist. This proved to be the most productive partnership since the Asso years, and Piaf was rewarded with a burst of new material: "Coup de Grisou," "Monsieur Saint-Pierre," "Le Brun et le Blond," "Histoire du Coeur," "Y'a Pas D'Printemps," and many others. Her affair with Contet was relatively brief, but he continued to write for her after they split; meanwhile, Piaf moved on to an attractive young singer named Yves Montand in 1944. Under Piaf's rigorous tutelage, Montand grew into one of French pop's biggest stars within a year, and she broke off the affair when his popularity began to rival her own. Her next protégés were a nine-member singing group called Les Compagnons de la Chanson, who toured and recorded with her over the next few years (one member also became her lover). Now recording for the Pathe label, she scored a major hit in 1946 with "Les Trois Cloches," which would later become an English-language smash for the Browns when translated into "The Three Bells." Later that year, she recorded the self-composed number "La Vie en Rose," another huge hit that international audiences would come to regard as her signature song.
Piaf embarked on her first American tour in late 1947, and at first met with little success; audiences expecting a bright, gaudy Parisian spectacle were disappointed with her simple presentation and downcast songs. Just as she was about to leave the country, a prominent New York critic wrote a glowing review of her show, urging audiences not to dismiss her out of hand; she was booked at The Café Versailles in New York, and thanks to the publicity, she was a hit, staying for over five months. In that time, she met up with French boxer Marcel Cerdan, an acquaintance of about a year. In spite of Cerdan's marriage, the two began a passionate affair, not long before Cerdan won the world middleweight championship and became a French national hero. Unfortunately, tragedy struck in October 1949, when Cerdan was planning to visit Piaf in New York; wanting him to arrive sooner, she convinced him to take a plane instead of a boat. The plane crashed in the Azores, killing him. Devastated by guilt and grief, Piaf sank into drug and alcohol abuse, and began to experiment with morphine. In early 1950, she recorded "L'Hymne à l'Amour," a tribute to the one lover Piaf would never quite get over; co-written with Marguerite Monnot, it became one of her best-known and most heartfelt songs.
In 1951, Piaf met the young singer/songwriter Charles Aznavour, a future giant of French song who became her next protégé; unlike her others, this relationship always remained strictly platonic, despite the enduring closeness and loyalty of their friendship. Aznavour served as a jack-of-all-trades for Piaf -- secretary, chauffeur, etc. -- and she helped him get bookings, brought him on tour, and recorded several of his early songs, including the hit "Plus Bleu Que Tes Yeux" and "Jézébel." Their friendship nearly came to an early end when both were involved in a serious car accident (as passengers); Piaf suffered a broken arm and two broken ribs. With her doctor prescribing morphine for pain relief, she soon developed a serious chemical dependency to go with her increasing alcohol problems. In 1952, she romanced and married singer Jacques Pills, who co-wrote her hit "Je T'ai Dans la Peau" with his pianist, Gilbert Bécaud; Bécaud would soon go on to become yet another of the pop stars launched into orbit with Piaf's assistance. Meanwhile, Pills soon discovered the gravity of her substance abuse problems, and forced her into a detox clinic on three separate occasions. Nonetheless, Piaf continued to record and perform with great success, including appearances at Carnegie Hall and Paris' legendary Olympia theater. She and Pills divorced in 1955; not long afterward, she suffered an attack of delirium tremens and had to be hospitalized.
As an interpretive singer, Piaf was at the height of her powers during the mid-'50s, even in spite of all her health woes. Her international tours were consistently successful, and the devotion of her massive French following verged on worship. She scored several more hits over 1956-1958, among them "La Foule," "Les Amants D'un Jour," "L'homme à la Moto," and the smash "Mon Manège à Moi." During that period, she also completed another stay in detox; this time would prove to be successful, but years of drug and alcohol abuse had already destabilized her health. In late 1958, she met another up-and-coming songwriter, Georges Moustaki, and made him her latest lover and improvement project. Teaming once again with Marguerite Monnot, Moustaki co-wrote "Milord," an enormous hit that topped the charts all over Europe in early 1959 and became Piaf's first successful single in the U.K. Later that year, she and Moustaki were involved in another car accident, in which her face was badly cut; in early 1960, while performing at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, she collapsed and began to vomit blood on-stage, and was rushed to the hospital for emergency stomach surgery. Stubbornly, she continued her tour, and collapsed on-stage again in Stockholm; this time she was sent back to Paris for more surgery.
Piaf was soon back in the recording studio, eager to record a composition by the legendary French songwriter Charles Dumont. "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" became one of her all-time classics and a huge international hit in 1960, serving as something of an equivalent to Frank Sinatra's "My Way." Piaf went on to score further hits with more Dumont songs, including "Mon Dieu," "Les Flons-Flons du Bal," and "Les Mots D'Amour." She staged a lengthy run at The Olympia in 1961, and later that year met an aspiring Greek singer named Théo Sarapo (born Theophanis Lamboukis), who became her latest project and, eventually, second husband. Sarapo was half her age, and given Piaf's poor health, the French media derided him as a gold digger. Nonetheless, they cut the duet "À Quoi Ça Sert l'Amour" in 1962, and performed together during Piaf's final engagement at The Olympia that year. Despite her physical weakness -- on some nights, she could barely stand -- she had lost very little of the power in her voice.
Piaf and Sarapo sang together at The Bobino in early 1963, and she also made her final recording, "L'Homme de Berlin." Not long afterward, Piaf slipped into a coma, brought on by cancer. Sarapo and Simone Berteaut took Piaf to her villa in Plascassier, on the French Riviera, to nurse her. She drifted in and out of consciousness for months before passing away on October 11, 1963 -- the same day as legendary writer/filmmaker Jean Cocteau. Her body was taken back to Paris in secret, so that fans could believe she died in her hometown. The news of her death caused a nationwide outpouring of grief, and tens of thousands of fans jammed the streets of Paris, stopping traffic to watch her funeral procession. Her towering stature in French popular music has hardly diminished in the years since; her grave at Père-Lachaise remains one of the famed cemetery's most visited, and her songs continue to be covered by countless classic-style pop artists, both French and otherwise.


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For youngsters aged 5 years old and below, using the right size and weight of ball is one of the best ways to develop the key skills and techniques for the beautiful game. Young children using footballs designed for adults often find them too heavy and difficult to control and the full-size balls can seem quite intimidating when you're so small. Mitre's midi footballs are a great way to introduce youngsters to the game with equipment that is specifically designed to aid the development of their skills and help encourage them to work on their technique with a ball that is perfect for their age and size.
Mitre's size 2 balls are developed to be ideal junior footballs for those aged 5 years and below. Their specially designed weighted bladder provides optimal speed when used indoors and also makes them the perfect choice for futsal as well as football. Ideally, kids' footballs should to be sized and weighted in proportion to the player's height so that they can master core skills and work on their technique with a ball that is light (but not too light) and easy-to-control. The progress they make at this age can then be transferred to the next size up in children's footballs as they grow and develop their skills further.
Mitre's size 2 balls do make ideal age 5 and below footballs, but are also used by players of all ages to further develop their close control skills, learn tricks and can be used indoors on most surfaces, so are a great choice for training sessions for football or futsal. Perfect for helping players to bring on their dribbling skills and working on their touch, size 2 footballs are a great way to introduce and develop excellent technique in players from a young age.
Check out our handy football size guide to make sure you're choosing the right ball for your needs.
Browse Mitre's complete range of footballs available in size 2.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Bethesda Trolley Trail is a six mile trail stretching from downtown Bethesda, MD to the Twinbrook Metro Station in Rockville. The six mile trail is a variation of off-street shared use paths, on-street bicycle lanes, and sidewalks. The trail crosses many important and busy intersections, but none more so than the crossings over major highways like I-495 and I-270.
In 1996 TE funding was awarded to two separate projects for the construction of bridges over I-270 and I-495. A total of $1.95 million was awarded and matched by an additional $1.95 million. The construction of these projects was completed in July 2003. The trail has been important for building a trail network in Washington, D.C. because it connects with the Capital Crescent Trail and Rock Creek Trail.
The impact of these trails is profound. From the entrance of one bridge to the entrance on the other side of the highway is a distance of only .2 miles. Without the bridge it would be a 1.3 mile trip to get across I-495. This same is true for the bridge across I-270 except it would be a 1.5 mile trip. This significant investment not only saves time for commuters but also creates an interconnected community where walking and biking are viable options.
BethesdaBridgeI270I495MarylandTrailTrolleycrossinghighwayhighway crossing
The National Transportation Alternatives Clearinghouse provides information on the Transportation Alternatives Program funded by FHWA. To be eligible for TA funds, a project must relate to surface transportation and be one of the 10 TA Activities. For more information about the TA program see trade.railstotrails.org. For our licensing policy see our guidelines.
Transportation Alternatives Data Exchange
@ the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
2121 Ward Court, NW, 5th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20037-1213


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Is it really the weekend before Christmas? Good luck to all of you as you finish up your last minute shopping (or as you begin your shopping, like me...). Try not to stress too much and just enjoy the rest of the holiday season - because it will be over before you know it! Cheers!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Winter Wonderland
12 comments:
The pictures are greatReplyDelete
wow! just absolutely breath taking! what a beautiful post. thanks for sharing. have a Merry Christmas!ReplyDelete
God Bless,
These are so pretty...makes me wish for snow...kind of...I'm not a good cold weather person.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 19, 2008
I am so excited for Christmas to be here in less than a week, but I think it's always a little sad the next few days afterward with the magic of the holiday season winding down. But nevertheless, I am still hoping for a winter wonderland like these photos. Lovely!ReplyDelete
gorgeous country!ReplyDelete
i can not believe how quickly Christmas is approaching! it seems to go by quicker and quicker every year!
Oh So pretty! It snowed like crazy yesterday at my home and now it feels like Christmas, although it is a pain to travel in :)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 19, 2008
It's a winter wonderland in my town..., and maybe we'll have a white Christmas.ReplyDelete
So true, love your photographs, so very festive and beautiful, xv.ReplyDelete
These are indeed winter wonderlands :) I love the covered bridge!ReplyDelete
Happy Christmas Jules!
i love the photo of the tents lit up, i want to sleep in those tents! well, we've been getting plenty of snow this weekend, and even though it's a pain sometimes, it's pretty too! enjoy your weekend.ReplyDelete
Just beautiful images.. so different to our 37 degree celcius Christmas. Cold seafood and a swim in the closest pool is how we spend our Christmas Day! A-M xxReplyDelete
Beautiful photos!ReplyDelete
Yes, I'm about to begin that mad dash through the malls of suburbia. Hope you have luck finding what you need!


text:
I've seen pretty much every size, shape and flavor of entrepreneur over the past 20 years while living and breathing all things business. Companies come and go. They succeed and fail. Inevitably, the entrepreneurs that start these companies also come and go because, they too, succeed and fail. So what motivates successful entrepreneurs? Many I see move on to their next business, others take a break to lick their wounds, and still others seem to leave startup life permanently.
The light of failure shines brightly on those who aren't in business for the right reasons. When the going gets unbearably tough, and it will, these types are done. Game over. In fact, they were done before they started – a self fulfilling prophecy if you will. Those that start off wrong don't always end up that way, but they sure don't help their cause much.
So what are the "right" and "wrong" motivations you ask? I'd suggest the following:
– Solving a problem you are so passionate about that even if the solution doesn't result in wealth, you are still thrilled you "solved" it. A fun surprise? If you really do solve a big problem, wealth will almost always follow anyway.
– No real exit strategy. The best entrepreneurs automatically attract options. Large scale success creates buyers. Starting a business so you can sell it can certainly be in the back of your mind, but it had better stay there for awhile. The best investors (should you have any) love entrepreneurs that think big and aren't focused on how they can sell the business. Focus on how you sell the product.
– Moderate to light desire to be well known or famous. Some entrepreneurs I know are more focused on their personal brand than they are on their company brand. The best ones reverse that entirely. If your business rocks, you will get all the notoriety you'll need.
– They definitely aren't doing it because it is the cool thing to do. Many fall into this category even though they won't admit it. When they have their first failure they'll see just how "cool" entrepreneurship is. Doing something because it is cool might work as a teen, but don't let it influence you as an adult. Dance to the beat of your own drum.
– Love, love, love people. This doesn't mean they are an extrovert. They just love working with, hiring, sharing and learning with their team. If you can't handle the ups and downs of working with all kinds of employees, you are pretty much DOA.
I'm not saying you have to eliminate and/or add all of these things to your motives. I'll be the first to admit that money was often a motivator for me. However, it was never the primary motivator. I did not lay awake at night thinking about money. I laid awake at night thinking about my customers, my employees, and – most importantly – how to make my product or service that much better. I wanted everyone to try my product or service, and I wanted them to love it as I did. That's really what it comes down to; an almost unquenchable passion for what you are doing for others.
Being a great entrepreneur really means you delight in the service of others, I suppose. What a pure and meaningful motivator after all.
Source: forbes.com ~ BY: Alex Lawrence ~ Image: pixabay


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DESCRIPTIONSubclassed DBI connection handle with added convenience features
# in your Dancer app:
database->quick_insert($tablename, \%data);
# Updating a record where id = 42:
database->quick_update($tablename, { id => 42 }, { foo => 'New value' });
# Fetching a single row quickly in scalar context
my $employee = database->quick_select('employees', { id => $emp_id });
# Fetching multiple rows in list context - passing an empty hashref to signify
# no where clause (i.e. return all rows - so "select * from $table_name"):
my @all_employees = database->quick_select('employees', {});
# count number of male employees
my $count = database->quick_count('employees', { gender => 'male' });
Added featuresA "Dancer::Plugin::Database::Handle" object is a subclassed DBI::db DBI database handle, with the following added convenience methods:
- quick_insert
database->quick_insert('mytable', { foo => 'Bar', baz => 5 });
Given a table name and a hashref of data (where keys are column names, and the values are, well, the values), insert a row in the table.
If you need any of the values to be interpolated straight into the SQL, for instance if you need to use a function call like "NOW()" or similar, then you can provide them as a scalarref:
database->quick_insert('mytable', { foo => 'Bar', timestamp => \'NOW()' });
Of course, if you do that, you must be careful to avoid SQL injection attacks!
- quick_update
database->quick_update('mytable', { id => 42 }, { foo => 'Baz' });
Given a table name, a hashref describing a where clause and a hashref of changes, update a row.
As per quick_insert, if you need any of the values to be interpolated straight in the SQL, for e.g. to use a function call, provide a scalarref:
database->quick_update('mytable', { id => 42 }, { counter => \'counter + 1' });
Of course, if you do that, you must be careful to avoid SQL injection attacks!
- quick_delete
database->quick_delete($table, { id => 42 });
Given a table name and a hashref to describe the rows which should be deleted (the where clause - see below for further details), delete them.
- quick_select
my $row = database->quick_select($table, { id => 42 }); my @rows = database->quick_select($table, { id => 42 });
Given a table name and a hashref of where clauses (see below for explanation), and an optional hashref of options, returns either the first matching row as a hashref if called in scalar context, or a list of matching rows as hashrefs if called in list context. The third argument is a hashref of options to allow additional control, as documented below. For backwards compatibility, it can also be an arrayref of column names, which acts in the same way as the "columns" option.
The options you can provide are:
- "columns"
- An arrayref of column names to return, if you only want certain columns returned
- "order_by"
Specify how the results should be ordered. This option can take various values:
a straight scalar or arrayref sorts by the given column(s):
{ order_by => 'foo' } # equivalent to "ORDER BY foo" { order_by => [ qw(foo bar) ] } # equiv to "ORDER BY foo,bar"
a hashref of "order =" column name>, e.g.:
{ order_by => { desc => 'foo' } } # equiv to ORDER BY foo DESC { order_by => [ { desc => 'foo' }, { asc => 'bar' } ] } # above is equiv to ORDER BY foo DESC, bar ASC
- a straight scalar or arrayref sorts by the given column(s):
- "limit"
Limit how many records will be returned; equivalent to e.g. "LIMIT 1" in an SQL
query. If called in scalar context, an implicit LIMIT 1 will be added to the
query anyway, so you needn't add it yourself.
An example of using options to control the results you get back:
# Get the name & phone number of the 10 highest-paid men: database->quick_select( 'employees', { gender => 'male' }, { order_by => 'salary', limit => 10, columns => [qw(name phone)] } );
- "offset" number
"Offset" says to skip that many rows before beginning to return rows (postgresql).
# Get the name & phone number of the 10 highest-paid men starting from 11th: database->quick_select( 'employees', { gender => 'male' }, { order_by => 'salary', offset => 10, limit => 10, columns => [qw(name phone)] } );
- quick_lookup
my $id = database->quick_lookup($table, { email => $params->{'email'} }, 'userid' );
This is a bit of syntactic sugar when you just want to lookup a specific field, such as when you're converting an email address to a userid (say during a login handler.)
This call always returns a single scalar value, not a hashref of the entire row (or partial row) like most of the other methods in this library.
Returns undef when there's no matching row or no such field found in the results.
- quick_count
my $count = database->quick_count($table, { email => $params->{'email'} });
This is syntactic sugar to return a count of all rows which match your parameters, useful for pagination.
This call always returns a single scalar value, not a hashref of the entire row (or partial row) like most of the other methods in this library.
All of the convenience methods provided take care to quote table and column names using DBI's "quote_identifier", and use parameterised queries to avoid SQL injection attacks. See <http://www.bobby-tables.com/> for why this is important, if you're not familiar with it.
WHERE clauses as hashrefs"quick_update", "quick_delete" and "quick_select" take a hashref of WHERE clauses. This is a hashref of field => 'value', each of which will be included in the WHERE clause used, for instance:
{ id => 42 }
Will result in an SQL query which would include:
WHERE id = 42
When more than one field => value pair is given, they will be ANDed together:
{ foo => 'Bar', bar => 'Baz' }
Will result in:
WHERE foo = 'Bar' AND bar = 'Baz'
(Actually, parameterised queries will be used, with placeholders, so SQL injection attacks will not work, but it's easier to illustrate as though the values were interpolated directly. Don't worry, they're not.)
With the same idea in mind, you can check if a value is NULL with:
{ foo => undef }
This will be correctly rewritten to "foo IS NULL".
You can pass an empty hashref if you want all rows, e.g.:
database->quick_select('mytable', {});
... is the same as "SELECT * FROM 'mytable'"
If you pass in an arrayref as the value, you can get a set clause as in the following example:
{ foo => [ 'bar', 'baz', 'quux' ] }
... it's the same as "WHERE foo IN ('bar', 'baz', 'quux')"
If you need additional flexibility, you can build fairly complex where clauses by passing a hashref of condition operators and values as the value to the column field key.
Currently recognized operators are:
- 'like'
{ foo => { 'like' => '%bar%' } }
... same as "WHERE foo LIKE '%bar%'"
- 'gt' / 'ge'
'greater than' or 'greater or equal to' { foo => { 'ge' => '42' } }
... same as "WHERE foo >= '42'"
- 'lt' / 'le'
'less than' or 'less or equal to' { foo => { 'lt' => '42' } }
... same as "WHERE foo < '42'"
- 'eq' / 'ne' / 'is'
'equal' or 'not equal' or 'is' { foo => { 'ne' => 'bar' } }
... same as "WHERE foo != 'bar'"
You can also include a key named 'not' with a true value in the hashref which will (attempt) to negate the other operator(s).
{ foo => { 'like' => '%bar%', 'not' => 1 } }
... same as "WHERE foo NOT LIKE '%bar%'"
If you use undef as the value for an operator hashref it will be replaced with 'NULL' in the query.
If that's not flexible enough, you can pass in your own scalar WHERE clause string BUT there's no automatic sanitation on that - if you suffer from a SQL injection attack - don't blame me! Don't forget to use "quote()"/"quote_identifier()" on it then.


text:
Wisdom [Meta-Knowledge] through AGI / Neural Macrosensing
Natasha Vita-More
July 22, 2006
"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that
comes from bad judgment." —Will Rogers
"I believe that the creation of greater than human intelligence will occur during the next thirty years," claims Vernor Vinge (1993: 1), mathematician, computer scientist and Hugo award-winning novelist. But what is the point of having more neural transmitters firing off connections if those connections do not promote wisdom? Profound understanding, good judgment and deep insight, the elements of wisdom, are thought to be humanity's noblest goals.
Western film icon and humorist Will Rogers wisely claimed that "Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment." This insight gives credence to Buddha's rumination that "We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world." (Brossman: 31) Throughout my adult years, I have thought that the promising goal in life is to achieve wisdom and that no matter how long or trying the pursuit, wisdom would be the accumulative reward. This may be true, but it is highly likely that there is a more direct route.
"Wherever it exists, wisdom shows itself as a perception of the relativity and relationships among things. It is an awareness of wholeness that does not lose particularity or concreteness, or of the intricacies of interrelationships." (Meeker 1981) Wisdom is a kind of meta-knowledge that helps us make better sense by putting our facts into a variety of contexts for viewing from a variety of perspectives—self-knowledge, laws-of-nature, and complex systems.
In today's era of blending technology with human biology, scientists are speculating on the potential of biotechnologies for triggering these perspectives as we continue to try to make sense of the world and our relationship to it.
Is it possible to partner two distinct technologies for assisting our brain in acquiring wisdom? The maxim "two heads are better than one" takes on new meaning when the two are non-biological, engineered agents pooling their talents. Merging speculative technologies warrants careful consideration. Putting that important line of reasoning aside, but not forgetting it entirely, exploratory engineering is bringing about methods for assisting the human brain in higher-order cognitive processes. One approach is to couple two emerging, speculative technologies that have this potential, separately or together. These two technologies are artificial general intelligence (AGI) and nanotechnological macrosensing.
Fig. 1. "Nanobots Replacing Neurons." Philippe Van Nedervelde.
2.1. Artificial General Intelligence ("AGI")
Artificial general intelligence echoes artificial intelligence's original aim of building machines with human-level and even superhuman intelligence. Unlike AI, which has become narrowly focused and task-oriented, (Voss 2006) AGI is based on the process of learning in order to gain knowledge, rather than being programmed with knowledge de facto. "In addition to optimizing the system for skills and knowledge acquisition and integration, [AGI] can also be designed to foster self-improvement, or intelligence bootstrapping. The most successful designs are likely to be Seed AIs, 'designed for self-modification, self-understanding, and recursive self-improvement.' (Yudkowsky 2000). Naturally, the system can also have full access to all of the Web's facilities, plus substantial (distributed) human learning assistance." (Voss 2001)
Engineers at Adaptive AI Inc. are building AGI that will function as intelligent assistants in various fields, including psychologically-coupled personal 'oracles'. These systems will develop an intimate symbiotic relationship with individual humans—over time, becoming trusted advisors. The envisioned silicon oracle would assist its human counterpart on personal, intimate levels by interacting with our thoughts. According to inventor and scientist Peter Voss, "Once we have human level AGI, we will essentially possess our own personal AGI to integrate with us and advise us." Voss asserts that our new AGI silicon partner would develop rationality, wisdom, and knowledge through a relatively loose integration with our brain. This non-invasive approach to augmenting the brain would at first appear as mundane as an external, non-obtrusive black box, (which could give new meaning to "in the box thinking"); and later possibly as streamlined as light-activated ion channels for remote control of neural activity. (Richard H. Kramer) The oracle silicon partner would also be a new, emotional part of ourselves to bounce ideas off of; similar, but far more advanced than the Remembrance Agent (RA) computer, designed by Bradley Rhodes at MIT Media Lab, which watches over our shoulder and suggests information relevant to what we are reading or writing.
Voss believes that the AGI oracle will no doubt affect our thinking for the better. The AGI oracle would learn and/or be taught, not specifically programmed, and unique to each person; like an illusionary angel sitting on our shoulder giving good advice. The oracle would be like a complementary insider who listens to our emotional responses to the world around us and proactively integrates with our cognition. It would be told when and how to interact with us and reside unnoticed until petitioned to perform a task and could suspended until its counsel or guidance is needed.. In fact, it might be similar to Freud's structural theory in which the oracle, as a superego, would be in touch with the elements of consciousness and work to balance their integration.
2.2 Neural Macrosensing
The second technology is "neural macrosensing." Macrosensing, a concept created by scientist and nanotechnology expert Robert A. Freitas Jr., relates to medical in vivo nanorobotics for the detection of somatic states as well as extrasomatic states, such as sensory data originating outside the body. In theory, it is the "ability to detect individual neural cell electrical discharges non-invasively … [and] offers the possibility of indirect 'neural macrosensing' of complex environmental stimuli by eavesdropping on the body's own regular sensory signal traffic." (Freitas 1999)
Fig. 2 "Macrosensing." Natasha Vita-More
Neural macrosensing would be comprised of millions of nanorobots in sensory locations designed to work with the entire body by listening to, recording sensory responses, and transporting this information to the brain's cognition center. Your brain would be in constant contact with your senses, allowing for super-senses or a more in tune ability to sense yourselves and your environment. (Freitas 1999) This means that nanorobots would listen to, or eavesdrop on, the body's sensory organs. The nanorobots would detect individual neural cell electrical discharges non-invasively and recognize and identify specific desired target nerve cells and pool data gathered independently by spatially separated nanodevices in real time.
Fig. 2. " Three Reciprocates." Robert A. Freitas, Jr.
Fig. 3. "Cell Robot." Forrest Bishop
As an example, facultative mobile nanodevices may swim into the spiral artery of the ear and down through its bifurcations to reach the cochlear canal, then position themselves as neural monitors in the vicinity of the spiral nerve fibers and the nerves entering the epithelium (thin layer of cells) of the organ of auditory nerves within the spiral ganglion. These monitors can detect, record, or rebroadcast to other nanodevices in the communications network all the auditory neural traffic perceived by the human ear. … Since properly configured monitors can also modulate or stimulate nerve impulses, these devices may add audible signals to the audio traffic, thus may be employed as hearing aids (using feedback loops), real-time language translation mechanisms, continuous vocalization/audition recorders, voice-stress analyzers, or nano device-user communications links. (Freitas 1999)
"The most complex and difficult challenge in neural macrosensing will be optic nerve taps. The retina is thoroughly vascularized, permitting ready access to both photoreceptor (rod, cone, bipolar and ganglion) and integrator (horizontal, amacrine, and centrifugal bipolar) neurons. … Developing algorithms capable of interpreting raw optical nerve traffic, say, to recognize a specific human face or a specific scene in the vision field, would prove a significant research challenge." (Freitas 1999)
2.3 AGI / Neural Macrosensing Together
If AGI could be developed to assist the brain in decision making, it would have to be exceedingly knowledgeable about the body's physiology, and most significantly its senses. The AGI oracle would need a full understanding of feelings, emotions and responses in order to objectively counsel its human counterpart. I propose that neural macrosensing nanorobots could provide the sensory data that the oracle needs. Since neural macrosensing is programmed to listen to the senses and direct data impulses to the thinking center of the brain, and AGI is a learning intelligence designed adapt to and assist the brain; it is possible that the two distinct technologies could work cohesively together. The following is a basic example:
#1: In this scenarios, person A is confronted by person B. Person A's sensory system immediately switches from a calm to a state of alert. Specialized neurons receive and pass on the sensory signals. Her brain is gathering information that something is wrong. Chills, uneasy breathing, and a rapid heart rate occur, but these warning signs are ignored because more value is placed on being liked and acquiesces to person B. There is disconnect between the body's discomfort and the mind's rationalization. If Person A were to have an AGI assist oracle, a different scenario could be like this:
#2: In this scenario, person A is confronted by person B. The macrosensing nanobots are generating data as person A's mind is rationalizing suppressed fears. The nanobots collect data from audio, visual, and oratory systems and signal the AGI oracle. Simultaneously, the oracle overrides prefrontal lobe and alerts the limbic system of sensory nuances. The oracle might note person B repeating a word five times within 32 seconds, urine on hand, and the smell of sweat.
2.4 AI / Biological Senses < AGI / Neural Macrosensing
Both artificial general intelligence and neural macrosensing are based on the inventions of exploratory engineering, similar to the innovation and futuristic inventions Leonardo da Vinci sketched out long before they could be realized. However, the theoretical coupling of AGI and neural macrosensing is based on current tangible advances in their respective fields. The motivation behind the advances is due in large part to overcoming hurdles within each technology and the overwhelming concern that computing power is advancing rapidly and could overtake human intelligence.
Marvin Minsky, transhumanist and AI pioneer said, "We have got to get back to the deepest questions of AI and general intelligence and quit wasting time on little projects that don't contribute to the main goal." (Stork 2000) Stephen Hawking claimed that computer intelligence will surpass human intelligence within a few decades and urges us to "develop as quickly as possible technologies that make possible a direct connection between brain and computer, so that artificial brains contribute to human intelligence rather than opposing it." (Perera 2001)
In 2006, the Artificial General Intelligence Research Institute Workshop convened just north of Washington, DC in Bethesda, Maryland. Speakers at the workshop are actively involved in designing and/or implementing AGI systems and offer relevant insight into the theory and practice of AGI. The momentum in this field, however slowly developing could generate a facelift on the narrowing field of AI. According to Ben Goertzel of Novamente, "There are probably a few dozen teams (some of them teams of one) in the world making deeply-serious efforts at achieving AGI."
Interacting and learning through computer interfaces is different than face-to-face learning and has the potential for actually bringing about understanding and wisdom. AGI engineers hope that imagination and inspiration can be programmed into superintelligence, like Hal in 2001 Space Odyssey, along with the ability to form billions of calculations second by second as with "Deep Blue". (Dreyfus 1993: 68, 103, 122). However, combining abilities of AGI and AI could bring this about.
2.4 Biological Senses < Macrosensing / Neural Macrosensing
In 2005 the National Institutes of Health grated Forty-Two Million Dollars to set up four nanomedicine centers. In April 2006, the journal Nature Materials estimated that 130 nanotech-based drugs and delivery systems were being developed worldwide. Even though nanomedicine is speculative, nanotechnology has enough bling to carry it along past conservative turnkeys. But "the possibility of using nanorobots in medicine, advocates say, would totally change the world of medicine once it is realized." (Wikipedia 2006)
In 2005, Sander Olson of NanoTech.biz conducted an interview with Freitas.
The key issue for enabling full-immersion reality is obtaining the necessary bandwidth inside the body, which should be available using the in vivo fiber network I first proposed in Nanomedicine, Vol. I (1999). Such a network can handle 1018 bits/sec of data traffic, capacious enough for real-time brain-state monitoring. The fiber network has a 30 cm3 volume and generates 4-6 watts waste heat, both small enough for safe installation in a 1400 cm3 25-watt human brain. Signals travel at most a few meters at nearly the speed of light, so transit time from signal origination at neuron sites inside the brain to the external computer system mediating the upload are ~0.00001 millisec which is considerably less than the minimum ~5 millisec neuron discharge cycle time. Neuron-monitoring chemical sensors located on average ~2 microns apart can capture relevant chemical events occurring within a ~5 millisec time window, since this is the approximate diffusion time for, say, a small neuropeptide across a 2-micron distance. Thus, human brain state monitoring can probably be 'instantaneous', at least on the timescale of human neural response, in the sense of 'nothing of significance was missed.'
But how would we secure a cooperative relationship between the oracle and its human counterpart? If someone of the stature of Stephen Hawkings states that "Humans must develop an interface that allows the human brain to be directly connected to a computer, so that the artificial brain contributes to human intelligence, rather than opposing it," then it is a likely bet that we ought to pay attention. In fact, one way of doing this is through the suggested brain assist, such as an AGI oracle.
The most likely approach would be to build generic oracles with a large skill set and ability to bond quickly with their counterparts. This bonding would require more than technically-driven intellectual motivation; it would require strong sensory capabilities for, essentially, sniffing out the environment. And this is where neural macrosensing comes in; to "allow us to become exquisitely sensitive, like 'super-senses' to fine details in our environment." (Freitas) Neural macrosensing could provide the needed sensorial feedback for both assisting the brain and developing elevated acuity.
Ben Goertzel is an optimist about the rate of progress toward AGI, and that AGI will most likely arise before neural macrosensing, and even be applied to drive neural macrosensing. Being a pragmatist, however, he is mindful of the possibility that neural macrosensing technology could advance faster than AGI, "in which case it will initially be driven by specialized 'narrow AI' (task oriented artificial intelligence rather than a learning general intelligence) applications rather than AGI."
"Hybridizing this sort of narrow AI with neural macrosensing technology could lead to amazing neuro feedback technology even without AGI. Use of neuro feedback devices could allow us to control our states of mind with far more fluidity and dexterity than is currently conceivable, perhaps solving age-old problems such as the difficulty of sustaining Zen-style 'mindfulness' while engaged in intensive and challenging intellectual activity. [If we figured out the biological indicators of the rare state of mind where both spiritual mindfulness and intellectual proficiency were being demonstrated, quite possibly neuro feedback would allow us to learn to trigger that state via conscious effort.] And the use of AGI for guiding neuro feedback, in place of relatively simple machine learning methods, would make the possibilities even more formidable, almost surely enabling states of consciousness that are currently inaccessible (and literally unthinkable) to humans." (Goertzel 2006)
Merging speculative technologies warrants careful consideration. Since a common building material for medical nanorobots is likely to be diamond or diamondoid substances, the first and most obvious question is whether diamondoid devices or their components are likely to be hazardous to the human body. (Freitas 2003) And achieving something as personal as wisdom may be viewed contrarily. Not everyone does or will consider the use of technology a dignified means for attaining wisdom. An article "The Age of Neuroelectronics" by Adam Keiper in The New Atlantis, a journal known as a ring of bioconservatives bent on opposing the cyberculture, Keiper writes
"Without question, there are genuine human benefits to be gained if brain-machine technology advances in a sober, limited way. … Yet it is also possible to envisage a world where these new technologies are used for less noble purposes—from the next generation flight into alternative reality to the active manipulation and control of innocent subjects to the self-destructive pursuit of neurological perfection." After a series of poking fun at decades of research on the brains, Keiper continues, "We are neither machines nor ghosts, but psychophysical unities—finite yet creative, embodied yet spiritual, cognitive yet not cognitive alone. No machine, however sophisticated, seems likely to duplicate or surpass that improbable mix of excellence, depravity, dignity, and uncertainty that is our human lot." (Keiper: 4-41)
One thing is certain; we change. Technology is humanity's tool, and most humans want to be wise. We also like to make things pleasant, simple and relaxed. The finessing of wisdom makes the most difficult task seem effortless. The wise appear to glide through life, weightless. If technologies such as AGI and neural macrosensing could help our minds function more smoothly, with added ease and self-confidence, then there could be ample opportunities to observe the world around us. Seamless modification would make the pristine work of neural macrosensing seem so effortless that brain monitoring would be instantaneous while missing nothing. (Freitas, 1999) "We would be able to optimize our emotions with rational cognitive styles, awareness of our own mental activity, and careful evaluation of our worldview." (More, 1999)
Optimizing emotions would be like adjusting a thermostat to turn up emotional heat or to turn it down "Since our immediate environment is rich in dangers and opportunities that range widely in importance, our brain needs something akin to a thermostat to determine when a specific challenge reaches the threshold of being sufficiently important to activate the several systems that focus attention and develop appropriate responses. Emotion, centered principally in a small set of sub cortical brain systems, is our biological thermostat, and so it's central to cognition." (Sylwester 2001)
When questioned about what belief system his thermostat has, cognitive scientist and AI pioneer John McCarthy replied, "My thermostat has three beliefs. My thermostat believes that it's too hot in here, it's too cold in here and it's just right in here." It sounds simple, and perhaps that is what wisdom ought to be.
Aristotle. "Metaphysica." translated by Ross, W.D., Richard McKeon (ed.), The Basic Works of Aristotle. New York: Random House,1941.
Aristotle. Physics, 350 B.C. http://www.classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/physics.html
Blackmore, S. Consciousness: An Introduction, US: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Brossman, S. The Power of Oneness: Live the Life You Choose. Newburyport: Red Wheel, 2003.
Cohen, E. "Conservative Bioethics and the Search for Wisdom." Hasting Center Report, Ethics and Public Policy Center, 2006. http://www.eppc.org/publications/pubID.2522/pub_detail.asp
Freitas, R.A., Jr. Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities, Georgetown: Landes Bioscience, 1999. http://www.nanomedicine.com/NMI.htm
—Nanomedicine, Volume IIA: Biocompatibility, Georgetown: Landes Bioscience, 2003. http://www.nanomedicine.com/NMIIA.htm
Freud, S. Beyond the Pleasure Principle. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1990.
Goertzel, B. Interview, 2006.
Keiper, A. "The Age of Neuroelectronics." The New Atlantis. 2006. pp. 4-41.
Kramer, R.H. "Light-activated ion channels for remote control of neuronal firing." Nature Neuroscience. 12:1381-1386, 2004.
Macdonald, C. "Playing the Wisdom Game." Landscape. 1981. pp. 36-42.
— Toward Wisdom: Finding Our Way to Inner Peace, Love and Happiness. Lincoln, NE: Authors Choice Press, 2001.
Meeker, J. W., Landscape, pp. 21-25, 1981.
More, M., "Mind Morph: Technologically Refined Emotions and Personality," Extro 3 Conference, "The Future of the Body and Brain / Future Infrastructure." San Jose. 1997.
Olson, S. "An Interview with Robert Freitas, Part II." Nanoteh.biz. 2005. http://www.nanotech.biz/i.php?id=robertfreitas2
Nature Materials, "Nanomedicine: A matter of rhetoric?" Vol. 5, No. 4. 2006. p. 243m. http://www.nature.com/materials/index.html
Stork, D. "Scientist on the Set: An Interview with Marvin Minsky." Stork, D.G., (ed.). Cambridge: MIT Press,1996.
Perera, R. "Hawking: Re-engineer humans or risk machine rule." CNN, Sci-Tech. 2001. http://archives.cnn.com/2001/TECH/ptech/09/05/humans.machine.idg/index.html
Rogers. W.P.A. http://www.cmgworldwide.com/historic/rogers/quotes5.htm
Sylwester, R. "Unconscious Emotions, Conscious Feelings, and Curricular Challenges." 2001. Vita-More, N. Create/Recreate: The 3rd Millennial Culture. 1999. Vita-More, N. Progress Action Summit. 2004. Online.Voss, P. Interview, 2006.Voss, P. "Essentials of General Intelligence: The direct path to AGI," Artificial General Intelligence, Goertzel. New York: Springer Publishing Company, 2006.Vinge, V. "The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era," "VISION-21 Symposium." NASA. 1993.
Yudkowsky, E. "What is Seed AI." 2000. http://www.singinst.org/seedAI/seedAI.html


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This is interesting, so I thought I'd make a new thread of it. The original thread is located here.Originally posted by jared_c
US lawmakers target the web
Another bill cited in the report is a proposal to regulate electronic advertising and marketing activities.
The internet marketing is sometimes way out of line, I think. Some of the advertisers check what page your currently surfing, and create logs of everything. Then they present you with ads related to your surfing habits. Very clever, but I don't really think I like this. Even though they're not relating this to my person directly, they're kind of disrespecting my privacy.
Another thing is the websites that keep all your personal details in their database, like amazon.com. I don't know how they protect my data, but maybe there should be legal guidlines for how secure a such a database should be. It's not that I believe the politicians have the competence to make a "secure" architecture and security policy, but maybe thay could make a few .....guidelines.
My point is, whitout laws the users are totally negelcted. The businesses only care about their money, not nessecarily for the best of their customers (although they like to say they do).


text: Over 360,083 credit card accounts in North America of Citigroup were affected as a result of a compromise of its card account management website in May, the bank said in an update on Wednesday. These were accounts issued in the U.S., the bank said.Citigroup first disclosed publicly the compromise of Citi Account Online last week, when it said that about 210,000 accounts had been affected. On Tuesday, the Attorney General of the State of Connecticut, George Jepsen, said that Citigroup's disclosures about the data breach failed to explain how it occurred, and what is being done to protect affected customers from potential financial fraud.Customers are not liable for any unauthorized use of their accounts, Citigroup said on Wednesday in a statement that may be a response to Jepsen's demand for information and additional data. The main cards processing systems and other consumer banking online systems were not compromised, the bank said. The customers' account information such as name, account number and contact information, including email address were viewed by the hackers. But data that is critical to commit fraud, such as the customers' social security number, date of birth, card expiration date and card security code (CVV), was not compromised, Citigroup said.It said that for the security of its customers, and because of the ongoing law enforcement investigation, it could not disclose further details of how the data breach occurred. The bank said it has implemented "enhanced procedures" to prevent a recurrence of an event of this type.A total of 217,657 accounts were reissued credit cards along with a notification letter. Some accounts were not re-issued credit cards if the account is closed, or has already received new credit cards as a result of other card replacement practices. These accounts continue to receive heightened monitoring for suspicious activity, the bank said.Citigroup has been criticized for delaying in communicating to customers that their personal data had been compromised. The details released on Wednesday confirm that Citibank issued notification letters to customers on June 3, over 20 days after it detected a data breach.Tracing the chronology of events, Citigroup said that on May 10, a compromise to Citi Account Online was found as part of routine monitoring and immediately rectified.Internal fraud alerts and enhanced monitoring were also placed on all accounts deemed at risk. The bank simultaneously began rigorous analysis to determine the precise accounts and type of information accessed, Citigroup said.The majority of accounts impacted were identified within seven days of discovery. By May 24, the bank confirmed the full extent of information accessed on 360,069 accounts. An additional 14 accounts were confirmed subsequently. To determine the cardholder impact required analysis of millions of pieces of data, Citigroup said.While the investigation was underway, preparations began to notify customers and, as appropriate, replace affected customers' credit cards, the bank said. As of May 24, it began the process of preparing notification packages including customer letters and manufacturing replacement cards, as well as preparing its customer service teams. Notification letters were sent beginning June 3, the majority of which included reissued credit cards.John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and general technology breaking news from India for The IDG News Service. Follow John on Twitter at @Johnribeiro. John's e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com


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"If my budget is only___, can I get a PC that can actually play games?" There are too many factors to consider for such a question, but if you don't mind spending time on it, assembling it yourself is definitely more cost-effective than buying a finished PC. Today, we'll recommend you the most suitable and affordable PC build on the market, and explain in order how to assemble the computer by yourself. Just follow the steps and you can build your own gaming PC! If you want to assemble your own gaming PC, first you have to know the list of parts you need to buy. The necessary parts include: 1. CPU, 2. Motherboard, 3. Memory, 4. Hard drive, 5. Graphics card, 6. Power supply 7. Case. In addition, you can get: 1. CPU Cooler, 2. Case fan, 3. Network card, etc. The main reason that CPU cooler is listed here is that the CPU comes with a fan, so it's not a necessity. However, if it's a large game load, it is recommended to buy a CPU cooler with a better cooling ability or a larger CPU cooler to control the CPU temperature to avoid overheating or crashing during the gameplay. 【All components for PC build】 A. CPU To make it affordable, the R5-3600X will be one of the best choices since AMD is a real bargain in the mid-range. The R5-3600X offers 6 cores and 12 threads. It has a basic clock of 3.8GHz and a boost clock of 4.4GHz, supports native 3200MHz memory, and is PCIe 4.0 SSD compatible. The expandability is excellent, and very few gamers will manually adjust the CPU or memory frequency. Learn more: https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-5-3600x B. Motherboard The new B550 series motherboard is definitely a blessing for gamers. In the past, the B series is quite different from the X series in terms of CPU overclocking, memory overclocking and I/O interface; The TUF Gaming B550 PLUS is highly compatible, close to the X570 level, and has a sleek military look, making it the best choice at this price range. Learn more: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/TUF-GAMING-B550-PLUS/ C. Memory To keep the budget in check, try to avoid getting components that have RGB lighting. However, since it's a gaming PC, the memory must be gaming style as well. We pick T-FORCE VULCAN Z 8GBx2 3200MHz. It looks like a mecha with a strong sense of gaming design, and 8GBx2 3200MHz is also very sufficient to run all kinds of games. Learn more: https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/product/vulcan-z-ddr4 D. Solid state drive There are some tips on how to choose an SSD. Since we want to have enough speed and capacity while keeping my budget under control, we choose a 512GB TEAMGROUP MP33 PRO M.2 PCIe and a 512GB T-FORCE VULCAN G SATA 2.5" SSD, so the read/write processing is done in PCIe and data storage is stored in SATA to avoid purchasing expensive SSD that has both high speed and large capacity. Learn more: https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/product/mp33-pro https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/product/vulcan-g-ssd E. Graphics card As for graphics card, the ASUS TUF Gaming Geforce GTX1660 Super is a real bargain. Although the performance is not comparable to the ultra-high specification but over-budget RTX 3080, RTX 2080Ti, etc., but the 1660 Super is still the best choice in terms of Full HD quality. Learn more: https://www.asus.com/Graphics-Cards/TUF-GTX1660S-O6G-GAMING/ F. Remaining parts (Power supply, Case, CPU cooler) Among the remaining parts, you should pay attention that the use of a major manufacturer's power supply with a better warranty, such as the durable CoolerMaster, will reduce the chance of burning out. The wattage should be sufficient to support PC's normal operation. Generally speaking, it is recommended to choose a power supply of more than 650W for a PC build with a discrete graphics card. The case and the CPU cooler are basically the same as long as they are compatible. Anything that isn't bad enough to become an oven can be considered. Learn more: https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/power-supplies/mwe-series/mwe-gold-650-full-modular/ 【Installation Process】 Next is the installation process. How to make a cool PC build out of the scattered parts? Even if you are a total beginner, just follow these steps and you will be all set! 1. Install the CPU cooler base onto the motherboard Nowadays, many CPU coolers are designed to be used by both AMD and Intel, so the screws need to be slightly adjusted to align with the motherboard holes. You can refer to the attached manual for the adjustment. The manual of the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler is quite detailed, so don't worry! 2. Install the CPU in the motherboard Start by lifting the lever beside the CPU socket. Next, you need to pay attention to align the CPU correctly when placing it into the socket, otherwise the pin may be broken or burned. The motherboard and CPU are now equipped with foolproof mechanism, so you can install it correctly by following the arrows shown below. 3. Lock the power supply into the case From the front of the case, there is not much space on the right side, but if you open the right side panel, you will see a space below, this is where we will place our power supply. In most cases, the sockets and switches should face outwards and the air vents should face downwards, then lock the power supply from the back of the case. Also, since this is a non-modular power supply, which means the power supply itself is connected to a large bundle of wires, so it can be installed directly, but the downside is that it can't be removed when there are too many wires. If you choose a "fully modular" power supply, since the wires need to be connected by yourself, you must make sure which wires are needed and connect them first and then lock the case, otherwise it won't be easy to plug them after the case is locked! 4. Lock the motherboard tightly to the case Usually, the case has 9 screw holes corresponding to the holes of the motherboard, but not every motherboard will have 9 holes. As for myself, I usually lock 7 or 8 of them. When locking the motherboard, make sure that the CPU socket is on the top, so that the heat from the fan can be discharged out of the PC, and the graphics card will also have a place to put in. 5. Connect the power supply cable to the motherboard The most troublesome part of the installation is organizing the messy cables. We usually pull out the CPU power cable and the mother power cable from the reserved holes of the case and plug them into the motherboard. This can avoid leaving no room to plug in cables after other components have been installed. 6. Connect the front panel connectors of the case to the motherboard Almost all cases nowadays have 2~4 USB ports, power on/off and reboot buttons, etc. on the front panel. They all need to be powered and controlled by the motherboard. Since the wiring method of each motherboard is different, it is recommended to follow the user manual of the motherboard to connect them to the corresponding positions. The following is a brief introduction to the corresponding connection method of the TUF B550 PLUS motherboard. 7. Install rest of the parts on the motherboard Before installing, it is recommended to lay the case flat so that it can be screwed in easily. It can be installed in the order we are used to: Install the M.2 PCIe SSD first, then the CPU cooler to the base as mentioned in the first step, followed by the graphics card, memory, and finally the 2.5" SATA SSD. Most of the cases on the market still have the position of the 2.5" SSD on the power supply side, so the 2.5" SSD cable is usually the last thing we consider. Please note here that most mid-range and above discrete graphics cards also need to be connected to the PCIe power cable of the power supply! 8. Cable management The installation is almost complete! The rest is the most painful part: cable management. After installation, there will be a lot of messy cables, so you will need to find some cable ties to tidy them up and hide them out of sight. This is the part that requires more experience. 9. Install OS & update drivers Please support the genuine software when installing the OS. How to install the OS is explained in the "Tutorial of SSD Unboxing – The 6 Things You Should Do After Buying a New SSD": https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/info/ins.php?index_id=83 If you are lazy to search for the drivers, you can download Driver Booster. It has the latest drivers from major manufacturers and you can install them by one click: https://www.iobit.com/en/driver-booster.php Conclusion Here we explain the whole installation process, and introduce how to buy a PC for only $1,000, so that you can refer to according to different needs. All the selected products can be found on Amazon. T-FORCE VULCAN Z 3200 2x8GB: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QMM6NY3/ref=twister_B08L6D9P16?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 T-FORCE VULCAN G SSD 500G: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F754NPR/ref=twister_B084H9RJ5S TEAMGROUP MP33 PRO 512GB: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GM9TQDB/ref=twister_B081CYW1B8 The installation process contains my own experience, and the order of the process is also based on convenience. Hope it will encourage new gamers to be more willing to try to build a PC by yourself!
The memory is going to enter the DDR5 era soon, which means that DDR4 technology is relatively mature. We've seen 8GB 3200MHz memory in stores and 32GB 4000MHz unboxing articles on forums. Comparing to three years ago, before AMD's rise to power, using 16GB 3600MHz memory with I7-8700K was already very luxurious then. DDR4 technology is much more mature than it was a few years ago, but there are times when you are so excited buying new memory, only to encounter various problems after getting it home. Today, we'll help solve some frequently asked questions to you. 1. Compatibility issues The IC, PCB, and Layout used are different for different memory manufacturers, models and specifications. Therefore, the memory QVL (Qualified Vendor List) is required to be verified for compatibility before the memory is released. The following screenshots are for reference. Usually, the QVL information is located on the motherboard page -> Support -> Memory However, there are numerous kinds of motherboards, and a motherboard manufacturer may produce 4 or 5 types of motherboards from a type chipset. With such a large number, manufacturers will prioritize upgrading newer chipsets. As the number of users of older chipsets gradually decreases, and as consumers using older chipsets usually have DRAMs that will not be upgraded, therefore manufacturers will assume that motherboards before a certain generation of the chipset will not support new ICs or specifications. In this case, if you buy a new memory and install it in the old computer, or use the new memory together with old memory, there may have incompatibility problems. Solution: Please refer to the motherboard's QVL List before buying the memory. Generally speaking, you only have to verify if the list has information such as (1) The memory manufacturer you wish to select. (2) What capacity is supported? (3) What frequency is supported? (4) How many sticks of memory can it install? It doesn't matter if the general public doesn't understand the external material number and CL value. Also, please avoid purchasing a new memory and use it with old ones that were bought a long time ago. Not only the difference of specification may cause incompatibility issues, but even products with the same specification may also be incompatible due to different ICs used in different periods. It is more effective to replace the entire set of memory if you want to upgrade. TEAMGROUP's memory will be sent to the motherboard manufacturer for verification during the development phase, and the memory will be left at the motherboard manufacturer so that it can be verified as soon as a new motherboard is released. TEAMGROUP memory is a reassuring choice thanks to the multiple verification of avoiding incompatibility issues. Here we provide some QVL list from specific motherboards for your reference. ASUS: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/All-series/TUF-GAMING-X570-PLUS-WI-FI/HelpDesk_QVL/ MSI: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/MEG-X570-ACE#support-mem-19 GIGABYTE: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/X570-AORUS-MASTER-rev-11-12/support#support-doc ASRock: https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/X570%20AQUA/Specification.asp#MemoryMS 2. Overclocking issues This is a complicated question with no fixed answer. It involves the relationship between CPU, motherboard and memory. There are too many scenarios, so here is some basic logic for reference. The most frequently heard questions are: (1) I bought a 3200MHz memory, but why does it only run at 2400MHz? (2) Your specification indicates that it can go up to 4000MHz but no matter how I overclock it, it is only 3600MHz? (3) If I buy a 3200MHz product, is it guaranteed to overclock to 4000MHz? First of all, if you have a question about overclocking, be sure to provide the motherboard model, CPU model, BIOS version you are using to help us determine the situation accurately. Otherwise, any answer that is not based on comprehensive judgment is invalid! Solution: (1) For frequency issues, the first thing to consider is whether the maximum frequency supported by the motherboard meets the specification of the memory you bought. Generally, just click on the SPEC page on the motherboard and scroll down to Memory and you will see the details. (2) CPU support After all, overclocking is not a standardized specification, which means only referring to the specifications listed on the INTEL and AMD websites is not enough. It takes experience to know how much memory frequency can be overclocked by the CPU. Different motherboards will have different results, but in general the higher the CPU is, the higher the memory frequency can be overclocked. The following is a brief explanation of overclocking. For INTEL, I recommend selecting products with K at the end of the model, such as I9-10900K, I7-10700K. For AMD, I recommend picking products with X at the end of the model, such as R9-3900X, R5-3600X. If your CPU doesn't happen to fall into one of the above categories, your memory frequency may be limited to be overclocked. (3) BIOS version This is the most overlooked problem. Sometimes memory supportability will be corrected during BIOS update process, and if the older version has not been updated, the memory frequency may be limited. BIOS update can be downloaded from the official website of the motherboard manufacturer. It is recommended that for those who have not updated before, go check out the update SOP provided by the motherboard manufacturer first, because errors in the process may cause the entire motherboard to fail! (4) Check the actual representative type of the specification label It means to determine whether the frequency indicated on the memory package is the native JEDEC standard frequency, or is the frequency after XMP is enabled. JEDEC is an international solid-state technology association that sets different parameters for different frequency bands of memory. As long as the memory is produced following JEDEC standard, consumers do not need to do anything after purchasing the memory, just plug the memory onto the motherboard to meet the specifications on the package. The other type requires XMP, which is classified as an overlocking product. After buying it home, the most basic way to do is to go into the BIOS and enable XMP, and then let the motherboard read the SPD value in the memory and automatically overclock to the frequency indicated on the package. Just google JEDEC and frequency you are looking for, you will find the corresponding CL value on web pages. If the frequency and CL value of the memory you purchased match, it means it is the frequency within JEDEC standard and you can use it immediately by plugging it in. If the CL value of the memory you bought is below the JEDEC standard, then it is the type required XMP. Please note that not all motherboards can support the latest JEDEC standard frequency! Recently, JEDEC 3200MHz memory is slowly appearing on the market, but only the latest motherboard chipsets support this frequency, including the INTEL Z490, Z390, AMD TRX40, X570, B550. Therefore, if your motherboard chipset is not among them, you need to check the type of memory you purchase. Another situation is when the memory belongs to the type that requires XMP, but you haven't gone into the BIOS to enable XMP after buying it home, then it will only display the frequency without being overclocked. That is why many consumers bought 3600MHz home, but only showen 2400MHz. 3. Fully equipped with 4 modules often do problems. For optical reasons, many would like to have all RAM banks equipped on the motherboard. Since everything with the X470 / X570 or Z390 or Z490 is designed for dual channel and two ram modules would be sufficient for this, problems often arise when using four modules. A solution approach is, for example, that you only plug two modules on the mainboard and activate XMP. When the mainboard starts up and the XMP settings have been correctly applied, you can increase the memory controller voltage in the BIOS / UEFI. With AMD it is the SOC voltage and with INTEL the VCCIO voltage. Increases the voltage in small steps (0.05V steps). Save the setting and switch off the PC. Then plug the remaining two modules onto the motherboard and turn the PC back on. If everything works, the PC should start and the frequencies set in the XMP should be displayed. The background is that the memory controller is more loaded with four RAM modules (AMD external and Intel internal) and therefore requires a higher voltage for correct function. But remains in the motherboard specifications for the maximum voltages suitable for everyday use. If you have a lot of problems, take a look here https://linustechtips.com/forum/5-cpus-motherboards-and-memory/ 4. DOA problem Dead On Arrival, abbreviated as DOA, means damaged on arrival. This can happen with any electronic products, not just memory, which means that you can't avoid it completely as long as it is an electronic product. After all, the transportation environment or changing factors are unpredictable after they leave the factory. However, don't worry, as long as it is a DOA and you have proof of purchase, the manufacturer will usually let you replace it with a new one to ensure consumers' rights.
This question depends on the computer user you are, what programs you plan on running on the computer, and how many programs you have open at a given time. We suggest : Internet、office work : 4GB Common games、audio and video playback : 8GB Hardcore user、advanced digital image processing : 16GB or more


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Cookbook | Recipes | Ingredients | Vegetables | Rhubarb Recipes
Rhubarb is a relative of buckwheat and has an earthy, sour flavor. Rhubarb thrives in cold climates and originated in Western China, Tibet, Mongolia, Siberia and neighboring areas. The traditional role was medicinal — the dried root was a popular remedy for a wide range of illnesses. Its primary function was to induce vomiting, although rhubarb is also a mild astringent. This medicinal role caused the price of the dried root to rise. In 1542, rhubarb sold for ten times the price of cinnamon in France and in 1657 rhubarb sold for over twice the price of opium in England (Schneider, 2001). Beginning in the eighteenth century, rhubarb began to be consumed in foods, primarily drinks and meat stews.
Botanically speaking, rhubarb is considered a vegetable, but it's most often treated as a fruit — though it's rarely eaten raw. Just like fresh cranberries, rhubarb is almost unbearably tart on its own and needs the sweetness of sugar, honey, or fruit juice added to it to balance out the acidity. Rhubarb's nickname is the "pie plant" because that is the primary use for this vegetable.
Rhubarb was introduced to the United States at the end of the eighteenth century. Today most rhubarb is frozen for commercial and institutional use; only about a quarter of the crop is sold fresh.
Selection Edit
Hothouse, or strawberry, rhubarb appears in markets as early as January and continues to be stocked through April. Field-grown, or cherry, rhubarb begins to arrive in markets in March and can continue to arrive through the summer (depending on the area where it is grown). Spring stalks are the juiciest and most-tender.
Fresh stalks are flat, not curled or limp. When stalks that have been pulled-not cut-from the field are available; choose them. Pulled stalks dry out less rapidly. Size is no indicator of tenderness. Deep red stalks are sweeter and richer.
Storage Edit
Wrap rhubarb in plastic wrap and store it in the coldest part of the refrigerator for up to one week. Cooked and raw rhubarb both freeze well.
Preparation Edit
Cut off and discard the leaves (see warning below). Rinse and trim from base and tip. You may peel or cut with the skin intact. Remember to cook only in non-aluminum pots due to the acidic nature of rhubarb.
Warning Edit
|Never eat rhubarb leaves, cooked or raw. Eating the leaves can be poisonous because they contain oxalates. This toxin, plus another unknown toxin also found in the leaves, has been reported to cause poisoning when large quantities of raw or cooked leaves are ingested.
Rhubarb stalks are also rich in vitamin K, important to note for people taking anticoagulants (bloodthinners).


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Basin-Indians Wildfire in California's Central Coast Region
A watershed-related issue examined by the ENVS 560/L Watershed Systems class at CSUMB.
In the summer of 2008, the Indians and Basin Complex fires started separately and then merged into one fire. The Indians fire, started by a campfire, burned 81,378 acres of the south eastern Santa Lucia mountains of Central California between June 8th and July 10th. The Basin Complex Fire, started by lightning, burned 162,818 acres of the northern Santa Lucia mountains between June 21st and July 28th[1]. After a wildfire there is major concern about the possibility of flooding, debris flows and other large scale erosion in the years following the fires[2]. These events potentially endanger the Big Sur and Carmel Valleys, Salinas farm land, steelhead habitat, Highway 1 and numerous federal and state recreation areas. There has been work aimed at understanding the effects of fire on soils, debris flows and erosion. There is little understanding of the effects of post-fire erosion and debris flows on river habitat, and specifically steelhead habitat.
The Basin Complex-Indians Fire burned approximately 240,000 acres in the northern Santa Lucia Mountains. The fire burned parts of the Upper Carmel River, Arroyo Seco, San Antonia, Rat Creek, Big Sur and Little Sur watersheds. and portions of Fort Hunter Liggett. Much of the land burned is within the National Forest System lands on the Monterey District of Los Padres National Forest[1].
Resource/s at Stake
There is a broad range of resources at risk after the fires. They include the Big Sur and Carmel Valley communities, Salinas Valley farm land, Highway 1, numerous state parks and camp grounds, private residents and essential steelhead habitat.
Of concern in the Carmel Valley is the possibility that the fire may lead to a sizable influx of sediment behind the Los Padres dam. This is the only effective storage facility for flood control and dry season conservation releases on the Carmel River[3].
Steelhead are of particular concern due to their threatened status. The fire was expected to result in an increased load of fine sediments and debris in the years immediately following. This will likely reduce spawning habitat in the short term, but periodic influxes of large woody debris are considered beneficial in the long run because they help maintain structural habitat diversity in streams. The likely net impact on the struggling local steelhead populations is unknown. [1]
- The communities of Big Sur and Carmel Valley
- Salinas Valley farmers
- Steelhead trout and those concerned with their well being]
- Monterey County
- United States Forest Service
- Users of Highway 1
Laws, Policies, & Regulations
There are two pieces of legislation that dominate national policy regarding wildfire management. The National Forest Plan was a federal policy responding to the growing concern of dangerous levels of fuels in national forests. The main focuses of the plan are firefighting, rehabilitation, hazardous fuel removal, community assistance and accountability. The original plan released $108 million for fuels removal in 2000; this number increased to $401 million by 2005.
To identify where funds were most necessary, a Ten Year Comprehensive Strategy directed the collaborations of local, tribal, state, and federal land mangers along with scientific and regulatory agencies. The four goals of the plan are improved information sharing, monitoring of accomplishments and forest conditions to improve transparency, a long-term commitment to maintaining the essential resources for implementation, a landscape-level vision for restoration of fire adapted ecosystems, and an emphasis on the importance of using fire as a management tool (Ten Year Comprehensive Strategy 2006).
Assessment of the burned area fell under the jurisdiction of the US Forest Service and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire). CalFire was the lead agency for the assessment. The policies of both agencies are to provide rapid assessments of the burned areas and suggest best management practices to avoid further damage from erosion and debris flows.
Fires consume vegetation and affect soil porosity and structure. Soil hydraulic conductivity can also be affected depending on the severity of the burn. Severely burned soils have a high degree of hydrophobicity which decreases the infiltration rate of rainfall and, in turn, increases erosion rates and overland flow. The eroded material has the potential to increase sedimentation in streams affecting water quality and water yield[4]. Slope failure is escalated after fires [5] due to slope denudation and the destruction of slope-stabilizing root structures. Debris flows and torrents, hyperconcentrated flow, increased overland flow, and mudslides are post-fire risks resulting from the newly exposed slopes.
- There has been a lot of work done by the US Geological Survey[5]to understand post-fire debris flows.
- There has been some work on the long term effects of fire on watershed processes[6].
- There is a fair amount of knowledge on the life history and habitat requirements of Steelhead.
- The California Department of Fish and Game has developed a well respected method for in stream fish habitat assessment[4].
- High resolution LIDAR and aerial photography can help to detect erosion and debris flows.
Future Research
Future work should seek to understand the impacts of rain on the burned area. The greatest hazards to the communities of Big Sur is flooding and debris flows. The in stream habitats of threatened steelhead will also be effected by erosion and debris flows. There is little understanding of the direct effects of post-fire erosion on steelhead habitat.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Basin-Indians Fire SEAT Report
- ↑ Summary of Debris Flow Risk Model
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 [3]
- ↑ http://ccows.csumb.edu/pubs/reports/CCoWS_SalSedReport_030530c.pdf
- Basin Complex Fire Seat Report
- Ten Year Comprehensive Strategy
- Other Watershed Issues
This page may contain student work completed as part of assigned coursework. It may not be accurate. It does not necessary reflect the opinion or policy of CSUMB, its staff, or students.


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Pesto. It's like a subconscious smile.
I have a package of wraps in the fridge, so almost every day I've decided to make something fun and different with my Flat Out Wraps.
I mean, why not accessorize?
I decided to do something especially fancy this time, so I went with a stuffed pizza loaf. Remember, we're not talking about a gluten free product, so be sure to avoid these if you have an aversion to wheat or to gluten. At 7 net carbs per huge wrap, you're scoring an entire pizza loaf for not many more carbs than those 7 net. Not bad, for something that allots for 4 servings (or 2 if you're starving).
How about sharing the process? We're friends, right? The procedure is picture heavy, so you can pretend I'm right there in your kitchen with you, enjoying the moment. We're there, in our retro aprons, toasting our iced frappes and making magic.
So let's go, new cooking friend!
First, lay the Flat Out wrap on an ungreased, sexy cookie sheet (all cookie sheets are sexy). Spread a thin line of pizza sauce* along the center of the long side, about 2″ wide. Add your favorite pizza ingredients to that innermost tomatolicious runway. Think green peppers, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, pepperoni, ham, olives, feta cheese–anything your heart desires.
Once toppings are in place, add cheese; it melts all lovely like and helps adhere the top post baking. A final, small line of pizza sauce holds the shell in place, since moisture acts like glue for these wraps.
*it's thinner and generally lower carb. My fave is Great Value by WalMart for lowest carbs with cost value.
With a pair of shears or a sharp knife, at every inch, cut lines at an angle from the edge towards the center of the crust without hitting the toppings. I made about 7-8 cuts. As you can see, they don't have to be perfect, but you probably shouldn't be consuming much Scotch while you're doing this part of the process.
Begin folding strips inward and upwards, pressing lightly into the sauce (the sauce helps hold the strips in place. You can add a bit more sauce where necessary). Continue to the top, folding over the last pieces.
The loaf will look like this, all sultry and deliciouslike:
|Look at this, all loafy and righteous
Once all flaps are folded, add a final, small topping of shredded cheese along the center. The weight of the cheese not only helps cement the strips, it makes for a nice presentation.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Then quickly broil until cheese on top starts to brown, about 2 minutes.
Let rest 5-10 minutes prior to slicing with a sharp knife. Present with a small smile of pesto for dipping.
Who knew a wrap could be so sexy? Your cooking skills have again exceeded themselves. Those who surround your spirit (partially for the good eats) marvel at your ingenuity. Raise your glass. You've earned the accolades.
What will happen with the next Flat Out Wrap? Stay tuned, dear readers.


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Reprinted from the Contra Costa Times
A Hercules man will spend the next 18 years in prison for his leadership role in a large-scale racketeering and narcotics conspiracy at card clubs in Emeryville and San Bruno.
Cuong Mach Binh Tieu, 42, pleaded guilty June 19 to 10 felony counts, including conspiracy to spearhead a racketeering organization, conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and ecstasy and conspiracy to distribute cocaine, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The four-year investigation, conducted by the FBI, the DEA, the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Gambling Control, and the IRS, revealed that Tieu served as a leader for a criminal group that regularly used the cash drawers at both Oaks Card Club in Emeryville and Artichoke Joe's Casino in San Bruno to finance drug purchases, authorities said.
On June 30, 2009, for example, Tieu used $30,000 from Oaks Card Club to purchase 25 kilograms of ephedrine, which he used to help manufacture methamphetamine and ecstasy.
In addition to drug trafficking, Tieu's criminal organization worked with casino employees to openly engage in loan-sharking on the floor with both casinos. The loan sharks regularly charged 10 percent interest a week for the loans distributed in the casinos, officials said.
In addition to his 220 months behind bars, Tieu was sentenced to a five-year supervision period once he is released.
Contact Katie Nelson at 925-945-4780 or follow her at Twitter.com/katienelson210.


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Cashman declines to talk about Cano's contract
TAMPA, Fla. -- General manager Brian Cashman declined to comment Wednesday morning when asked if he was optimistic about signing Robinson Cano to a long-term extension.
On Tuesday, Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner told The Associated Press that there were no new developments in contract talks with Cano, who will become a free agent after this season.
"We expressed to [agent] Scott [Boras] how much we like Robbie and what a great Yankee he's been, and we hope he continues his career here for a long time to come," Steinbrenner told the AP. "We just indicated to him on a very preliminary basis that we were willing to consider a significant long-term contract and left it at that. There's really nothing to report since then.
"The main purpose of the conversation was to just let him know we want Robbie to continue to be a Yankee."
Cano discussed his impending free agency with the media Monday, mostly saying that he wasn't worried about it or focused on it and he'll leave any negotiations to Boras.
The second baseman's $15 million option was picked up by the Yankees in October. The 30-year-old batted .313 with a career-high 33 homers and 94 RBIs last season, but he went 3-for-40 in a disappointing postseason performance. For his career, Cano owns a .308/.351/.503 batting line with 177 home runs and 715 RBIs.
Cano would figure to be the most sought-after player on the open market next winter, and most reports project that he's in line for a massive payday, something in the range of an eight- to 10-year deal with an annual salary around $25 million.
Cano said Monday that he didn't know if he'd be open to discussing a contract extension once the season begins. The Yankees have generally avoided doing so with cornerstone players like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.
"I don't feel anything about nervousness," Cano said Monday. "To be honest, I'm not focused on free agency. My focus right now is on the 2013 season. I still have one more year under contract and my mind right now is just on helping the team win another championship."


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The Best Android Wall Charger - October 2023
Based on the analysis of 14,000 reviews.
Top Android Wall Charger Brands
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