text:
Cryoablation is a minimally invasive interventional radiology treatment that destroys tumors through freezing. Computed tomography (CT) imaging is used to pinpoint a tumor. One of our Interventional Radiologists then inserts a thin probe through the skin and maneuvers it precisely into the tumor. An extremely cold gas is pumped through the probe to freeze and kill the tumor cells. Our tumor ablation team is led by Peter J. Julien, MD, Chief of Thoracic Imaging and Director of the Tumor Ablation Program.
Cryoablation is usually effective for localized kidney cancer and some liver and lung cancers. Cryoablation spares healthy kidney tissue and can be repeated, if needed. Most patients go home the same day.
A cryoablation of the kidney performed on a 64-year-old female with a 3 cm renal cell carcinoma. The circle shows where the cryoablation probe was inserted into the kidney, precisely targeting the tumor.
Before Deciding on Cryoablation
- If you and your physician decide to have Cryoablation at the S. Mark Taper Foundation Imaging Center, you need to schedule a consultation with one of our interventional imaging physicians and a nurse practitioner.
- They will discuss the procedure with you in detail, including the risks and benefits, and whether you are a good candidate for this procedure. They will answer any question you may have.
- If it is determined that this procedure meets your medical needs, the procedure will be scheduled and you will be given a set of instructions to help you prepare for the procedure.
- During the consultation, the nurse practitioner will ask your medical history, including all of the medications you are currently taking and any allergies you may have.
- Approximately 1 to 2 weeks before your procedure, you will be asked to stop any medications that thin the blood. Your primary-care physician will instruct you which medications to stop and when to stop them. Do not stop taking any prescribed medication unless instructed to do so by your physician.
- You may need additional blood tests or additional scans prior to the procedure.
Before Coming To Cedars-Sinai Medical Center For Your Cryoablation
- Please bring your medications or a detailed list of your medications--including dosage and how often you take the medicine--to your procedure. This includes any over-the-counter medications you may take on a regular basis.
- You will be staying in the hospital overnight, so please bring anything that you will need during that time.
- You need to arrange for transportation home after your discharge the day after your Cryoablation; you will not be allowed to drive yourself home.
- You should not eat anything after midnight the night before your procedure. You may take your routine morning medications (except blood thinners) with a sip of water.
After Arriving At Cedars-Sinai
- Please check in at the South Tower information desk on Gracie Allen Drive, which is across the street from the Emergency Department.
- A nurse will then escort you to an observation room.
- You will be asked to change into a hospital gown and will receive a brief clinical assessment, such as blood pressure and pulse.
During The Cryoablation
- At the appropriate time, you will be transported to the interventional CT scan room where you will be greeted by the radiology nurse, technologist, the interventional imaging physician and the anesthesiologist.
- The imaging physician will explain the procedure to you again, including the risks and benefits and answer any questions you may have. You will then be asked to sign a form giving your informed consent for the procedure.
- If an IV has not been started, the anesthesiologist will start an IV and speak to you about the medications to be used for pain control and to make you sleepy during the procedure (a state referred to as "twilight sleep.") When treating the lungs, the imaging physician may need you to be able to follow simple instructions such as holding your breath. The medications you will be given will most likely prevent you from remembering anything of the procedure, and pain will be controlled.
- You will be placed on the CT scan table and positioned according to the area of your body to be treated. You will be made as comfortable as possible.
- Monitoring devices will track your blood pressure, heart rate, breathing and amount of oxygen in your blood during the procedure.
- You may experience some discomfort during the insertion of the Cryoablation probe. You will not feel pain once the probe is in place and you will not feel any heat during the procedure.
- The procedure, from the time you get to the imaging department (CT scan suite) until you return to the Observation Unit, is approximately 2 hours. The actual freezing of the tumor will only last between 12 and 16 minutes. The bulk of the time is used in accurately placing the probe in the correct area to destroy the tumor.
After Your Procedure
- You will be given another CT scan while still in the procedure room to assess the area that was ablated.
- You will then be taken back to the observation unit, where you will stay overnight.
- You will be visited by the interventional imaging physician and the nurse practitioner, who will check for any complications and see that you are comfortable. You may have post-procedure blood drawn and/or X-rays.
- Before discharge, the nurse practitioner will arrange follow-up appointments and give you instructions for your recovery. Remember: you will need someone to drive you home from the hospital.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call 310-423-8000.
The S. Mark Taper Foundation Imaging Center provides a full range of advanced imaging, both radiology and cardiology, as well as interventional radiology and interventional tumor (oncology) treatments to the greater Los Angeles area, including Beverly Hills, Encino, Mid-Cities, Sherman Oaks, Silver Lake, Studio City, Toluca Lake, and West Hollywood.


text:
2020 Chevrolet Malibu 4dr Sdn LT
4dr Sdn LT
Engine, 1.5L turbo DOHC 4-cylinder DI with Variable Valve Timing (VVT) (160 hp [119.3 kW] @ 5700 rpm, 184 lb-ft torque [248.4 N-m] @ 2500-3000 rpm)
City 29 / Hwy 36 Estimated By E.P.A. - Actual Mileage May Vary
Dealership Information
126 Route 22
Hillside, NJ 07205
Visit Car2Sell online at car2sell.us to see more pictures of this vehicle or call us at 888-703-0003 today to schedule your test drive. We Finance Good and Bad credit. Warranty available. Prices include(s) all costs to be paid by a consumer except for licensing costs, registration fees, taxes and delivery charges.
- 4G LTE Wi-Fi Hotspot capable (Terms and limitations apply. See onstar.com or dealer for details.)
- Air conditioning, dual-zone automatic climate control
- Air filter, cabin
- Airbags, 10 total, frontal and knee for driver and front passenger, side-impact seat-mounted and roof rail-mounted head-curtain for front and rear outboard seating positions includes Passenger Sensing System (Always use seat belts and child restraints. Children are safer when properly secured in a rear seat in the appropriate child restraint. See the Owner's Manual for more information.)
- Antenna, body-color
- Assist handle, front passenger
- Audio system feature, 6-speaker system
- Axle, 5.10 final drive ratio
- Brake lining, high-performance, noise and dust performance
- Brake rotors, Duralife
- Brake, parking, manual
- Brakes, 4-wheel antilock, 4-wheel disc
- Braking control, ECM grade
- Chevrolet Connected Access capable (Subject to terms. See onstar.com or dealer for details.)
- Daytime Running Lamps, LED, separate
- Defogger, rear-window, electric
- Display, 8" diagonal LCD touch screen
- Door locks, rear child security
- Driver Information Center, monochromatic display
- Engine control, stop-start system
- Engine, 1.5L turbo DOHC 4-cylinder DI with Variable Valve Timing (VVT) (160 hp [119.3 kW] @ 5700 rpm, 184 lb-ft torque [248.4 N-m] @ 2500-3000 rpm)
- Front wheel drive
- Fuel door, push open
- Fueling system, capless
- Glass, acoustic, laminated, windshield
- Headlamp control, automatic on and off
- Headlamps, halogen
- Keyless Start
- LATCH system (Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren), for child restraint seats
- Lighting, interior overhead courtesy lamp, dual reading lamps and illuminated trunk area
- Lighting, interior, rear reading lamps, switchable
- Map pockets, driver and front passenger seatbacks
- Mirror, inside rearview manual day/night
- Mirrors, outside heated power-adjustable, body-color, manual-folding
- Power outlet, auxiliary, 12-volt
- Rear seat armrest with cup holders
- Rear Seat Reminder
- Rear Vision Camera
- Remote vehicle starter system
- Seat adjuster, front passenger 6-way manual
- Seat, rear 60/40 split-folding
- Seats, heated driver and front passenger
- StabiliTrak, stability control system with brake assist includes Traction Control
- Steering column, tilt and telescopic
- Steering wheel, 3-spoke
- Suspension, front MacPherson strut
- Suspension, rear 4-link, independent
- Tail lamps, LED
- Temperature display, outside
- Tire Pressure Monitor System
- Tire, compact spare, T125/80R16
- Tool kit, road emergency
- Trunk cargo anchors
- Trunk latch, safety, manual release
- Vent, rear console
- Visors, driver and front passenger illuminated vanity mirrors, covered
- Warning indicator, front passenger seat belt
- Wheel, spare, 16" (40.6 cm) steel
- Seat adjuster, 8-way power driver
- Seat adjuster, power driver lumbar control
- Teen Driver a configurable feature that lets you activate customizable vehicle settings associated with a key fob, to help encourage safe driving behavior. It can limit certain available vehicle features, and it prevents certain safety systems from being turned off. It includes the Buckle-to-Drive feature which prevents the driver from shifting from Park for up to 20 seconds if the driver's seat belt is not buckled. An in-vehicle report card gives you information on driving habits and helps you to continue to coach your new driver
Prices include(s) all costs to be paid by a consumer except for licensing costs, registration fees, taxes and delivery charges. To request a free Carfax report for any vehicle please contact Car2sell at (888) 703-0003 or Car2sell.us

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Former Conn. Gov. Rowland Seeks To Limit Details Of Conviction
Connecticut's former Governor John Rowland is seeking to prevent jurors from hearing details of his conviction on a corruption-related charge during his upcoming trial on charges that he tried to create secret consultant roles with two congressional campaigns.
Rowland, who was released from prison in 2006 after serving 10 months, says evidence in the new trial should be limited to his resignation, guilty plea and sentence. His attorney says prosecutors want to offer evidence that Rowland engaged in corrupt conduct and abused his office by taking bribes to support its theory that one of the congressional campaigns sought to hide that Rowland was paid to work on the campaign.
Rowland's attorney argues in a motion Wednesday such evidence would be prejudicial and unnecessary. Prosecutors say they'll respond in court.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


text:
|Guidelines for Children's Participation in HIV/AIDS Programs (The Children and AIDS International Non-Government Organization Network (CAINN)) (UNAIDS, 1999, 29 p.)
"Participation is an acknowledgement of what children can do... It is recognition that children... are also members of society and are thinking individuals who are capable of expressing themselves, As such they too have a say on matters and decisions which affect their lives, but also their community and the larger society which they are part of."
Save the Children, Philippines.
Children are living in a world with AIDS.
· There are children who are themselves infected with HIV. By the end of 1997, 1.1 million children were living with HIV. AIDS is now the fifth leading cause of death amongst children of 1-4 years, and seventh in young people between the ages of 15 and 24.
· There are children who are uninfected but living in an infected family. More than 8 million children world-wide have already lost their mothers to AIDS, and at least 30 million are thought to be living with parents who are HIV positive. Of the people who died of AIDS in 1997, 2.3 million (46%) were women and 460,000 were children.
The voices of children and young people themselves are not often heard. These guidelines show how children and young people can be involved in education, prevention and care programmes related to HIV/AIDS. The extent and nature of their participation will vary in different countries, cultures and communities since the impact of HIV on families and on individuals varies and a child's place in society is viewed differently throughout the world.
These guidelines provide a framework for local projects to develop ways of working with children and young people that respect their rights and enable their voices to be heard. The definition of a child used throughout these guidelines is that set forth in the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child as "a human being under 18 years of age".


text:
Even though "selfie" was the Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year in 2013, the selfie itself(ie) is still often stigmatized as an exclusively feminine art form. But there's a craft and purpose to the male selfie, as well — one worth exploring and, for some men, perfecting.
With New Belgium Brewing inviting beer lovers to compete in their Snapshot Wheat photo challenges, now's as good a time as any to tap into your inner selfie-lover. I had a quick chat with Lily Benson, possibly the Internet's foremost male selfie advocate and pioneer of the #DUDETIME hashtag on Twitter, which encourages men to celebrate their own image. "I hope in the future to see more dudes doing the type of selfie showing their butt from like, three different angles," Benson told me of her hopes for a more inclusive selfie culture. Here are her tips for instantly upgrading your Instagram appeal.
Defrost the Ice Off Your Grill
"Mean-mugging is sometimes okay. But a smile is usually better," Benson said.
So don't worry about looking tough. You're taking a picture of yourself with a tiny computer more powerful than any technology that existed 30 years ago. It's okay to look like you're having fun or even (gasp!) feeling excited about something. Why would you
take a picture of yourself looking furious? Are you trying to scare crows away from your Facebook page? Relax.
You're Judged by the Company You Tweet
According to Benson, "Animals are always great — and babies, which are a subtype
of animal. The rarer or cuter the animal (or baby) the better."
If you can't get your hands on a snake or a human child, the right clothing or accessory can give your selfie a boost. Of course, occasionally less is more when it comes to attire.
"If you're trying to be a Twitter or Instagram honey, take your shirt off," Benson advised.
Background Check
The world is a canvas on which to splash yourself, so capture yourself in it. Take a selfie at the mouth of a volcano. Or next to the Mona Lisa. Hell, plan an exotic vacation just to take a selfie there. You've never seen the ring-tailed lemurs of Madagascar? Well, now's your chance. Don't forget to charge your phone before you head into the forest.
Your Body Is A Wonder, Man
Celebrate your body. A selfie is a pure expression of your physicality, whether you look like a chiseled statue or a blob of Nickelodeon Gak left over from the early 90s. If you've got a gut, showcase that gut. If you're balding, let your forehead shine. Third nipple? Uhh. Yeah. Everyone wants to see a third nipple. Love yourself and let others love you. If you don't know where to start, why not try that mirrored butt angle Benson was talking about earlier? That's the ticket.
And there you have it. Tips from the world's foremost selfie connoisseur. Gentlemen, go forth into the world and capture your image with great enthusiasm, as if it were some sort of rare bird. And don't forget to smile.
Now that you've been empowered to be the best selfie-taker you can be, enter a Snapshot Wheat photo challenge for the chance to be lauded by New Belgium Brewing and basically all of America. Learn more here.
Josh Gondelman is a writer and comedian who incubated in Boston before moving to New York City. his writing has appeared in New York Magazine, Esquire, and McSweeney's Internet Tendency as well as the upcoming season of Fuse TV's Billy On The Street.
This post is a sponsored collaboration between New Belgium Brewing and Studio@Gawker.


text:
2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTD 4WD Crew Cab 147" LT Trail Boss
Retail $52,499
City 22/Hwy 26 Estimated By E.P.A. - Actual Mileage May Vary
Dealership Information
Macova Auto Group
5545 E Paisano Dr
El Paso, TX 79905
Visit Macova Auto Group online at macovaautogroup.com to see more pictures of this vehicle or call us at 915-779-3515 today to schedule your test drive.
- Air filter, heavy-duty
- Airbags, Dual-stage frontal airbags for driver and front outboard passenger; Seat-mounted side-impact airbags for driver and front outboard passenger; Head-curtain airbags for front and rear outboard seating positions; Includes front outboard Passenger Sensing System for frontal outboard passenger airbag (Always use seat belts and child restraints. Children are safer when properly secured in a rear seat in the appropriate child restraint. See the Owner's Manual for more information.)
- Alternator, 170 amps (Included and only available with (L84) 5.3L EcoTec3 V8 engine or (L87) 6.2L EcoTec3 V8 engine. Not available with (LM2) Duramax 3.0L Turbo-Diesel I6 engine.)
- Assist handles front A-pillar mounted for driver and passenger, rear B-pillar mounted
- Audio system feature, 6-speaker system
- Auto-locking rear differential
- Battery, heavy-duty 730 cold-cranking amps/80 Amp-hr, maintenance-free with rundown protection and retained accessory power
- Black Bowtie, (front grille)
- Brake lining wear indicator
- Brakes, 4-wheel antilock, 4-wheel disc with DURALIFE rotors
- Bumper, front (High gloss black.)
- Bumper, rear (High gloss black.)
- Capless Fuel Fill
- Cargo tie downs (12), fixed rated at 500 lbs per corner
- Center Console, floor-mounted with cup holders, cell phone storage, power cord management, hanging file folder capability
- Chevrolet Connected Access capable (Subject to terms. See onstar.com or dealer for details.)
- Compass located in instrument cluster
- Cooling, auxiliary external transmission oil cooler (Not available with (LM2) Duramax 3.0L Turbo-Diesel I6 engine.)
- Cooling, external engine oil cooler (Not available with (LM2) Duramax 3.0L Turbo-Diesel I6 engine.)
- CornerStep, rear bumper
- Cruise control, electronic with set and resume speed, steering wheel-mounted
- Door handles, body-color (High gloss Black.)
- Driver Information Center, 4.2" diagonal color display includes driver personalization
- Durabed, pickup bed
- Exhaust, dual with polished outlets
- Exterior Temperature Display located in radio display
- Floor covering, color-keyed carpeting
- Fog lamps, front, LED
- Four wheel drive
- Frame, fully-boxed, hydroformed front section
- Glass, deep-tinted
- Grille (High gloss Black bars with high gloss Black mesh inserts.)
- Hill Descent Control
- Hitch Guidance dynamic single line to aid in trailer alignment for hitching
- Instrument cluster, 6-gauge cluster featuring speedometer, fuel level, engine temperature, tachometer, voltage and oil pressure
- Lamps, cargo area, cab mounted integrated with center high mount stop lamp, with switch in bank on left side of steering wheel
- LED Cargo Area Lighting located in pickup bed, activated with switch on center switch bank or key fob
- Mirror caps, painted (High gloss Black. Not available with (DPO) trailering mirrors.)
- Mirror, inside rearview, manual tilt
- Rear axle, 3.23 ratio
- Rear Seat Reminder
- Recovery hooks, performance Red
- Remote vehicle starter system
- Seat adjuster, passenger 4-way manual
- Skid Plates
- StabiliTrak, stability control system with Proactive Roll Avoidance and traction control, includes electronic trailer sway control and hill start assist
- Steering wheel audio controls
- Steering wheel, leather-wrapped
- Steering, Electric Power Steering (EPS) assist, rack-and-pinion
- Tailgate and bed rail protection cap, top
- Tailgate, standard
- Taillamps, LED with signature
- Teen Driver a configurable feature that lets you activate customizable vehicle settings associated with a key fob, to help encourage safe driving behavior. It can limit certain available vehicle features, and it prevents certain safety systems from being turned off. An in-vehicle report card gives you information on driving habits and helps you to continue to coach your new driver
- Theft-deterrent system, unauthorized entry
- Tire carrier lock, keyed cylinder lock that utilizes same key as ignition and door
- USB ports, dual, charge-only (2nd row)
- Wheel, 17" x 8" (43.2 cm x 20.3 cm) full-size, steel spare
- Wi-Fi Hotspot capable (Terms and limitations apply. See onstar.com or dealer for details.)
- Window, power front, drivers express up/down
- Suspension Package, Z71 Off-Road equipment with 2" lift. Includes (Z7X) Off-Road suspension with 2" lift and monotube shocks, (JHD) Hill Descent Control, (NZZ) skid plates, (K47) heavy-duty air filter and Z71 hard badge
- GVWR, 7000 lbs. (3175 kg) (Requires (L84) 5.3L EcoTec3 V8 engine or (L87) 6.2L EcoTec3 V8 engine.)
- Automatic Stop/Start (Standard on vehicles equipped with (MQE) 8-speed automatic transmission or (LM2) Duramax 3.0L Turbo-Diesel I6 engine. Vehicles with a V8 engine and (MQB) 10-speed automatic will have (NSS) Not Equipped with Automatic Stop/Start, which removes Automatic Stop/Start and its content. See dealer for details.)
- Transfer case, two-speed electronic Autotrac with push button control (4WD models only)
- Tailgate, gate function manual with EZ Lift includes power lock and release


text:
Menu Plan Monday: May 18, 2009
I'm walking 60 miles in the Breast Cancer 3-day! Will you help me reach my goal?
I think the upcoming week is completely crazy… Why, oh why, do the things for summer start before the things end at the end of the school year? It's nuts! On top of that, I am not sure why I thought scheduling dental cleanings this week was a good idea… hmmmm, maybe I am the nutty one. I will be relying heavily on my menu plan this week and try to have most meals made before the kids get home so we can we dinner as a picnic at the various activities. That worked pretty well last week.
Head over to Laura's for Menu Plan Monday. Sea of Book of Yum is the host for this week's Gluten Free Menu Swap. She has picked zucchini for the week. I don't have it in my garden yet, but we have planted the seeds. Yum!
Be sure to join me on Friday for Gluten Free-zer Friday and next Monday when I am hosting the Gluten Free Menu Swap. I have chosen avocados for the theme ingredient.
The crossed off things on the week are things scheduled, but due to not being able to clone my kids or myself, and being unable to warp the space-time continuum, we will not be doing… Ha!
Monday: Son: Boy Scouts/Baseball Game/Band concert – oldest daughter: orchestra day/track practice – youngest daughter: dance practice – Mom: prep for class
Hamburgers, french fries, spinach salad
Tuesday: son: piano lessons – oldest daughter: piano lessons (grandma is bringing them)/soccer practice – youngest daughter: dental cleaning – Mommy finishes prep and teaches class
French Bread Sandwiches (with ham, turkey, tomatoes, spinach and sprouts), fruit
Wednesday: mommy volunteer in school library – oldest daughter: first track meet/last drama club for year
Taco Chili, tortilla chips, quac, fruit
Thursday: oldest daughter: Fifth Grade Folk Festival/soccer practice – Mom goes to 9:45 a.m. Folk Festival and video tape it/help with kindergarten to "have lunch" at school/leader at last Daisy meeting of year – Youngest daughter: Have "lunch" at school like a 1st grader/Daisy meeting
Maple Chile Pork Tenderloin, sauteed zucchini
Friday: dad and mom to middle school transition meeting at 7:30 a.m. – Oldest: dental cleaning/baseball practice
Pizza, salad
I hope you all have a great week!
Countdown to the 3-day walk: 14 Weeks
Your Training Schedule for This Week:
|3 miles
|Easy walking
|30 minutes
|Moderate cross-training
|5 miles
|Moderate walking
|30 minutes
|Easy cross-training
|10 miles
|Easy walking
|6 miles
|Easy walking


text:
Automatic Virtual Machine Activation (AVMA) acts as a proof-of-purchase mechanism, helping to ensure that Windows products are used in accordance with the Product Use Rights and Microsoft Software License Terms.
AVMA lets you install virtual machines on a properly activated Windows server without having to manage product keys for each individual virtual machine, even in disconnected environments. AVMA binds the virtual machine activation to the licensed virtualization server and activates the virtual machine when it starts up. AVMA also provides real-time reporting on usage and historical data on the license state of the virtual machine. Reporting and tracking data is available on the virtualization server.
On virtualization servers that are activated using Volume Licensing or OEM licensing, AVMA offers several benefits.
Server datacenter managers can use AVMA to do the following:
- Activate virtual machines in remote locations
- Activate virtual machines with or without an internet connection
- Track virtual machine usage and licenses from the virtualization server, without requiring any access rights on the virtualized systems
There are no product keys to manage and no stickers on the servers to read. The virtual machine is activated and continues to work even when it is migrated across an array of virtualization servers.
Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA) partners and other hosting providers do not have to share product keys with tenants or access a tenant's virtual machine to activate it. Virtual machine activation is transparent to the tenant when AVMA is used. Hosting providers can use the server logs to verify license compliance and to track client usage history.
AVMA only requires a virtualization server running Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter. The guest virtual machine operating system must be Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter, Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard, or Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials.
- On a Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter virtualization server, install and configure the Microsoft Hyper-V Server role. For more information, see Install Hyper-V Server 2012.
- Create a virtual machine and install a supported server operating system on it.
- Install the AVMA key in the virtual machine. From an elevated command prompt, run the following command:
slmgr /ipk <AVMA_key>
The virtual machine will automatically activate the license against the virtualization server.
|TIP: You can also employ the AVMA keys in any Unattend.exe setup file.
The following AVMA keys can be used for Windows Server 2012 R2.
|AVMA key
The registry (KVP) on the virtualization server provides real-time tracking data for the guest operating systems. Because the registry key moves with the virtual machine, you can get license information as well. By default the KVP returns information about the virtual machine, including the following:
- Fully qualified domain name
- Operating system and service packs installed
- Processor architecture
- IPv4 and IPv6 network addresses
- RDP addresses
For more information about how to get this information, see Hyper-V Script: Looking at KVP GuestIntrinsicExchangeItems.
|KVP data is not secured. It can be modified and is not monitored for changes.
|KVP data should be removed if the AVMA key is replaced with another product key (retail, OEM, or volume licensing key).
Historical data about AVMA requests is available in a log file on the virtualization server (EventID 12310).
Since the AVMA activation process is transparent, error messages are not displayed. However, the following events are captured in a log file on the virtual machines (EventID 12309).
|AVMA Success
|The virtual machine was activated.
|Invalid Host
|The virtualization server is unresponsive. This can happen when the server is not running a supported version of Windows.
|Invalid Data
|This usually results from a failure in communication between the virtualization server and the virtual machine, often caused by corruption, encryption, or data mismatch.
|Activation Denied
|The virtualization server could not activate the guest operating system because the AVMA ID did not match.


text: Brooke Durst and Jeremy Wong were married on the bride's birthday, March 11, 2012, at the Collegedale Community Church in Collegedale, Tennessee. The couple met at Southern Adventist University where they both graduated with a BA in Religion. They currently reside in Kettering, Ohio where they are active in ministry. Parents of the bride and groom are Doug and Cheri Durst of Rock Spring, Georgia (formerly of Cedar Springs) and Alan and Lian Wong of Sellersburg, Indiana, respectively. Attendants included Heather Henning, sister of the bride and Michael Paskewicz, cousin of the Bride along with many other friends. Arryanna Rodrigues-Torres was a most lovely flower girl! The bride wore an ivory satin gown and red shoes to honor the Chinese tradition symbolizing joy and happiness. The groom was presented with a cowboy hat as he was welcomed into the Durst family. The wedding was live streamed and can be viewed at brookeandjeremy.info.


text:
Al-Qaeda Backers Found With U.S. Contracts in Afghanistan
Supporters of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan have been getting U.S. military contracts, and American officials are citing "due process rights" as a reason not to cancel the agreements, according to an independent agency monitoring spending.
The U.S. Army Suspension and Debarment Office has declined to act in 43 such cases, John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, said today in a letter accompanying a quarterly report to Congress.
"I am deeply troubled that the U.S. military can pursue, attack, and even kill terrorists and their supporters, but that some in the U.S. government believe we cannot prevent these same people from receiving a government contract," Sopko said.
The 236-page report and Sopko's summary provide one of the watchdog agency's most critical appraisals of U.S. performance in helping to build a stable Afghanistan as the Pentagon prepares to withdraw combat troops by the end of next year.
"There appears to be a growing gap between the policy objectives of Washington and the reality of achieving them in Afghanistan, especially when the government must hire and oversee contractors to perform its mission," said Sopko, whose post was mandated by Congress.
The Pentagon is scheduled to deliver its own Afghanistan status report to Congress today. Its appraisal, which is months late, will outline progress from October 2012 through March and concerns that deal with handing over security operations to the Afghan military.
Maintaining Oversight
The U.S. has 60,000 troops in Afghanistan, with plans to reduce the number to 34,000 by February. President Barack Obama hasn't decided how many to keep in the country after 2014 to train Afghan forces and engage in anti-terrorist missions.
Sopko expressed pessimism that the U.S. can maintain effective oversight of billions of dollars in reconstruction spending as forces are withdrawn. The Obama administration has requested $10.7 billion in such funding for fiscal 2014 to cover projects from improving local government to building roads and schools.
"Unless the U.S. government improves its contract-oversight policies and practices, far too much will be wasted," Sopko wrote.
According to the report, Sopko's agency "has found it impossible to confirm" the number of contracts awarded in a $32 million program to install barricades, bars or gratings in culverts at about 2,500 Afghan locations to prevent insurgents from placing roadside bombs. The explosives are the biggest killer of U.S. and Afghan troops.
'Hollow' Effort
The policy to create an effective Afghan Army, which has 185,287 troops, "will remain hollow unless Washington pays equal attention to proper contracting and procurement activities to sustain those forces," Sopko said.
He said that he is "well aware of the wartime environment in which contractors are operating in Afghanistan, but this can neither explain the disconnect nor excuse the failure."
As of May 31, the U.S. had committed $30 billion for contracts to build, train and sustain the Afghan army.
Sopko said he has witnessed the failings personally during his first year as inspector general, including 50 meetings he and his staff attended during his last trip to Afghanistan.
As of March, 40,315 of the personnel working under Pentagon contracts in Afghanistan, or about 37 percent, were Afghan locals, according to the report.
U.S. 'Enemies'
Regarding the 43 cases of contractors with militant connections, Sopko said the Army should "enforce the rule of common sense" in its suspension and debarment program. "They may be enemies of the United States but that is not enough to keep them from getting government contracts," according to the agency's report.
The Army's procurement-fraud branch reviewed the 43 cases late last year, Matthew Bourke, a service spokesman, said in a statement. The reviewers "did not include enough supporting evidence to initiate suspension and debarment under federal acquisition regulations," he said.
George Wright, another Army spokesman, said by e-mail that cutting off the contracts based only on information from Sopko's office "would fail to meet due-process requirements and would likely be deemed arbitrary if challenged in court."
Sopko said the Army "appears to believe that suspension or debarment of these individuals and companies would be a violation of their due-process rights if based on classified information" or on Commerce Department reports.
Workshops, Training
In a report issued yesterday, Sopko said $47 million that the U.S. Agency for International Development has spent on a program to stabilize Afghanistan hasn't dealt with the sources of instability.
An audit showed that after 16 months, none of the agency's essential program objectives have been reached and the money spent has mostly financed workshops and training sessions. The project is aimed at bolstering Afghanistan's government before troop withdrawals planned for next year.
"It's troubling that after 16 months, this program has not issued its first community grant," Sopko said. "Rather, it has spent almost $50 million, about a quarter of the total program budget, on conferences, overhead and workshops."
The failure of the State Department agency to use the money for grants has left local Afghan communities disappointed and may feed greater instability, according to the audit.
Tony Capaccio in Washington at firstname.lastname@example.com


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DetectID is the SugarCRM App of the Month for June 2013!
UPDATED 2013-06-19: Webinar moved to June 25th. Sorry for the inconvenience.
As many of you know, SugarCRM has run the App of the Month program for the past several years. Going forward, SugarOutfitters and SugarCRM will be working together to feature the best apps every month. We're really excited to work with SugarCRM on this program as finding the best apps in the SugarCRM ecosystem is already a big part of what we do!
Without further ado, DetectID Cloud for is the June 2013 SugarCRM App of the Month. The DetectID Cloud for SugarCRM helps ensure your SugarCRM SugarCRM data is safe and secure. They will give a live demo at the SugarCRM Community Webinar on June 25th at 11am EDT. To try out DetectID Cloud for SugarCRM, simply start a free trial today.
Your name, title and brief bio?
Daniel Ingevaldson, CTO of Easy Solutions, Inc. I'm responsible for the overall technology strategy for Easy Solutions.
When you designed and built this app, what problems were you looking to solve for SugarCRM users and how does the DetectID Cloud for SugarCRM solve those problems?
Easy Solutions has been a market-leader in building security and anti-fraud technology for banks and other financial institutions for many years. We have helped our clients protect their systems and account holders from constant and deliberate attacks from highly skilled adversaries. One primary technology that banks rely upon to protect their users is "multi-factor authentication" (MFA), which basically means that users need something beyond a simple password to access their accounts. The use of MFA protects users from simple "phishing" attacks which are designed to trick users into supplying their username and password.
These problems don't just affect big banks. There were almost 1,500 breaches of customer data publicly reported last year, and probably hundreds more that went unreported. In each of these events, personal information, account names, emails and/or passwords were stolen. Studies show that most users commonly reuse the same password for nearly every web site registration and many users are registered for hundreds. With the constant drumbeat of high-profile breaches, the circulation of hundreds of thousands of usernames and passwords in the online underground and the pervasive problem of extensive password reuse, nearly all cloud-based data is at risk.
Our goal with SugarCRM is to provide enabling technology for easy-to-use MFA for SugarCRM. The same technology that supports our financial services customers has been leveraged to provide SugarCRM users the extra security needed, without the extra hassle. With DetectID Cloud for SugarCRM, even if the user's password has been stolen, it is not possible to access SugarCRM data.
What unique or interesting ways does your product make it easy for users to use?
DetectID Cloud for SugarCRM supports two types of MFA. The first is "device authentication", which detects and fingerprints the user's computer during the first login. After the device is enrolled and associated with a specific user account, every login thereafter will trigger a check to see if the enrolled computer is behind the login. If not, it will not be possible to login. The second approach is called "mobile one-time-password", or mobile OTP. Mobile OTP allows users to login normally with a username or password and to enter a one-time-password from the Easy Solutions DetectID OTP iPhone or Android app. Mobile OTP turns any mobile device into a second factor. In both cases, if a password is stolen, account access is not allowed without the second factor.
What attracted you to being a part of the SugarCRM ecosystem?
The ecosystem. SugarCRM has a fantastic community of integrators, hosting providers and app developers. SugarCRM customers are attracted to the platform because it gives them the power to tune their instance to their specific requirements. Easy Solutions is interested in providing MFA technology to all enterprise applications because they are all equally vulnerable to these basic attack types.
What is your vision for DetectID Cloud for SugarCRM? What can we expect to see from DetectID in the future?
DetectID Cloud is built upon robust enterprise-class technology that supports authentication for millions of online users. Our vision for DetectID Cloud is to continue to expand the capabilities of the solution to provide customers with additional types of MFA and additional flexibility to deploy the right combination and security and convenience that is right for their users.


text:
Nicolas Poussin
The Complete Works
(15 June 1594 - 19 November 1665)
Nicolas Poussin (15 June 1594 - 19 November 1665) was a French painter in the classical style.
His work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. Until the 20th century he remained the dominant inspiration for such classically oriented artists as Jacques-Louis David and Paul Cezanne.
He spent most of his working life in Rome except for a short period when Cardinal Richelieu ordered him back to France as First Painter to the King.


text:
There are bands out there that can create a truly impressive wall of noise, that is overwhelming when you listen to it. But in comparison, Action Beat build the Great Wall of China.
The Bletchley-based band's debut is six songs of groovy rocking raving madness with 5 guitars and several drummers, not mentioning bass, trumpet, strings, gabbling etc.
An ultra-fun, high-power machine with loads of dynamics, that stands in the best tradition of Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham, Boredoms and the like.
Noise / No Wave madness with 5 guitars and several drummers. Essential!


text:
There are so many stars in our galaxy that even if planets with complex life (animals and plants) are rare – say one for every billion stars – there could still be dozens here in the Milky Way. But we are just beginning to learn about worlds beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, so we really don't have a good idea of what the chances are for advanced life. That's where NASA's Kepler mission comes in.
Currently, we have only one example of complex life –- our own. So we have to use conditions that give rise to this kind of life when we go looking for it elsewhere in the Universe. Essential ingredients in the recipe for life as we know it include liquid water; an energy source, such as sunlight or chemicals from volcanic activity; and a supply of raw materials in the form of critical elements like carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, to name just a few. The most likely places where all the ingredients will be present are rocky planets, like Earth, that are within the habitable zone of their parent stars.
The habitable zone is where the temperature is just right for liquid water to exist on the surface of an exoplanet. If the planet is too close to its star, it will be too hot, and you'll end up with a world like Venus, where the oceans have boiled away. Too far away, however, and you get something like Mars, where most, if not all, of the water on the surface is frozen.
The Kepler mission seeks to detect Earth-like, i.e., rocky planets in our galaxy within the habitable zone of their parent stars, by looking for planetary transit events. These are situations where the planet passes in front of its star as seen from our point of view, slightly dimming the star's brightness. Since planetary transit events are fleeting, and it is unknown how common they may be, Kepler will continuously observe some 100,000 sun-like stars (in about 100 square degrees of the sky in the Cygnus region) for four years.
Observing planetary transits is challenging, because the brightness changes are exceedingly small. For example, Earth is about one-hundredth the diameter of the sun, so from an alien point of view, when Earth passes in front of the sun, it obscures only a tiny area on the solar disk -- just one ten-thousandth. An alien watching Earth transit the sun would see our star's brightness drop by just one part in ten thousand. We expect similar faint eclipses when searching for Earth-like planets around sun-like stars. To detect such tiny changes in brightness, Kepler will be able to observe a brightness change as small as one part in one hundred thousand.
Other challenges for Kepler are brightness changes that arise from a natural variation within the star itself, rather than from a transiting planet. If a brightness change repeats at regular intervals, it's more likely to be from an exoplanet, since its orbit will make it transit at the same periods. Scientists with the mission will need to see the same change at least twice before it's considered a possible exoplanet. Since the mission has a limited time to make its observations, if a transit takes more than a year to repeat, it will be difficult to confirm as an exoplanet.
We can analyze a planetary transit event to discover basic characteristics of the planet. A large planet will block more starlight than a small one, so the size of the planet can be estimated by how much the star dims during the transit. A planet close to its star zips around it faster than one farther away, so the time between transits will give us an approximate distance of the planet from its star.
The planet will also tug at the star with its gravity. Much as the siren of a speeding ambulance changes pitch as it passes by – higher when it's moving closer, and lower when it's moving away -- this gravitational pull will cause the colors (spectrum) of the star's light to shift slightly – more blue if the star is moving toward us, more red if the star is moving away. Astronomers can observe this color shift with instruments that separate the star's light into its component colors, called its spectrum. By observing the amount of color shift in the star's spectrum, astronomers can get the mass of the planet relative to its parent star – more massive planets have a greater pull and will cause a larger color shift.
Most exoplanet detections so far have been made using this spectral shift. Such detections, however, tend to favor massive planets (about Jupiter's size or larger). With current technology, it's extremely difficult to detect Earth-sized planets using this technique.
Kepler will also be used to make discoveries about the stars themselves. There are many stars that are binaries (double stars). These binaries may exhibit eclipses. The Kepler mission data analysis program has a pipeline data processing that can discriminate the eclipsing binaries among the stars observed and will be analyzed accordingly. Binary stars, including cataclysmic variables (e.g., exploding stars such as novae) and intrinsic variable stars, including pulsating variables, that are observed with the Kepler satellite will present unprecedented opportunities to further astrophysical research.
The Kepler observatory was placed in an Earth-following orbit March 6, 2009. This mission has been conceived by William Borucki and Dave Koch of NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., and developed at NASA Ames.
Kepler is a NASA Discovery mission. NASA Ames is the home organization of the science principal investigator, and is responsible for the ground system development, mission operations and science data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. manages the Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., is responsible for developing the Kepler flight system and supporting mission operations.
Bron: nasa.gov
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- Swimsuits and Bikinis >
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text: Cloud computing, security and the mobile space hold the most growth potential in the coming years, according to IT professionals surveyed by tech staffing firm Modis. While no single technology dominated that portion of the study, which polled 502 tech workers on issues related to their jobs and the IT industry, those areas took the top three spots. Cloud computing earned 29 percent of the vote, security tallied 21 percent and mobile scored 18 percent.The technologies are linked, said Jack Cullen, president of Modis. As companies turn to cloud computing to deliver services over mobile devices, securing data is paramount, he said. "Security has got to be one of the first things you think about even before talking about mobile applications or strategy," he said. Firms first need to ask how they plan on securing their information in a cloud computing environment. "There's such a fear of what hackers can do around mobile devices that security is paramount," Cullen said. Companies need to consider what access their sales force will have, for example, what data needs protection and what information is too sensitive to be accessed via a tablet PC or smartphone. And with a myriad of companies including hardware makers and online retailers introducing mobile devices, these questions will need answers in the coming years."The battle that is being waged between Google and Apple is only going to advance this further," said Cullen.The study also looked into how likely workers are to switch jobs, with 64 percent of respondents expressing that they are content in their current positions and not looking to leave. A quarter of respondents would switch jobs if they were offered the right position, the results found. Part of this caution around pursuing new roles shows that people who kept their jobs during the economic downturn value employment stability, said Cullen. "I think people right now are very uncertain," he said. "They've come out of a recession that most people have never experienced before. People have put a premium on security in their job position. They're less hesitant to take a gamble and possibly be out of work. I think there's a lot to be said for stability today."This uncertainty extends to 2012's employment predictions, which are tied to the financial market's performance, Cullen said. The survey found that 65 percent of respondents predicted that team headcount would stay the same next year. Some IT professionals do foresee staff level increases, with 11 percent calling for significant hiring and 17 percent calling for marginal additions. "Employer optimism really follows Wall Street quite dramatically," he said. Strong markets lead to increased lending, giving businesses access to the capital to make IT investments and hire the staff to operate those systems, he explained. Tech gives firms a competitive advantage "so having cash to invest into IT is really vital to every organization today."Conducting the survey in the first quarter or early second quarter would have shown more businesses calling for greater hiring, he said. Now, with an uncertain market, "we're seeing a little bit of trepidation in the marketplace.""As we see the market edging up, as what we were seeing in October, I think the optimism becomes greater," Cullen said. "Whenever we start seeing some follow off and the market is down, that's where people are starting to get a little bit worried."Cullen added that hiring depends on the industry. Large financial institutions are "tentative" with plans to increase headcount, but technology companies "have a very positive outlook for the hiring in 2012."For their part, employers realize that attrition and turnover are not healthy for a business and are attempting to create positive work environments, he said. Keeping employees happy means allowing them to manage their own projects, said 70 percent of those polled. This edged offering a competitive salary and benefits, which ranked second at 62 percent. A premium is also placed on receiving technical training and being able to telecommute, with both categories being important to 61 percent of workers. "I think companies are really doing everything they can to retain the services of their good workers by creating those environments with flexibility, with great challenges and with empowerment," Cullen said. "Companies that put an emphasis on training their high-end tech workers are going to have a high chance of retaining them."Replacing a worker with specific domain knowledge acquired by several years of job experience is especially challenging, he added.


text:
Episode 121: OR Mappers with Michael Plöd
Recording Venue:
Guest(s): Michael Plöd
Host(s): Arno
In this episode, Michael Plöd is interviewed about Object-Relational Mapping technology. He talks about the common concepts, compares the range of different tools that go by this name, and goes into the design and architectural consequences of using an OR mapper.
- Persistence in the Enterprise
- Martin Fowler, Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture
- Grails : a web framework including O/R mapper for Groovy
- NHibernate : an O/R mapper for .NET
- Java Persistence API
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Tags: api, continuous integration, domain-driven design, operating system


text:
2018 Vermont Sports Hall Of Fame
These photos are FREE TO DOWNLOAD. Simply hover over the big photo on the right and "Right click" and choose "save photo as" and save to your computer. You can do whatever you want with the digital file including printing yourself. But if you don't want to do that and choose to order photos to be shipped to you, simply choose "Buy Photos".Read More


text: Greetings, The 1st annual *SciPy Conference* will be held this year at Caltech, September 2-3, 2004. As some of you may know, we've experienced great participation in two SciPy "Workshops" (with ~70 attendees in both 2002 and 2003) and this year we're graduating to a "conference." With the prestige of a conference comes the responsibility of a keynote address. This year, Jim Hugunin has answered the call and will be speaking to kickoff the meeting on Thursday September 2nd. Jim is the creator of Numeric Python, Jython, and co-designer of AspectJ. Jim is currently working on IronPython--a fast implementation of Python for .NET and Mono. Registration is now open. More information can be found here: http://www.scipy.org/wikis/scipy04 You may register early online for $100.00. Registration includes breakfast and lunch Thursday & Friday and a very nice dinner Thursday night. After July 16, registration will cost $150.00. Call for Presenters: If you are interested in presenting at the conference, you may submit an abstract in Plain Text, PDF or MS Word formats to email@example.com -- the deadline for abstract submission is July 1, 2004. Papers and/or presentation slides are acceptable and are due by August 20, 2004. We're also planning three days of informal "Coding Sprints" prior to the conference -- August 30 to September 1, 2004. Conference registration is not required to participate in the sprints. Please email the list, however, if you plan to attend. Topics for these sprints will be determined via the mailing lists as well, so please submit any suggestions for topics to the scipy-user list: list signup: http://www.scipy.org/mailinglists/ list address: email@example.com Please forward this announcement to anyone/list that might be interested. I look forward to seeing you at the conference. Best Regards, Travis N. Vaught


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text:
The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center is out today with a new analysis finding that President Obama's plan to end federal tax cuts for high-income earners would have very little impact on taxpayers in most Pennsylvania counties.
In over half of the state's 67 counties, fewer than 1 in 100 residents (that's 1%) would pay the higher marginal tax rate on income above $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for married couples.
In most counties, only a small number of individuals are affected. In 24 counties, fewer than 200 high-income earners would pay the higher rate. Almost two-thirds of the top earners who would be impacted reside in just six Pennsylvania counties.
Under President Obama's plan, families earning over $250,000 would keep other tax breaks on the first $250,000 of income, including a lower bottom tax rate and preferential tax rates on capital gains and dividends — a savings of $12,112 per taxpayer. The top tax rates would be restored to those in effect in the 1990s when the nation added 23 million jobs.
The PBPC county estimates are based on 2010 taxable income data published by the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. You can read more about the estimates and analysis here.


text:
Adam Jones often wondered just how deafening Camden Yards got back when the Orioles were competing for division titles years ago.
The Orioles center fielder usually turned to head trainer Richie Bancells, who has been with the team for nearly three decades, and asked, "How loud can this place get?"
In the eighth inning of a tie game Thursday night — in front of a sellout crowd of 46,298 at Camden Yards — Jones hit the biggest home run of his career, a shot to left that led the Orioles to an another resilient, 10-6, win over the New York Yankees.
"After I hit that home run," Jones said, "[Bancells] came up to me and said, 'That's how loud this place can get.'
"Honestly, this is what the 90s must have been like here."
Jones' 28th homer was one of the Orioles' season-high six home runs on the night, including three in the bottom of the eighth after the O's blew a five-run lead in the top half of that inning. The win pulled the Orioles even with New York atop the American League East standings.
With 25 games remaining in the regular season, the Orioles (77-60) are not only tied with the Yankees, but they've won six of last eight games against New York.
Their six homers were the most in a game for the Orioles in more than five years, and the final three allowed them to survive the bullpen collapse.
"It's one of those things, what are you going to do?" Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Are you going to bleed or do something about it? I think everybody in the dugout knew [the Yankees] were going to make a run at us. It was just kind of how you respond to it. I was real proud of them."
Showalter also noted that he "really liked the look in our guys' eyes from the time the game started."
The Orioles returned to Camden Yards from their road trip unsure of the reception they'd receive for this critical four-game series. Starting arguably the most important homestand in 15 years, the Orioles were welcomed by a sea of orange.
Fourteen years of disappointment turned into decibels of excitement. The game was already nearly sold out because of the pregame Cal Ripken Jr. sculpture unveiling, 17 years to the day that Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak.
"I may also add," Ripken said during his speech, "being an Oriole is about playing meaningful games in September."
The current Orioles took it from there. And when Jones took a 1-2 cutter from Yankees reliever Dave Robertson (1-6) into the left-field seats to give the Orioles a 7-6 lead, Camden Yards rocked.
Eighteen of Jones' 28 homers have either tied the game of given the Orioles the lead. Jones called that one the biggest hit of his career, and the win the most important since he's been an Oriole.
"The biggest hit I've ever had, and hopefully I can have one later this month that's even bigger," Jones said.
Sizzling first baseman Mark Reynolds added a two-run homer two batters later, his second home run of the night. Reynolds, who now has 20 homers on the season, has eight homers in his last seven games, including three two-homer games in that span.
Chris Davis followed Reynolds' second blast by taking the first pitch he saw from lefty Boone Logan to right field for his 24th homer of the season.
Catcher Matt Wieters' opposite-field three-run home run in the first capped a four-run inning off Yankees right-hander David Phelps.
Robert Andino hit his first homer since July 14 in the fourth, a solo shot off Phelps. Reynolds added a solo homer in the sixth inning.
Baltimore Orioles Insider
Making his first start since July 13 after arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, Jason Hammel held the Yankees to one run on six hits over five innings, striking out six and walking two.
Hammel attacked the Yankees' batting order, throwing 17 of 21 first-pitch strikes, but he suffered a scare when Robinson Cano's comebacker hit off his right elbow in the fourth inning. Hammel remained in the game, a visible bruise on his elbow, and Cano eventually scored the Yankees' only run off the right-hander.
Orioles set-up man Pedro Strop couldn't hold a late-inning lead for the second time against the Yankees this week. He came on with two on and two out in the eighth inning but failed to get out of the inning, allowing both inherited runners and three others to score. Strop also allowed two inherited runners to score in a 4-3 loss to the Yankees on Saturday in the Bronx.
But all was forgotten after the Orioles' eighth-inning homer flurry, allowing Jim Johnson to close out the ninth in a non-save situation.
"I figure on Cal Ripken statue night we can't lose right?" Hammel said. "That's not allowed. So the baseball gods might have had a part in it."


text:
It's not terribly surprising when a band, nearly ten years into their careers, starts to mellow out a bit. Even the fiercest of punk bands seem to remember owning an acoustic guitar. But when it's an electro-folk band, there's a question of how much a band can logistically mellow.
Tunng have gotten a little less energetic with every album, a solemnity made most apparent by the less prominent role percussion has played in the arrangements and mixes. But there is a sombre tone about Turbines, their fifth full length set, that suggests a shift in the band's collective mood.
It sounds like a Tunng album, to be sure, and this seems like the perfect moment for them to be releasing an album. With the retro-aping resurgence of folk and acoustic pop - to sometimes infuriatingly derivative and socially tone deaf extents - Tunng continue to showcase the beauty of songs that are acoustic at their core but are permitted to flourish through electronics.
There is a real sense of experimentation to Turbines, perhaps because the electronic elements, whether they're keys or Theremin, feel truly integral to the songs rather than add-ons. It shows that Tunng's notion of folk is built around song structures rather than simply use of acoustic instruments. It's why steel drum sounds make perfect sense in a song that is in no way meant to invoke images of the Caribbean. It's the kind of authenticity that so many bearded boys in shabby dress wish they could achieve.
Though most of Turbines reflects that sort of rainy day sedateness to their songs, the emotion that emerges from their temperate deliveries is stunning. There are a few standout vocal arrangements, such as the chorus of 'By This' that has Mike Lindsay, Becky Jacobs, and Ashley Bates's voices knocking each other down like dominoes, and the weaving of harmonies on the verses of 'Embers'.
Tunng have been moving towards this downbeat place slowly, and their arrival here shows a real cohesion in them as songwriters and as a band. It's less the sound of a band losing their edge and more the sound of them finding their zen.
7Amanda Farah's Score
8User Score


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Java Curation
This guide will show you how to curate Java games and animations using Flashpoint Core, as well as dealing with any problems that may come up in the process.
This page is accurate as of Flashpoint Core 9.
Recognizing Java applets
Unlike other technologies such as Flash or Shockwave, Java applets are most commonly embedded on a page using an applet tag rather than an object/embed tag. Finding these tags is important since they're necessary to get the games running in Flashpoint.
Here's an example of the most basic type you can find:
<applet code="iceblox.class" width="390" height="350"></applet>
Here's a more complex example that shows certain parameters being passed to the game and that the class files may be packaged in a JAR/ZIP/CAB archive. If you tried to run this game on a browser that didn't support Java, you'd only see "Unfortunately, your browser does not support Java". This can be a good way to know if the web game or animation you're trying to curate uses Java.
<applet code="gamehouse.SuperApplet.class" archive="Collapse.zip" height="400" width="460" viewastext mayscript> <param name="cabbase" value="Collapse.cab"> <param name="canvas" value="Collapse.CollapseCanvas"> <param name="bgcolor" value="FFFFFF"> <param name="textcolor" value="000000"> <param name="buyurl" value="http://get.games.yahoo.com/proddesc?gamekey=spcollapse"> <param name="target" value="_blank"> Unfortunately, your browser does not support Java. </applet>
Java applets may also be embedded using the object and embed tags, although this appears to be less common:
<object classid="clsid:8AD9C840-044E-11D1-B3E9-00805F499D93" codebase="http://java.sun.com/products/plugin/1.2/jinstall-12-win32.cab#Version=1,2,0,0" width="100%" height="100%" name="Rockz" alt="Java applet failure"> <param name="code" value="rockz.Run.class" > <param name="archive" value="rockz.jar" > <param name="name" value="Rockz" > <param name="type" value="application/x-java-applet;version=1.2"> <embed code="rockz.Run.class" archive="rockz.jar" name="Rockz" type="application/x-java-applet;version=1.2" width="100%" height="100%" alt="Java applet failure" pluginspage="http://java.sun.com/products/plugin/1.2/plugin-install.html"></embed> </object>
To find these tags, right-click the page with the applet, click "Inspect Element" or "View Page Source" and then search for "applet".
Curation steps
Flashpoint runs Java applets offline by using an application called the AppletViewer. You can think of it like the equivalent to a Flash projector. Let's take a look at a simple example by curating the game "Realspace 2 - Emperor's Revenge" from
Open this page in your browser. You should see the text saying that Java is not enabled or installed. This indicates that it's a Java game, so we should take a look at the page's source and try to find the applet tag. If we search for "applet", we'll find the following:
<applet width="500" height="500" code="gameapp.class" archive="gameapp.jar"> <param name="SIZE_SCALE" value="1.0" /> If you see this message you do not have Java enabled or do not have Java installed.
Please see Java.com to download the latest version of Java. </applet>
Note that the page could have also written the tag dynamically which means that you wouldn't be able to find it by just checking its source. In this case you would use your browser's "Inspect Element" option and search for it there.
In your Flashpoint Core directory, go to the
Curatetab and press the
New Curationbutton on the top right corner. In the
contentfolder, create a series of directories that match the original site's structure. In this case, we'd create four directories, each inside the previous one:
Navigate to the last directory (in this case
\en\) and create the HTML file that will contain the applet tag we found in step 1. You should give it the same name as the original site. In the case there isn't one, you can just create a file called
Open the file you've just created in a text editor and paste the applet tag in there.
<applet width="500" height="500" code="gameapp.class" archive="gameapp.jar"> <param name="SIZE_SCALE" value="1.0" /> </applet>
Enter the game's title, platform, application path, and launch command in the respective text fields. In this case, they would be:
Title: Realspace 2 - Emperor's Revenge Platform: Java Application Path: FPSoftware\startJava.bat Launch Command: http://www.miniclip.com/games/real-space-2/en/index.html
The platform should be the same for all Java curations. Make sure that the launch command starts with http:// and not https://
Run the game initially and look at the Logs tab in the Flashpoint launcher to see what assets the game is requesting. Download the game's assets (code, images, sounds, etc) and put them in the correct directories so that they also match the original site's structure. It's possible that all the files needed are inside the archive (called gameapp.jar here). If they were and we didn't need any additional files then we could move onto the next step.
However, for this and most other Java games, the archive only has the game's code. We still need to download the rest of the assets. This can be done in several ways, including:
- Downloading these files manually by pasting their URLs into a web browser.
- Using a tool like wget or cURLsDownloader to download the assets from specific URLs. This is especially useful if you want to download the files from the Wayback Machine (see this section for more details).
- Using a tool that automatically downloads these files from the original site as they're requested by the game. See the MAD4FP page for more details on how to do this.
You can now test your curation in Flashpoint Core. You can start the game by pressing the
Runbutton at the bottom of your new curation. You should now see the game running in the AppletViewer:
- Fill the rest of the fields and submit your curation by following the Curation Format. For more information on how to curate games for Flashpoint, refer to the Curation Tutorial.
Curation tips
You may sometimes see a parameter in the applet tag called
cabbasethat specifies a CAB file. This was used to allow the same applet to run in different browsers - Netscape Navigator would download the JAR or ZIP in the archive attribute while Internet Explorer would download the CAB in the cabbase parameter. Although the AppletViewer doesn't request this file, you should still include it in your submission for preservation's sake.
The AppletViewer ignores everything in the file it reads except for the tags that embed a Java applet. You can see the tag that was read by the AppletViewer by going to
Applet > Tag....
You can sometimes find more information about the author, version and copyright of an applet by going to
Applet > Info...in the AppletViewer.
Be aware of how HTML comments can affect the parameters specified in the applet tag. For example:
<applet code="game.class" width="100" height="100"> <param name="param1" value="abc">  </applet>
If you run the applet in the AppletViewer using
startJava.bat, both parameters are set. Otherwise, if you run it in a browser using
startJavaInBrowser.bat, only
param1is set.
If a Java game requests external assets during gameplay and you don't have time to play through the entire game, try opening the game's .class or .jar files with a Java decompiler such as JD-GUI. Images and sounds are often loaded using
Applet.getAudioClip(), respectively. Alternatively, you can open them in a hex editor such as HxD, though this will make it hard to know how and when the game is requesting assets. References to external assets are often plain text strings, so you may try searching for common asset types such as .gif and .jpg images or .au sounds.
Regardless of the method used, you can make a list of these assets, then download them from the internet and add them to the game's directory. All of these tools are linked in this section.
Application paths
This section will list all the possible values for the
Application Path field in the metadata and launcher. Both of these currently use Java 8 update 181. If you encounter any problems that you think might be solved by using an older Java version, read the steps in the troubleshooting section first. Note that Flashpoint doesn't currently support Java Web Start or Microsoft Java.
FPSoftware\startJava.bat to run the applet in the AppletViewer (as we saw in the example above). If you use this application path, put the URL to the file that contains the
<applet> tag in the
Launch Command field. For example:
Application Path: FPSoftware\startJava.bat Launch Command: http://www.example.com/game/index.html
If the URL contains spaces, replace them with
%20. For example:
Launch Command: http://www.example.com/game/index%20with%20spaces.html
You can also pass extra command line arguments to the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) by placing them after the URL. These options must be prefixed with -J. For example:
Launch Command: http://www.example.com/game/index.html -J-Duser.language=en -J-Duser.country=US
Read the troubleshooting section to see how these may be used to solve some common problems.
If the URL contains an ampersand character (&), wrap it in double quotes. This happens when you use PHP to set certain parameters dynamically in the applet tag. For example:
Launch Command: "http://www.example.com/game/index.php?param1=value1¶m2=value2"
Where "value1" and "value2" could change what the parameters are set to.
FPSoftware\startJavaInBrowser.bat to run the applet in a browser. Unlike the application path mentioned above, you don't have to necessarily put the URL to the file that contains the
<applet> tag in the
Launch Command field. For example:
Application Path: FPSoftware\startJavaInBrowser.bat Launch Command: http://www.example.com/game/index.html
The previous notes about the launch commands also apply, with the exception of the extra command line arguments. If you use
startJavaInBrowser.bat, these options are not prefixed with -J. For example:
Launch Command: http://www.example.com/game/index.html -Duser.language=en -Duser.country=US
In addition to this, you must always follow the next two steps. These will ensure that the applet is allowed to run in its domain with the correct Java version.
Add the game's domain to the end of the exception site list file in
FPSoftware\Java\JDK_1.8.0_181\jre\lib\exception.sites. For this example, this would be
http://www.example.com/. If you're curating multiple games from the same domain, you only have to do this once. Be sure to include this information in the
Curation Notesfield in the metadata. For example:
Before testing the game, add http://www.example.com/ to the exception site list file in FPSoftware\Java\JDK_1.8.0_181\jre\lib\exception.sites
Add these two parameters to the
<param name="java_version" value="1.8.0_181"> <param name="separate_jvm" value="true">
If the applet uses an
<embed>tag instead, these parameters would look like:
<embed java_version="1.8.0_181" separate_jvm="true">
These parameters have no effect if the same applet is launched in the AppletViewer via
Every applet that runs in a browser will show a security prompt that must be accepted before starting. To make this clear to Flashpoint users, add the following to the beginning of the
Game Notes field in the metadata:
This Java game will run in a browser. Make sure to accept any security prompts that show up while playing.
Since in-browser Java applets are currently only supported on Windows, you should provide an option to launch them in the AppletViewer (if possible). You can do so by making an additional application called
Play in the AppletViewer with the
startJava.bat application path, and by adding the following to the
Game Notes field in the metadata:
If playing in a browser doesn't work, try using the "Play in the AppletViewer" option under Additional Applications.
When to run applets in a browser
You should run Java applets in a browser if any of the following conditions are met:
- The page has two or more applets that communicate via JavaScript. Note that it's possible for multiple applets to communicate with each other using the AppletViewer, provided they do so using the
- The applet relies on page element interaction (e.g. pressing buttons) to be played.
- The page contains other multimedia elements that enhance the experience. For example, the page might embed Flash or Shockwave movies, or play music (MIDI, MOD).
These aren't hard requirements, you can curate any applet using
startJavaInBrowser.bat if you feel like it captures the original experience. If you decide to curate an applet using this application path, you should also include any other assets (images, sounds) that are embedded on the same page.
Browser curation tips
function start_it() { document.game.clickStart(); } <applet code="noids.class" width=240 height=263 name="game"> <param name="java_version" value="1.8.0_181"> <param name="separate_jvm" value="true"> </applet>
This wouldn't work because the applet tag uses the attribute
name. To fix this, we would need to change it to
<applet code="noids.class" width=240 height=263 id="game">
If the web page tries to play MIDI or WAV audio using the
<bgsound>tag, you must convert it to an equivalent
<bgsound src="game.mid" loop="infinite"> <embed type="audio/midi" src="game.mid" loop="true" autostart="true" hidden="true"> <bgsound src="game.wav" loop="infinite"> <audio src="game.wav" loop autoplay></audio>
<bgsound>is ignored outside of Internet Explorer, you should keep it alongside the new tags for future reference.
Debugging Java applets
If an applet doesn't seem to be working properly, check if any error occurs while it's running. You can see what the applet writes to the standard output and error output by editing the batch files specified in the Application Path. It's highly recommended that you enable these features when curating Java applets.
FPSoftware\startJava.bat and change
"java" to
"javadebug" in the following line:
FlashpointSecurePlayer -n "java" -sw %*
A separate window containing the applet's output will now show up everytime you run the AppletViewer.
FPSoftware\startJavaInBrowser.bat and change
OFF to
ON in the following line:
This will always show the Java console when the applet runs and will place a Java icon in the system tray, which you can use to bring up the console at any time.
Finding Java applets in the Wayback Machine
Since Java applets were first introduced in 1995, it can sometimes be hard to locate files belonging to older games. This section will show you how to more easily find these by using the Wayback CDX Server API. For example, if you wanted to see what Java games hosted on Shockwave.com were saved by the Wayback Machine, you could use the following query:
url=*.shockwave.com/says to search in every Shockwave.com subdomain.
filter=original:.*(\.class|\.jar|\.zip|\.cab|\.au).*says to only show the URLs that contain these file extensions: .class, .jar, .zip, .cab, and .au.
fl=original,timestamp,statuscodesays to show three fields in this order: the URL, timestamp, and HTTP status code.
collapse=urlkeysays to only show unique URLs.
Now that we have this list, we can scan it for Java games. For example, the game Cubis:
http://www.shockwave.com/content/cubis/sis/cubis.jar 20180828052922 200 http://www.shockwave.com/content/cubis/sis/sounds/allcubes.au 20180828054857 200 http://www.shockwave.com/content/cubis/sis/sounds/blank.au 20180828055355 200
Note that this game also uses .jpg and .gif images. We didn't include these file extensions in the query above since it would also include every unrelated image from Shockwave.com. Now that we know where to look, we can locate every file in the game's directory with the following query:
url=www.shockwave.com/content/cubis/sis/*says to show every URL with that prefix.
We can now see the additional files that were excluded by the first query:
http://www.shockwave.com/content/cubis/sis/images/o_solid.gif http://www.shockwave.com/content/cubis/sis/images/panel.jpg http://www.shockwave.com/content/cubis/sis/images/piece_marker.gif http://www.shockwave.com/content/cubis/sis/images/rim_b.jpg
To download these assets for your Java curation, create a text file with these URLs and then add
http://web.archive.org/web/1id_/ to the beginning of each one. The
1id_ segment tells the Wayback Machine to use the original file, without any modifications. Then, drag the text file onto the cURLsDownloader tool to start downloading them (read its help file for more details). For more information on the Wayback CDX Server API, refer to the documentation on its GitHub.
Useful tools and resources
This section will link to external tools and resources that may be useful to learn more about the technology or to try to get certain games and animations working.
- API Specification for Java SE 8.
- AppletViewer: general documentation, how it handles different tags
- Bytecode Editors: dirtyJOE, JByteMod. Always check if there's a simpler way to get Java applets working. Only modify the original files as a last resort!
See also: Helpful Tools.
This section will cover some of the problems that may arise when curating Java games and animations. It's highly recommended that you enable the debugging options mentioned above when curating Java applets. If you're experiencing an issue not mentioned in this section be sure to ask for help in the
#curator-lounge channel in the Flashpoint Discord server.
The applet closes immediately when I try to run it
The AppletViewer will close immediately if it can't find the specified file or if this file doesn't have an applet tag. You should check if the launch command is correct and if the file has a valid applet tag in it.
The applet is trying to request files that are suspiciously missing from the original site
If the class files are packaged in JAR or ZIP archives, be sure to open them and check if the missing files are there. If they are, extract them to the same directory as the archive. Some Java games have trouble loading assets from inside these archives and will instead try to load them externally. Note that you'll never have to extract class files.
The applet isn't displaying certain characters correctly
Try setting the correct character encoding and locale properties in the AppletViewer. For example, if a game from GeoCities Japan needed to display Japanese characters, you would add all of the following to the end of the game's launch command:
-J-Dfile.encoding=UTF8 -J-Duser.language=ja -J-Duser.country=JP. If you're running the applet in a browser with
startJavaInBrowser.bat, remove the -J prefix.
You can also see what the current character encoding and locale settings are in the AppletViewer by using
-J-XshowSettings. If you're running the applet in a browser with
startJavaInBrowser.bat, don't use this option. Instead, enable the Java console and press 's' to show the current settings.
If you would like to know more about which character encodings and locales are supported in Java 8, see:
- https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/guides/intl/encoding.doc.html
- https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/java8locales-2095355.html
The applet ignores the Tab key's input
If the applet doesn't seem to be registering the Tab key's input, then follow the next steps:
- Download this ZIP which contains a wrapper applet that will fix this problem before loading the main applet.
- Put
FlashpointDisableFocusTraversalKeysWrapperApplet.classnext to the applet's class files or archives.
- Add the following parameter to the applet tag:
<param name="flashpointClassToLoad" value="">, where the value is the one specified in the code attribute. Remove the trailing
.classif there is one.
- Change the code attribute to
FlashpointDisableFocusTraversalKeysWrapperApplet. The wrapper applet will run before loading the main one.
This wrapper disables all forward and backwards focus traversal keys (like Tab and Shift-Tab), so that these key events become available to the key event listeners. These keys would normally be used to change the keyboard focus in components like buttons and text fields. Applets affected by this problem expect the Tab key's input to work since they were made before Java 1.4 (2002) where this change was introduced.
Here's an example of a modified applet tag from the game Teslatron, where the second player uses the Tab key to drop bombs:
<applet code="FlashpointDisableFocusTraversalKeysWrapperApplet" width="523" height="367" archive="client_hacked.zip"> <param name="flashpointClassToLoad" value="client.RobombClient"> <param name="cabbase" value="client.cab"> <param name="game" value="123"> <param name="on-site" value="true"> <param name="noPlayers" value="2"> </applet>
For more information on key listeners and focus traversal keys in Java, see the following pages:
- https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/events/keylistener.html (in particular the first version note)
- https://www.developer.com/java/other/article.php/2244591/Changing-Focus-Traversal-Keys-in-Java-V14.htm
The applet doesn't work properly in the AppletViewer and shows the following error: netscape.javascript.JSException
The applet doesn't start and shows the following error: java.lang.ClassFormatError: Incompatible magic value 1008813135 in class file
This error means that the class file is in fact just an HTML file. This is likely due to being served a 404 page because the class file is missing. Try opening the file in a text editor or browser to confirm this. The value 1008813135 represents
<!DO, in other words, the start of an HTML
<!DOCTYPE> declaration. You may see a different magic value in the error depending on the wrong type of file you were served. The class file format is always supposed to have 3405691582 (0xCAFEBABE in hexadecimal) as the first four bytes.
The applet doesn't start and shows the following error: java.lang.ClassFormatError: Name index 0 in LocalVariableTable has bad constant type in class file
This error means that Java encountered a problem while checking if the class file is formatted correctly. You can fix this by adding the following option to the end of the launch command:
-J-Xverify:none. If you're running the applet in a browser with
startJavaInBrowser.bat, use
-Xverify:none instead.
This command line argument tells Java to skip the bytecode verification step, meaning this error will be ignored and the applet can continue running. Note that this should be done sparingly, and only when you know it's an error of this nature. You should always check if the applet works correctly after using it.
This same fix also applies to the following errors:
java.lang.ClassFormatError: Invalid start_pc 65535 in LocalVariableTable in class file java.lang.ClassFormatError: Illegal field name "?" in class
More information about this error: when compiling Java source files, you can specify certain debug options, one of which generates information about the local variables of each method (the LocalVariableTable attribute). This error happens when there's a single LocalVariableTable that is invalid according to the class file format. It seems to be most common with applets in the late 1990s and early 2000s which were compiled using older Java versions.
Developer specific troubleshooting
This section will cover some problems that commonly show up when curating Java games and animations from specific developers. This might also be useful if you're experiencing similar issues in applets made by developers that aren't listed here. If you're experiencing an issue not mentioned in this section be sure to ask for help in the
#curator-lounge channel in the Flashpoint Discord server.
If a game crashes after your score reaches 1,000 points, try changing the locale property to English (US). You can do this by adding the following after the game's launch command:
-J-Duser.language=en -J-Duser.country=US. If you're running the applet in a browser with
startJavaInBrowser.bat, remove the -J prefix.
Note that you won't experience this issue if this is already your default locale. To avoid curating a game that might crash for another player, try playing the game with the following locale settings:
-J-Duser.language=es -J-Duser.country=ES. You can also see what the current character encoding and locale settings are in the AppletViewer by using
-J-XshowSettings. If you're running the game in a browser with
startJavaInBrowser.bat, don't use this option. Instead, enable the Java console and press 's' to show the current settings.
Why this happens: the game uses
NumberFormat.getInstance() to get a number format to format the player's score. This method uses the default locale, meaning that a number like one thousand is formatted as either
1,000 or
1.000 depending on your locale. The game's score font data is only defined for the numbers 0 through 9 and the comma, but not for the period. While the game is iterating over the formatted score string, the image data relative to the period will be returned as null, causing the game to eventually throw a NullPointerException when it accesses the image's attributes.
GameHouse Java games are both site and time locked, which means that they can only be played in certain domains and before a certain date. These game check where and when they're being played by requesting a file called
license.txt which contains one or more license keys. Each key is associated with a domain name and expiration date. The idea was that game portals like Shockwave.com or Yahoo! Games would pay GameHouse to renew their licenses. If a game detects that it's being played after this date, then it won't start and will print the following:
Init 2.4 Date Value 1567034208000 Please Contact GameHouse, Inc. for configuration instructions.
If you're collecting a game's assets by using a tool like MAD4FP, you can set your system clock to the year 2000 before running it.
If you already have all the game's assets and want to curate it, change the contents of the
license.txt to the following:
#gamehouse.com Ajeaarvtzvfaapntzpjtziftzjgaakwszrgaabgaachaariszmesz
After doing this, you have to move the assets to
gamehouse.com (and not www.gamehouse.com). This new license key has no date associated with it, and was meant for GameHouse to host their own games without having to worry about expiration dates. Since you are moving the files from their original source, you can use the following directory structure:
If you'd like to learn more about GameHouse's Java games installation instructions, see this page.


text:
A Spoonful of Sharpness Helps the Sugar Go Down in Saving Mr. Banks
- Christa Banister Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer
- 2013 20 Dec
DVD Release Date: March 18, 2014
Theatrical Release Date: December 20, 2013
Rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements, including some unsettling images)
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Run Time: 125 min.
Director: John Lee Hancock
Cast: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Annie Rose Buckley, Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, Paul Giamatti, Bradley Whitford, B.J. Novak, Jason Schwartzman, Kathy Baker
After seeing the first trailer for Disney's Saving Mr. Banks several months ago, I thought, "Oh, that'll be a cute movie about creative differences." By pitting a headstrong writer against the person - namely one Walt Disney - hoping to make her novel accessible for the masses, Saving Mr. Banks would basically serve as a family-friendly version of the art vs. commerce debate, right?
No doubt, much of Saving Mr. Banks highlights the considerable gulf between varying visions for a big-screen Mary Poppins adaptation. What I wasn't prepared for, however, was the total gut punch explanation of why Mary, a fictional character, was so important to her creator P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson, Nanny McPhee Returns) and ultimately worth protecting in the first place. Note: You'd be wise to have a good stash of Kleenex nearby.
As it turns out, there's far more to Mary Poppins than the endlessly cheery songs she belts out. She was also an all-too-real reminder of Travers' troubled childhood and having to deal with grim, unsettling realties that forced her to grow up much too fast.
In a series of beautifully rendered flashbacks, we're introduced to young Ginty (newcomer Annie Rose Buckley), which is the nickname her beloved father (Colin Farrell, Total Recall) gave her.
Ginty is clearly the one joy in Mr. Travers' disappointing life, but as much as he'd like to, he simply can't stop drinking. Naturally, this makes holding a job and paying the bills rather difficult, and the family is forced to move from Australian city to city more often than they would like, especially given the condition of Ginty's emotionally frail mother Margaret (Ruth Wilson, The Lone Ranger). After all, starting over again wasn't really starting over again, it was just more of the same.
Although he's typically known for playing much rougher, tougher characters, Farrell lends a surprising warmth and pathos to his role. As flawed as he is, we totally understand why Ginty unconditionally loves him, and these scenes are easily some of the film's best moments from an emotional standpoint.
Back to that first story, you know the one I'd been expecting, it's Thompson who winds up stealing this show. If it wasn't for her decidedly sharp edges as a woman who isn't easily seduced by the Disney machine, thinks California has an inordinately funny smell, and hates Jell-O, the movie might not be palatable. In a twist from one of Mary's songs, it's the sugar in this film - not the medicine - that wouldn't go down without Thompson's performance.
Not surprisingly, the story also serves as a nice bit of positive propaganda for the Disney behemoth, but if one checks his/her cynicism at the door, there's still a thoroughly likeable story that emerges as Walt (Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips) attempts to make good on a 20-year promise. This man who is used to getting whatever he wants told his daughters he would make sure that Mary Poppins—and that umbrella of hers—would one day grace the big screen.
The journey to the premiere is a rather uphill battle. But as Travers' book sales have dwindled and she faces losing her lovely London home, she finally takes a meeting with the very man she'd been turning her nose up at for two decades. Flying to Los Angeles, a funny exercise all its own given Travers' rather brusque demeanor, she has a lengthy list of requirements before even considering signing the rights to Poppins over. In addition to having full script approval, a writer's dream that rarely comes true, Travers also insisted the movie couldn't be a musical or feature any animated characters.
Anyone who's seen the 1964 film knows how that ended up, but Travers does put up a pretty good fight. After some careful persuasion, she eventually comes around on the music and reluctantly sits down with the intrepid songwriting team (B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman, who are clearly having fun) and screenwriter Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford, The Cabin in the Woods). While their collective visions couldn't be more different (and this plays out rather humorously again and again), they find common ground in wanting to make a film that's worthy of the story.
And that's precisely what happens with Saving Mr. Banks, too. While probably scrubbed clean of too much controversy and carefully edited to serve Disney's legacy, there's still plenty that's praiseworthy about this film. The underlying message of unconditional love for the undeserving—the very portrait of grace that's at the center of every Christian's story—is alone a theme worth celebrating again and again.
CAUTIONS (may contain spoilers):
- Drugs/Alcohol: Social drinking and cigarette smoking depicted. Ginty's beloved father really struggles with abusing alcohol
- Language/Profanity: A single use of dam-, a couple of misuses of God's name.
- Sex/Nudity: None
- Violence/Disturbing Images: As a man nears his death, he's shown coughing up blood. When he's under the influence of alcohol, he stumbles off the stage of a local event. A young mother considers suicide and starts walking into the nearby waters to drown but is saved by her young daughter.
Publication date: December 20, 2013