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Militant preacher a focus for Asian terror hunt
Indonesia, once known for its moderate brand of Islam, is facing new scrutiny as an Al Qaeda hub.
A grandfatherly Indonesian cleric is being fingered by Malaysian, Filipino, and Singaporean intelligence officials as the leader of an Al Qaeda-backed terror network in Southeast Asia.
While unknown to the West until now, Abu Bakar Bashir has been a minor star among the global followers of militant Islam for nearly 40 years.
Mr. Bashir (also spelled Ba'asyir), who runs a Muslim boarding school, denies any links to Al Qaeda or terrorism. Indonesian police have questioned, but not arrested him.
But as counterterrorism experts investigate Bashir, and look more closely at other groups, perceptions about Indonesia are changing. The conventional wisdom - that most Muslims here are moderate, and therefore militant movements won't have influence - is obsolete, says Suzaina Kadir, a professor at the National University of Singapore.
The nation's older, establishment Muslim organizations are splintering, she says, and new political groups are emerging to take their place, some of which are winning supporters with Islamic rhetoric - and action.
In a statement last week, Bashir praised Osama bin Laden as "a true Muslim fighter," and said the US is "the real terrorist." The US is "waging war on Islam, not terrorism," he said. Bashir stresses the glory of "dying an Islamic martyr" so often that it's almost a personal motto.
Until recently, his views would have been dismissed as belonging to an irrelevant fringe in the world's most populous Muslim nation. But as the war on terror has exposed the depth of Al Qaeda's penetration into Southeast Asia, counterterrorism experts are beginning to reassess the influence of clerics like Bashir in this sprawling archipelago.
Leaders of some of the nation's largest Muslim organizations have supported his views, and Indonesian officials privately say that they won't arrest him for fear it could provoke a Muslim backlash against President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Singapore and Malaysia say they have evidence that Bashir is the leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional terrorist group that was working with Al Qaeda to blow up the US Embassy in Singapore and provided logistical support to the Sept. 11 attackers in the US.
Those two countries currently have 35 alleged members of that group in detention, many of whom received Al Qaeda training and technical assistance. The latest edition of Newsweek cites FBI sources as saying one of the men in custody in Malaysia met with two of the Sept. 11 hijackers in January 2000, and bankrolled Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged principal planner of the Sept. 11 attacks, who is in US custody.
But Indonesia has been reticent to move against Bashir, which has Washington fretting that Indonesia could become a place of refuge for Al Qaeda operatives. "There are a lot of bad guys out there,'' says a US official in Jakarta.
Last week, Indonesia did question Bashir about his activities. "For the time being, the questioning has been suspended,'' says Suryanto Bakrie, one of his lawyers. "They asked a lot of questions about his activities, but he assured them he has no links to terrorism.'' He says Bashir has returned to his school in Central Java.
Bashir is just one of the Indonesian clerics who has an affinity for and shares an ideology with Al Qaeda. While he denies direct links to the group, he is well known to militant preachers in Saudi Arabia's puritanical Wahabi or Salafy school of Islam who have inspired and supported bin Laden and the Taliban.
For years, this radical minority in Indonesia operated in relative obscurity during the 32-year reign of the secular dictator Suharto, who outlawed Muslim political activity and jailed and harassed the preachers he considered a threat. Suharto's policies simply drove the movements' leaders underground, say experts here.
The 63-year old Bashir was one of them. From a poor family, his formal education stopped when he dropped out of sharia law school to preach to the masses, according to local press reports.
In the 1960s, he ran pirate radio stations that broadcast the call to jihad across the rice paddies of Central Java. In 1971, he established a puritanical Muslim boarding school in the court city of Solo, many of whose graduates have fallen afoul of the law here and elsewhere. And from 1978 to 1982 he was in jail for trying to start an Islamic militia. Shortly after his release, he was convicted again - for subversive political activity. He fled, along with Abdullah Sungkar, his closest collaborator, to Malaysia to escape prison.
During their years in exile, the two men gathered a group of like-minded Indonesians, Malaysians, Filipinos, and Singaporeans around them, articulating in writings and teachings their vision for a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia, Singapore intelligence officials say. Sometimes they referred to themselves as the Jemaah Islamiyah, or the Islamic Group.
In a 1997 interview with an Australian Muslim magazine, Mr. Sungkar, who was identified as the leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah, said the group's goals were to "establish the supremacy of Islam [in Indonesia] by the strategies of preaching, strategic evasion, and Jihad.''
He said the group's primary forerunner was the Darul Islam, a violent movement that tried to establish an Islamic state on Java before being crushed by nationalist soldiers in the early 1950s. Bashir, however, told reporters this year that the Jemaah Islamiyah is "simply a study group."
Only a week after Suharto fell in May of 1998, Bashir and Sungkar jointly penned a political manifesto that was published in regional Islamic magazines. They said Suharto had held power by use of "a strategy of deceit and torment devised by... Chinese and Christians." It said that "corruption, crime, nepotism, and various other misdeeds will only be ended by the laws of Islam."
By early 1999, they had come home, seizing on the daylight for political organization that Suharto's fall had created. That year they were instrumental in the creation of the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI), an umbrella group for organizations that want to make Indonesia an Islamic state. Sungkar died soon after, and Bashir became the movement's head.
"Suharto's fall has paved the way for the emergence of political Islam on the level of the masses,'' says Din Syamsuddin, secretary general of the Indonesian Council of Ulamas, which is an umbrella for mainstream Muslim groups.
The MMI busied itself holding seminars on Islamic law, sending volunteers and money to help in sectarian fighting between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia's Maluku provinces, and seeking new followers. In September and October of last year, according to local press reports, the MMI signed up hundreds of young men and promised to send them to Afghanistan to fight. The plan fell through when Pakistan restricted border access.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's transition to democracy has been far from smooth, with separatist and communal conflicts flaring across the country. Generals who lost political power when Suharto fell are angling to get it back, and President Megawati's government has been struggling to contain separatism and a breakdown in law and order in many provinces.
Some groups are capitalizing on the change. Since Suharto's fall, groups like the Islamic Defenders Front and the Laskar Jihad have used vigilante attacks against gambling dens and brothels, and participated in attacks on Christians, to press their goals. While outside of the mainstream, their leaders are regularly quoted on the front pages here, and are rarely sanctioned by authorities.
These groups "are a minority but they are a very loud minority that can shift the discourse toward something more radical than Indonesia has ever seen before,'' says Professor Kadir at the National University of Singapore.
In part, Indonesia's more democratic atmosphere is making this possible. Under Suharto, any party with a religious agenda was outlawed. But now, scarcely three years after his fall, more than 20 percent of the members of parliament favor sharia, or Islamic law.
Many of the new leaders, like Bashir, say political Islam is the only potential solution to the corruption and violence that flourish here. That argument is proving increasingly persuasive to citizens weary of a government that has failed to address their aspirations for change, Kadir says.
Syamsuddin is representative of large numbers of Muslim leaders who, while neither militant nor campaigning for an Islamic state themselves, have some admiration for the stand some groups are taking in Indonesia.
"They have a high degree of moral sensitivity towards organized crime and evil - prostitution, gambling, sins, and the state has shown no capability to overcome these problems so their motivations are admirable. Don't call them radicals - they are a moral movement,'' says Syamsuddin. He says allegations that Bashir is a terrorist have been concocted "as a scenario to diminish Islam in the world. This is part of the clash of civilizations between Islam and the West."
Officials in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines disagree. All three nations have arrested alleged members of the Jemaah Islamiyah. Singapore calls Bashir the "controlling figure" behind the Singapore bomb plot, and a number of the arrested men, at least eight of whom received training in Al Qaeda camps, have said Bashir was their leader. One of the men in Malaysian custody, Mohammad Iqbal Rahman, is a board member of Bashir's MMI.
Earlier this month, police in the Philippines arrested Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, an Indonesian who had studied at Bashir's boarding school, saying he had been involved in a Manila bombing two years ago that left 22 dead and had been working as a trainer for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is fighting to establish an Islamic state in the southern Philippines.
Investigators in Indonesia are hoping Al-Ghozi's arrest could provide a break in another bomb case. In August 2000, a powerful car bomb destroyed the Philippine ambassador's residence, killing two people.
At the time, Indonesian officials said they thought the attack was carried out by local sympathizers of the MILF. During the police investigation, some Indonesian Muslim figures claimed that Bashir had been developing links with the MILF and sending some of his students to the Philippines for training. But the police never linked him to the bombing.
There have been other recent allegations of Al Qaeda ties with Indonesia. A Spanish magistrate said last year that a Spaniard he had jailed for allegedly assisting in the Sept. 11 hijackings had received training at an Al Qaeda camp on the island of Sulawesi.
Diplomats in Jakarta say visits to the site of the alleged camp, now abandoned, are inconclusive as to what its function was and who ran it.


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Ancient Egypt
Page by Anneke Bart
Kings and Queens
4th dynasty
Seneferu, Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure, Djedefre, etc.
11th dynasty
Kings named Mentuhotep and Intef
12th dynasty
Amenemhet I - IV,
Senusret I-III
18th dynasty
Amenhotep I-IV,
Tuthmosis I-IV, Akhenaten, Tutankhamen, Aye, Horemheb, etc.
19th dynasty
Sety I-II, Ramesses I-II, Merenptah, Amenmesses, Tawosret.
20th dynasty
Sethnakht, Ramesses III
Ramesses IV - XI
25th dynasty
Alara, Kashta, Piye,
Shabaka, Shabataka,
Taharqa, Tanutamun, etc.
Cleopatra VII Philopator
Queens (D1-6)- Old Kingdom
Queens (D11-13) Middle Kingd.
Queens (D16-20)- New Kingdom
Queens (D21-29)- Late Period
Officials, Priesthood etc.
Viziers (New Kingdom)
High Priests of Amun
God's Wives of Amun
High Priests of Ptah
Viceroys of Nubia
Who's who of New Kingdom
Amarna Period
Queen Nefertiti
inscriptions Queen Nefertiti.
Queen Kiya
Tombs at Amarna
Houses at Amarna
Valley of the Kings,
Valley of the Queens
Theban Tombs,
Tombs at Abydos
Tombs at El Kab
Tombs in Aswan
Early dynastic Saqqara
New Kingdom Saqqara
The Unis Cemetary
Mastabas at the Giza Plateau
Giza Mastabas 1000 cemetary
Giza Mastaba 2000 cemetary
Giza Mataba 2300 cemetary
Giza Mastaba 4000 cemetary
Giza Mastaba 5000 cemetary
Giza Mastaba 6000 cemetary
Giza Mastaba 7000 cemetary
Mummy Caches
Amenhotep son of Hapu
Comments: email firstname.lastname@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


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The chick David Arquette nailed during his break from Courteney Cox couldn't have been too "shocked" when her sex tape went public ... because she had been SHOPPING IT herself for months!!
Sources close to Jasmine Waltz tell TMZ ... the 28-year-old and her manager set up a meeting with porn giant Vivid Entertainment last year hoping to lock up a deal to star in her own XXX video ... and she even SIGNED A CONTRACT!
We're told Waltz agreed to a deal that would pay her $60k up front PLUS 25% of the "back end" profits ... plus Waltz would have been able to personally select the "male talent."
But after Waltz signed the deal, sources tell us, things went sour ... and somehow Jasmine's "private" homemade XXX flick surfaced on her own website, realjasmine.com ... and not with Vivid.
Waltz had released a statement saying, "I'm absolutely shocked that the public is now going to see what I made with my boyfriend on Valentine's Day."
Suuuuuuure she was.


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Steps to beat the residential metal roof
Metal roofing materials are becoming more common on residential structures and they present an array of problems for firefighters
We hear it and teach it frequently: Building construction and fire behavior are areas in which firefighters and officers must be well versed.
However, we never really identify the specifics of those two topics, which are broad at best, leaving us with the same old classes of construction types and light-weight construction. It is high time we get specific with building construction and what it means tactically for firefighter and officers.
With the recent event involving a metal roof at a residential structure, it is a good idea to address some challenges when operating on and below metal roofs. Every type of construction and its components creates a different set of challenges that we must be prepared for.
Although, in this case, the residential structure was wood frame, it had components more commonly found on commercial buildings. The differentiation between residential and commercial construction methods is becoming much less obvious.
Roof basics
No matter what type of roof we are operating on there are some very basic tactics that should be employed.
- Use a roof ladder and operate off of it.
- Operate from the up-wind side.
- Have more than one way off the roof.
- Use full PPE including SCBA, and be on air when there is active fire below.
- Have the right tools to do the job; this may include saws, blades, hooks and axes.
- Communicate with the interior crew and command about your efforts and the effectiveness of those efforts.
- Get down as soon as your task is complete.
Residential metal roofs aren't all that new, but we are seeing an increase in their use, primarily due to the economics and durability of the material. These metal roofs are not those of your grandparents or great-grandparents where they were just plain metal or tin. Today's metal roofs are coated to withstand ultraviolet rays and harsh weather conditions and to allow for attractive colors.
What lies beneath
The real problem is not so much the metal roof as much as what lies beneath it. The unknown layers of asphalt shingles or other roofing material is what really creates the problems for us on the inside.
Not knowing what and how much material is below the metal roof means ventilation may take longer — and the need for multiple tools and blades is very real. We must expect problems when operating on these roofs and venting them.
Additionally, these materials insulate the attic spaces, like they are supposed to, and when these roofs try to off-gas this insulation creates more heat and gas that has nowhere to go. The metal roof does not off-gas and deflects the heat to the only place it can, down.
Three options
This forced downward pressure can cause the interior environment to change for the worse rapidly and unexpectedly for firefighters operating on the interior. There are only three ways to avoid this, don't make the interior, get to the fire fast to make a quick knock down and finally to ventilate the space to allow trapped heat and gases to escape.
Making the push faster is dependent upon the training and experience of the suppression crew and the number of firefighters moving the line. If we don't have the resources to move the line quickly on a progressing fire, we may have to alter our interior attack tactics until we can get appropriate resources or get the space vented.
Not going in is an option, but one we don't like, especially if the space is tenable when we arrive. But, any time we are making the push on the interior and deciding to put crews inside, we must consider what is going to happen minutes from now and plan for those expectations. That might mean that we keep crews out of the building.
Venting is a viable option if we can determine some characteristics about the fire and the roof.
- Do we know where the fire is?
- Do we know where the fire is going?
- Can we determine what type of roof assembly we are dealing with, such as truss versus legacy rafters?
- Do we have the resources to make an efficient, coordinated attack with ventilation?
We cannot blindly put firefighters on any roof. We must have a very good idea where the fire is in order to effectively perform vertical ventilation on any roof, especially a metal roof. Venting at the wrong location can contribute to fire spread and making conditions worse.
We also need to understand where the fire is going. For the same reasons we need to know where it is, we must have an educated idea of where it is going. We don't want to get crews trapped on a roof by fast advancing fire in an attic or upper level.
Obviously, we have more stability and mass to deal with when operating on a legacy-built roof as compared with engineered truss roof systems. It does buy us a little time, but don't get a false sense of security. If the roof sheeting becomes compromised, falling into the space below is a real hazard.
Finally, we must have the resources to perform the tasks. You may need to consider alternate tactics like horizontal ventilation due to the lack of resources to perform all of the functions of a well-coordinated attack.
Special hazards
While actually operating on a metal roof some hazards and extra challenges that you need to be prepared for are:
- Metal roofs can be slick even when dry, but especially so when wet or covered with ice and snow.
- They cover older roofing materials; take extra tools that will allow you to penetrate multiple materials.
- Look for discoloration on the metal as a sign of where the roof sheeting is very hot or compromised.
- Roof ladder hooks may not penetrate and grab the metal roofing material, extra effort may be needed to seat the roof ladder.
As with any tactic, training and knowledge are key. You must understand how these systems work and choose tactics based on that knowledge. Practice placing ladders and operating on pitches if at all possible and know the capabilities of your tools. Communicating that your progress is positive or negative is an absolute so that the interior crew can make a safe exit or alternative ventilation tactics can be deployed in a timely manner.
Train hard and learn the lessons from others and be productive. I'll see you next month, right here From the Fireground.


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Every time I listen to music on iTunes or VLC, I notice that the process coreaudiod causes an unusually high CPU usage (5% or more).
Are you having the same issue? What's the reason for such a high CPU usage?
Recent OS X updates have not changed this observation. Restarting (or killing the process so it respawns) doesn't fix the problem. After a couple of seconds, CPU usage of coreaudiod goes above 5% again.
It's important to note that using line out makes the problem go away and coreaudiod's CPU usage goes down to 1%-2%.


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Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing448
Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing448
Related collections and offers
On a summer day in 1674, in the small Dutch city of Delft, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek—a cloth salesman, local bureaucrat, and self-taught natural philosopher—gazed through a tiny lens set into a brass holder and discovered a never-before imagined world of microscopic life. At the same time, in a nearby attic, the painter Johannes Vermeer was using another optical device, a camera obscura, to experiment with light and create the most luminous pictures ever beheld.
"See for yourself!" was the clarion call of the 1600s. Scientists peered at nature through microscopes and telescopes, making the discoveries in astronomy, physics, chemistry, and anatomy that ignited the Scientific Revolution. Artists investigated nature with lenses, mirrors, and camera obscuras, creating extraordinarily detailed paintings of flowers and insects, and scenes filled with realistic effects of light, shadow, and color. By extending the reach of sight the new optical instruments prompted the realization that there is more than meets the eye. But they also raised questions about how we see and what it means to see. In answering these questions, scientists and artists in Delft changed how we perceive the world.
In Eye of the Beholder, Laura J. Snyder transports us to the streets, inns, and guildhalls of seventeenth-century Holland, where artists and scientists gathered, and to their studios and laboratories, where they mixed paints and prepared canvases, ground and polished lenses, examined and dissected insects and other animals, and invented the modern notion of seeing. With charm and narrative flair Snyder brings Vermeer and Van Leeuwenhoek—and the men and women around them—vividly to life. The story of these two geniuses and the transformation they engendered shows us why we see the world—and our place within it—as we do today.
Product Details
|Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
|Publication date:
|Product dimensions:
|6.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.60(d)


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The Archive contains a comprehensive collection of material on the history of AFS – documents, letters, images, video clips, audio files, literature and some biographical information on ambulance drivers and, to a lesser extent, AFS notables. Please refer to "The Archive of the AFS Foundation" when using material from the archive.
Please bear in mind that this is a work in progress and that additions are being made on an on-going basis. Should you find some mistakes, feel free to contact us.


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SUNY Stony Brook
Internal Medicine, 1975 - 1978
Gastroenterology, 1978 - 1981
Mineola, NY 11501
At NYU Winthrop Hospital, part of NYU Langone Health, we provide the highest level of inpatient and outpatient medical care to adults and children through our extensive and growing network of Long Island healthcare facilities. NYU Winthrop Hospital, formerly known as Winthrop-University Hospital, is a 591-bed medical center located in Mineola. We offer care in nearly every specialty and subspecialty of medicine and surgery, and are recognized leaders in treatment for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. We combine this breadth and depth of services with a compassionate and personalized approach to care.
We are home to Nassau County's only adult Level 1 Trauma Center certified by the American College of Surgeons with full adult and pediatric capabilities. Our trauma center team, part of NYU Winthrop Hospital's Department of Emergency Medicine, provides advanced care to adults and children who have serious or life-threatening injuries.


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The U.S. economy lost tens of thousands of jobs in September, and the unemployment rate stayed at a high level. There are nearly 15 million Americans out of work and millions more seeking better jobs.
The U.S. unemployment rate stayed at 9.6 percent in September, while the overall economy had a net loss of 95,000 jobs.
Friday's report from the Labor Department says governments shed 159,000 jobs, including many state and local workers. At the same time, private employers added 64,000 jobs.
Watch Mil Arcega's Companion TV Report:
U.S. President Barack Obama says private sector job growth is moving the economy in the right direction, but the government needs to help state and local governments keep workers like teachers and police who provide vital services. "We have to keep doing everything we can to help accelerate this recovery. Yes, the trendline in private sector job growth is moving in the right direction, but I'm not interested in trends or figures, as much as I am interested in the people behind them, the millions of hard-working Americans swept up in the most devastating recession of our lifetimes," he said.
Speaking at a small business in Maryland, Mr. Obama said he has been working to make loans and tax breaks available to small businesses because they are usually a prime source of new jobs.
This is the last report on unemployment before November's congressional elections, where the economy is a key issue.
High unemployment is making many voters angry, and that is likely to bolster the chances that opposition Republicans will take seats in Congress away from President Obama's Democratic Party.
Government experts say there are 14.8 million Americans out of work and 9.5 million more who are working only part-time but want full-time employment.
They also say it is taking an unusually long time for people to find new work, with nearly 42 percent of the unemployed out of a job for half a year or longer.


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MP3 Music Editor is an audio editor for Windows, with visual editing function and various practical features, allowing you to perform as many as operations with audio data as you want.
When you open an audio file with MP3 Music Editor, it displays a waveform window, in which you could filter, apply various audio effects – with more than 20 sound effects and 6 filters provided, you could easily enhance the quality of the sound files. You could also convert file format and it supports a wide range of major formats. MP3 VBR codec and Windows Media 9 format are also well supported. Furthermore, you could edit ID3 tag and acquire CDDB information.
- Editing – You could open, create and save audio files. It can also be used as a music player to play an audio file or any selection of it. It provides visual editing an audio file with basic operations of cutting, copying, deleting, pasting, mixing, and inserting or deleting noise or silence.
- Display – A waveform window that supports various zoom displayed and the displayed Window shows sound in an easy-to-manipulate form.
- Recording – Supports recording from various sound source like microphone, internet streaming media, cassette, CD/DVD player, external LP, AM/FM/Satellite radio, etc.
- Effects – Abundant sound effects offered such as amplifying, delay, equalizing, fade in/out, flanger, inverse, normalizing, reverse, multi tap delay, silence, stretching, vibrato, echo and chorus.
- Filters – As many filters as you need to filtering the selection – High Shelf Filter, Low Shelf Filter, Notch Filter, Ban Pass Filter, High Pass Filter, Low Pass Filter.
- Formats supported – Almost all major sound formats are supported, such as WAV, WMA, MP3, MP2, Ogg Vorbis, Dialogic VOX and Audio Tracks.
- Converting – Fastest converting speed and detailed setting of different formats as well as resampling conversion provided.
- ID3 tag Editing – Supports inserting and changing information of an audio file about Album, Artist, Copyright, Title, Year, etc.
- Markers – Markers could be helpful to memorize your selected parts and quickly select between different parts!
- Selection tool – Selecting a part of the sound file would never be more precise and convenient.
- Ease of use – MP3 Music Editor provides a customizable interface, which allows you to build projects as you want. Standard Windows keyboard commands and mouse shortcuts also supported.


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Tag: Isolani »
This Week at 148Apps: March 24-28, 2014
Apps Are Us
How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor's Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.
Game of Thrones Ascent
Game of Thrones, both the TV series and the novels that serve as the source material, can be best described as dense. Game of Thrones: Ascent is similarly dense, but may be fun for people who welcome the density. Ascent takes place around the beginning of the series – players control a new noble trying to find their place among the figures that rule Westeros and ascend to the Iron Throne. Players can customize a variety of factors, including their stats – prefer to fight with the sword, or with a forked tongue? Want to rise under the Lannister barrier, or as a Targaryen? Many options, including one's lineage, are available. --Carter Dotson
Star Wars: Assault Team
I admit that Star Wars: Assault Team did not leave me very excited when I first heard of it, if only because I'm perhaps a bit jaded when it comes to collectible card games and free-to-play RPGs. Well, I went in with an open mind, and found that while the game is certainly simple, it's not dumbed down. True to form, players collect cards of characters in the Star Wars series, featuring various tiers of cards that can be earned in story missions or bought in card packs purchased with soft or hard currency. Then characters can be upgraded by using item cards and spending more and more soft currency per upgrade to make them stronger for later story missions and when the PVP becomes available. There's also limited-time promotion missions to help promote coming back on a regular basis. It's a fairly-familiar formula to say the least. --Carter Dotson
When it comes to gameplay vs. graphics, gameplay is totally where it's at as far as puzzle games are concerned. Tetris on the original Game Boy has visuals straight out of a late 70s calculator, and yet it's still a perfect video game. It's strange then that Glint tries so hard to look so pretty while leaving its gameplay to suffer. The tradeoff succeeds, but is it worth it? In Glint, multicolored circles flood onto the screen and players must clear them before they fill the map completely. To clear circles, players simply swipe their fingers across circles of the same color in one continuous stroke. It doesn't even matter if the stroke touches other circles along the way. Short swipes are good for fast matches, but longer swipes lead to more points. Players can also purchase power-ups that extend swipe range or clear multiple circles at once. --Jordan Minor
Ravensburger Puzzle
I'm not convinced there's any game out there that could capture the joy that comes from clicking in the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle. It's too tactile in its satisfaction for even the rather excellent Ravensburger Puzzle to achieve. However, Ravensburger Puzzle does also circumvent the issue of having to collect up all the pieces and put them back in the box, so that's something. Either way, it's a great app for the jigsaw fiend. Included for the asking price are a bunch of puzzles ready to be tackled, as well as some in-game coins that can be used to buy more. Expect to chip in for a few more images via some in-app purchases but it's nothing too harsh. With each image, it's possible to create a jigsaw of between 20 and 500 pieces, covering all skill levels. --Jennifer Allen
The Collectables
A simple to learn strategy game, The Collectables starts out pretty fun. That is until one scratches under the surface and soon learns that it encapsulates much of what's most infuriating about freemium games. The set up is decent. Players control a bunch of renegade soldiers as they complete a series of missions of similar proportions. These typically involve wandering through stages and shooting the foes in one's way before collecting or destroying various targets. It's simple stuff but it works well on the mobile format, given much can be achieved in a short space of time. --Jennifer Allen
Pixel Hunter
I would like to soundly punch in the face the wisenheimer who thought that virtual d-pads were good enough to make precisely controlling platformers a viable option on iOS. Allow me to clarify. I don't wish harm on the developers of Pixel Hunter over at Lemondo Entertainment; I'm sure they're all great, hardworking folks. I'm really speaking in general terms of the main frustration that I have with this game and others like it. If old-school platforming is where timing and positioning are the difference between triumphant progression and a frustrating restart is going to be the crux of a game, then it either requires tactile feedback or needs to be extremely forgiving. Unfortunately, Pixel Hunter doesn't hit the bullseye on either mark. --Rob Thomas
Other 148Apps Network Sites
If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:
Glyph Quest
Glyph Quest is another in the crowded field of combat puzzlers. Will it cast a spell on you? Glyph Quest boils down to a long series of fights that take place across a map. There are dozens of fights to get though and between fights earned coins can be used at the shop to buy new upgrades and items to help in battle. Glyph Quest has highly focused and enjoyable gameplay. The game takes the form of a battle, like a lot of puzzle games today. Matching elemental symbols results in an attack of that element, the more symbols the stronger the attack. Alternating between elements results in bonus damage if opposite elements are used, but linking opposing elements in the same attack results in a backfire, which damages your mage. A steady stream of abilities and spells are unlocked as the player levels up, enemies are nice and varied and there are plenty of status effects and other quirks to force players to mix up their strategies. For example, goblin mages can hide all the tiles under question marks and spiders can use web attacks that make certain tiles unavailable to use in a combo. --Allan Curtis
Ignis Castle Adventure
In gaming, one incontrovertible fact is that one can't — or rather shouldn't be able to — go wrong with a platform runner. I mean, they are simple and straight to the point. Thus, a lot of times, games like Ignis Castle Adventure have the built-in advantage of familiarity. The playing area is crafted in 2D, with the overall look of an old-age dungeon. The animations are decent enough, with the purposefully monochrome look broken by bright splotches here and there. --Tre Lawrence
Doodle Tank Battle
Doodle Tank Battle brings simple battle to the world of tank conflict. There are two main modes, Campaign and Endless. Using Campaign as the initial play mode, one can use the tutorial to gain familiarity. The playing area is designed to be used in top-down fashion, with the home tank being green, and the red tanks signifying enemy units. The tanks are simple, genial affairs; the terrain differs slightly from level to level, but mostly retain the same design elements. The control layout can be tweaked, but by default there is a liberal joystick on the left, and tapping on the right incites firing. The controls are responsive, and everything on this end is fairly intuitive. --Tre Lawrence
And finally, this week over at Pocket Gamer you'll find previews of Isolani, Midnight Star, and Noir Syndrome, the top games from the GDC Big Indie Pitch, the most anticipated mobile games for April, tips for beginner Boom Beach players, first impressions of the HTC One M8, and loads more. Go go go.
It Came From Canada, Philippines Edition: Isolani, the Next Game from The Drowning Creators Scattered Entertainment
After last year's The Drowning promised big things but failed to live up to its potential, DeNA's Scattered Entertainment has been quiet. Well, at least in the sense that the studio has been quiet about its work - Ben Cousins remains a very vocal personality on Twitter. But as far as their next game? It's remained relatively unknown until now, when a new game called Isolani became unearthed in the Phillippines App Store. So, I brushed up on my Tagalog for this edition of It Came From Canada, Philippines Edition!
This is another first-person shooter, but it's pretty much the opposite of what The Drowning was. Where that game was an earthbound mission-based zombie-killer, this is a level-progression-based (with story!) spacebound robot-killing FPS. Well, okay, it's about as opposite as first-person shooters get. Players must navigate a hazardous space station environment with a hostile AI summoning robots to take players out. This is still built for mobile experiences: all the levels of the nine available early on take three-to-five minutes to play. Each level has a specific weapon selection, with upgraded weapons available for purchase later on, though effectively unavailable for the first chapter.
Interstingly, the touch-based control scheme of The Drowning has been abandoned in this early version of the game in favor of standard virtual dual-sticks with autofire enabled, with a manual fire button and a weapon switching and reloading buttons being the only other input. I'd be curious to try that control scheme with this game - the controls failed in The Drowning in large part due to the need to walk backwards, which was difficult to execute, but this game is a lot more built around forward momentum. Still, being able to move wherever necessary helps out a lot, and the auto-firing simplifies a lot of things.
Really, even Isolani's early setup seems to be just about establishing the very core of the game: most objectives are simple, like taking out a certain number of robots, shooting switches, or finding MacGuffins. So really, time will tell just how Isolani fares, but it's a great fit for pick-up-and-play gameplay with its short levels, and the story-based structure could lend itself to some clever level design and combat situations. I'm intrigued - but it's clear there's a long way to ago and a high target to be reached for Scattered Entertainment.
Really, even Isolani's early setup seems to be just about establishing the very core of the game: most objectives are simple, like taking out a certain number of robots, shooting switches, or finding MacGuffins. So really, time will tell just how Isolani fares, but it's a great fit for pick-up-and-play gameplay with its short levels, and the story-based structure could lend itself to some clever level design and combat situations. I'm intrigued - but it's clear there's a long way to ago and a high target to be reached for Scattered Entertainment.


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Be Part of the Solution!
Do something today to reduce greenhouse gas emissions!
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the key to solving global climate change. A major way these gases get into the atmosphere is when people burn coal, oil, and natural gas for energy. Everyone uses energy, and everyone can be part of the solution!
But don't forget that climate change is already happening. We're seeing some of the impacts now, and we'll experience more in the future. So we need to prepare and plan for the changes we know are coming.
- Learn about technologies that reduce the amount of greenhouse gases being added to the atmosphere.
- Discover actions you can take to save energy and slow climate change. Simple actions like turning off lights, conserving water, and recycling all make a difference.
- Explore ways people can prepare for climate change.
What Are Renewable Resources?
Renewable energy resources include sunshine, wind, and flowing water. These resources are renewable because they won't run out or they can be replaced within a few years or decades.
Learn more about renewable resources.


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Right from the parking lot while we're getting our park permit a pack of pachyderms parade by. There a little ways off, but it's still a rare sighting for this part of Tanzania.
Not 50m into the park we meet twigga - the giraffe! They were just hanging out chowing down. It was pretty cool to see them so close and not in a cage or zoo.
ARUSHA NATIONAL PARK, TANZANIA: Giraffe.
Curious zebera.
Relaxing in the grass.
The flashy black and white colobus monkey in the trees just off the road.
The sausage tree.
The colobus monkey shows off his tail.
Our lunch break overlooks the Ngurdoto Crater.
Baboons in the road.
Warthog in the field.
More baboons along the pond.
The African classic: Flat Topped Acacias.
When Mt. Meru erupted 6,000 years ago, the lava, mud and ash clogged the river and formed these lakes. Because the lakes have no egress except evaporation, the minerals pile up and the lakes have become alkaline.
The critters roam and feed all together in a dried up lake bed.
Baboon on the go!
The blue monkey grabs a snack.
A wardhog and piglets!
An interesting combo, an egret and warthog.
The buffalo take it easy in the mud.
Piglets on the run!
On the drive back to Moshi, we pass some Massai walking across a field.
We also passed the unique candelabra tree.


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Ringing In 2012 Around the World
As we ring in 2012 here at Google Sightseeing, we know that you, too, are celebrating the New Year. Of course, depending on where you are around the globe, you're celebrating it at very different times – sometimes more than a day apart! With that in mind, here's your guide to the first – and the last – places on Earth to enter 2012.


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Pam Muñoz Ryan
Pam Muñoz Ryan writes stories that often feature strong female protagonists. In this exclusive video interview, Pam Muñoz Ryan discusses her stories and winning the 2000 Pura Belpré Medal for Esperanza Rising.
Video Interviews
Dumplings and enchildadas
Well, I was born and raised in Bakersfield, California, in the San Joaquin Valley. I was the oldest of three daughters, and I'm the oldest of 23 grandchildren on my mother's side. So, when people ask me, "What was your childhood like?" I tell them the truth. It was noisy. I have a lot of fond memories of big family gatherings at my Mexican grandmother's house.
My other grandmother also lived nearby. She lived out in Arvin, California, and she was from Oklahoma. So, one Saturday I would go to one grandmother's house, and I would eat fried chicken, black-eyed peas, smothered greens, and peach cobbler with big, fat dumplings that would stay in your stomach for about a week. And the next weekend, I'd go to my other grandmother's house and eat red mole and enchiladas, rice and beans, and lamb stuffed with garlic. I had a really interesting, fun childhood.
One of the things that I think prepared me the most for being a writer was that I was blessed with a lot of big blocks of unchoreographed time and a lot of benevolent neglect that gave me the opportunity to spend a lot of time playing and developing my imagination. And I'm really thankful for that.
A basket full of books
When I was in fifth grade, we moved across town, and I was the new kid at school. I didn't really fit in. I was too tall. My feet were too big. My clothes weren't right. And I started going to the library every Tuesday after school with a friend of mine. My mother worked, so she couldn't take me to the library on a regular basis. Her mother stayed home and took her every Tuesday, and I started going with them. I'm not sure why I fell into books, but I suspect it was because I was coping through them. They became redeeming to me, because I could escape into them. So that's really when I got sort of obsessed with them and then spent most of my time riding my bike to a little branch library in East Bakersfield, and loading up my bike basket with books and coming home and spending an awful lot of time reading. But it was how I adapted to my new environment.
A princess life in Mexico
When I was growing up, she would frequently mention her life in the farm labor camps, and so I always knew about that part of her life. But it wasn't until I was a grownup and had my own children and she would come to my house and spend two weeks at a time with me on various occasions that she would sit around and reminisce about Mexico. I was an adult before I knew anything about her Mexican life, living in Aguascalientes, and what it was like for her to grow up there. It was sort of a revelation to discover that she was actually wealthy and that she had servants, because I always thought that her beginnings sort of began in the farm labor camp. In my mind, there wasn't anything before that. And so it was very much an epiphany to discover that she had this whole other sort of princess life in Mexico.
A head start
I became a bilingual Head Start teacher in Escondido. After that, I got married and stayed home with my children for a number of years. I went back to school to get my master's in education. After I had turned in some work, a professor came up to me one day after class and asked me to stay after, and she asked me if I'd ever considered doing any professional writing. Up to that point, I hadn't. But, you know, once she planted the seed, I really couldn't stop thinking about it.
I finished my master's, and I became an administrator of an early childhood program, and I did that for five years. But I was already starting to write.
Farm labor camps
Most people are familiar with the federal camps that John Steinbeck made famous with his novel The Grapes of Wrath, when the federal government came in and set up massive tent cities for the immigrants from the Dust Bowl. But before that, in the early thirties, most of the immigrants stayed in company camps.
On my mother's birth certificate, on the line that is reserved for the name of the hospital, it says "DiGiorgio Farms." She was born in the Mexican camp.
Esperanza Rising
Esperanza begins as a very pampered and spoiled daughter of a landowner in Aguascalientes, Mexico, and she has a very privileged life. She has servants, she goes to private schools, and she really has never known any other way to live. She comes from a very loving family, but a series of circumstances happen, and her father is killed, and she must flee to the United States with her mother. She sort of accepts that on face value, but she doesn't really realize what's going to happen to her or the change of station that's going to occur for her in her life.
And so they make this journey. They end up in DiGiorgio Farms in the San Juaquin Valley, living in a farm labor camp and having to share a very tiny cabin with a number of people. The story shows her evolution and how she was forced to grow into an independent, young woman.
Amelia and Eleanor go for a ride
I'll give you a little background on Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride. I was reading an adult book one day called Hearts of Fire. In this book was a series of articles about famous American women and myths about them. The word "myth" was in the subtitle. So, I came across this one paragraph about this evening in 1933, when Amelia Earhart spent the night at the White House and took Eleanor Roosevelt for her first night flight over Washington, D.C. Well, because the word "myth" was in the subtitle of the book, I thought, "Oh, I wonder if this is true –or, maybe it's just one of those stories like George Washington cutting down the cherry tree."
So, I went to the big library in San Diego, and went on the Associated Press microfiche, because I figured that if it was true, it would have made the press. So, I had the date, and I went on the next morning's AP articles and searched. Sure enough, there were the newspaper accounts of the previous evening, and so then I knew it was true. Then I began the deeper research, contacted the White House curator's office, and was able to read books written by the housekeeper, who lived in the Roosevelt White House. One thing led to another, and we have Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride.
Little-known stories about famous people
Well, I love little-known stories about famous people. If you look at Charlotte in Riding Freedom and Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson and Esperanza in Esperanza Rising, they're all sort of kindred spirits in that they had really wonderful stories that deserve to be told…
Marian Anderson and Eleanor Roosevelt and, obviously, Amelia Earhart – they're very strong, determined, courageous women. They defied convention at a time when a lot of the things that they wanted to do were not accepted by society.
From picture books to novels to nonfiction, Pam Muñoz Ryan writes a wide variety of books for young readers. Drawing from her diverse cultural background, Muñoz Ryan often writes about the Latino experience in the United States. Many of her books feature courageous female protagonists who defy the societal conventions of their time. When Marian Sang is a beautifully illustrated picture book that chronicles the life of African American singer Marian Anderson. Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride recreates the night that Amelia Earhart took Eleanor Roosevelt for a flight over Washington, D.C. And Esperanza Rising is an award-winning novel that Muñoz Ryan based on her own grandmother's immigration from Mexico to California.
Pam Muñoz Ryan was born in Bakersfield, California, in 1951. With half of her family from Mexico and the other half from Oklahoma, Muñoz Ryan jokes that she grew up eating enchiladas one weekend and fried chicken the next. She was the oldest of 23 grandchildren on her mother's side.
Pam Muñoz Ryan studied child development at San Diego State University before working as a bilingual Head Start teacher, full-time mom, and early childhood program administrator. After earning a graduate degree in education, Muñoz Ryan began her new career as a writer. At first, she wrote books about child development for adults. Soon though, she started writing books for children. After publishing a number of picture books, Muñoz Ryan discovered that she was a talented novelist as well. Esperanza Rising, perhaps her most well known novel, won the Pura Belprí Medal in 2000.
Today Pam Muñoz Ryan writes full time and lives with her husband just north of San Diego.


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'Bistro 33' Restaurant Mural
I was commissioned to create this mural across the bar and bench surfaces of a restaurant in Astoria, Queens called "Bistro 33." Their cuisine is a fusion of Japanese and French influences and the owners liked the idea of working with a Japanese garden theme as a wraparound scene to link the seating area with the bar itself. Here are some pictures of the finished mural (before the restaurant opened) as well as the creative painting process leading up to it. Enjoy! Bistro 33 is a wonderful restaurant. If you're in the area, please consider having dinner there. Here's the link: bistro33nyc.comRead More


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GODMORGON Mirror cabinet with 2 doors, mirror glass,
10 year guarantee
How to get it
A shallow cabinet that makes efficient use of wall space. Mirrors inside and outside let you enjoy the view from all angles. Guaranteed to outlast at least 10 years of splashes and steamy showers.Article number102.189.99
Product details
10 year guarantee. Read about the terms in the guarantee brochure.
Mirror both on the outside and the inside.
Mirror door is self-closing the last few centimetres.
The adjustable shelf is extra heat- and impact-resistant and has a high load-bearing capacity since it is made of tempered glass.
Helps you organise your jewellery and make-up.
The mirror comes with safety film on the back, which reduces the risk of injury if the glass is broken.
IKEA of Sweden
Different wall materials require different types of fixing devices. Use fixing devices suitable for the walls in your home, sold separately.
Two persons are needed for the assembly of this furniture.
Possible to separate for recycling or energy recovery if available in your community.
- MaterialCare
- Frame:
- Fibreboard, Foil, ABS plastic
- Back panel/ Door:
- Fibreboard, Foil
- Shelf:
- Tempered glass
- Mirror:
- Glass
Wipe dry with a clean cloth.
Wipe clean with a soft cloth dampened in water and a mild non-abrasive washing-up detergent or soap, if necessary.
- Assembly instructionsGODMORGON Mirror cabinet with 2 doors102.189.99Other documentsGODMORGON Mirror cabinet with 2 doors102.189.99
Width: 60 cm
Depth: 14 cm
Height: 96 cm
- GODMORGONArticle number102.189.99
Width: 33 cm
Height: 9 cm
Length: 102 cm
Weight: 19.94 kg
Package(s): 1
Our take on wood
Wood is the material most commonly associated with IKEA furniture, and for good reasons. It's renewable, recyclable, durable, ages beautifully and it is an important part of our Scandinavian design heritage. At IKEA we believe that sourced in responsible way, wood is a key change driver for climate mitigation. In 2012, we set a goal that by 2020 our wood would be from more sustainable sources. We are happy to announce that we have reached this goal and today, more than 98% of the wood used for IKEA products is either FSC-certified or recycled.
Forests are critical for life on earth
Forests contribute to maintaining balance in the atmosphere, purify the air that we breathe and are part of the water cycle. They nourish wildlife biodiversity and provide homes for indigenous communities who depend on forests for their livelihoods. 90% of plant and animal species living on the planet need forests to survive. They provide sources of food, fuel, timber and many other ecosystem services that we rely upon. Sourcing approximately 19 million m3 of roundwood per year from some 50 countries, IKEA has a significant impact on the world's forests and the timber industry and a huge responsibility to positively influence how wood is sourced. Responsible wood sourcing and forest management ensure that the needs of people dependent on forests are met, that businesses can work sustainably, that forest ecosystems are protected and biodiversity is enhanced.
100% wood from more sustainable sources
At IKEA, we work with strict industry standards to promote responsible forestry. We don't allow any wood in our supply chain from forest areas that are illegal or contain high conservation values or from forest areas with social conflict. Before starting to work with IKEA, suppliers must demonstrate that they meet IKEA critical requirements on wood sourcing. IKEA requires all suppliers to source wood from more sustainable sources (FSC-certified or recycled wood). All suppliers are audited regularly and non-compliant suppliers are required to implement immediate corrective actions. By working together with our suppliers, we are proud to announce that we have reached our more sustainable sources goal, which we set out to achieve by 2020. Today more than 98% of the wood used for IKEA products is either FSC-certified or recycled.
IKEA Forest Positive Agenda for 2030
As pressure on the world's forests and the surrounding eco-systems increases due to unsustainable agriculture, the expansion of infrastructure and illegal logging, it is time to take an even more holistic approach to protect and support these important resources for generations to come. The IKEA Forest Positive Agenda for 2030 set out to improve forest management, enhance biodiversity, mitigate climate change and support the rights and needs of people who depend on forests across the whole supply chain and drive innovation to use wood in even smarter ways. The agenda focuses on three key areas: • Making responsible forest management the norm across the world. • Halting deforestation and reforesting degraded landscapes. • Driving innovation to use wood in smarter ways by designing all products from the very beginning to be reused, refurbished, remanufactured, and eventually recycled.
We accomplish more by working together
For many years, IKEA has partnered with businesses, governments, social groups and non-governmental organisations to fight forest degradation and deforestation and increase the volume and availability of wood from responsibly managed forests both for our own supply chain and beyond. We are on a journey to improve global forest management and make responsible wood sourcing the industry standard, contributing to building resilient forest landscapes and improve biodiversity.
What is mirror glass?
Mirror glass comprises mostly of ordinary glass with a reflective coating in some kind of metal. In the past it was common for the coating to contain lead or mercury – but over time, both of these metals have been shown to be harmful to people and the environment. That's why, as of several years ago, IKEA has a total ban on using lead or mercury in our mirrors and instead it is non-toxic silver or aluminium that reflects your mirror image.


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While waiting for their opportunity to sell LeBron James on their team, the New York Knicks will be busy courting other stars that could potentially play with him at Madison Square Garden.
Their first such meeting will be with Joe Johnson, the Atlanta Hawks' All-Star guard, according to league sources.
When the clock strikes midnight ET in New York on July 1, Knicks team president Donnie Walsh and coach Mike D'Antoni will be in Los Angeles meeting with Johnson, who will hold all of his meetings with clubs on the West Coast. The Knicks' brass will fly to northeast Ohio to woo James at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday.
While the Hawks hope to keep Johnson in Atlanta, several sources said the Knicks have emerged as his first choice. If they must lose him, the Hawks' preference is to work out a sign-and-trade deal with the Knicks.
But if no players on the Knicks' roster appeal to Atlanta, Johnson, believing he will make up the difference through endorsements and through buying stock shares in Madison Square Garden, is willing to take less money to play with the Knicks, according to sources.
Whatever the case, the Knicks could offer Johnson a maximum-salary contract worth approximately $96 million over five years, or a deal worth $125 million over six years through a sign-and-trade.
Walsh and D'Antoni also hope to meet with Amare Stoudemire while in Los Angeles.
Johnson and Stoudemire emerged as star players while playing for D'Antoni in Phoenix, which is a large part of the reason both players are considering New York so strongly.
Johnson averaged double figures (16.7 ppg) for the first time in his career while playing for D'Antoni in the 2003-04 season. That same year, Stoudemire went from being a 13-point scorer to a 20-point scorer in D'Antoni's wide-open system.
While the Knicks' main target is James, the duo of Johnson and Stoudemire would be a nice consolation prize if James goes elsewhere. The team thinks James and Johnson would be a particularly strong tandem, and it believes that Johnson will talk to James about the benefits of joining forces in New York.
James' first meeting will be with the New Jersey Nets on the morning of July 1, followed by the Knicks and several other clubs over the next few days.
Chris Broussard covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine.


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Public Meeting - North Houston Highway Improvement Project
|Jefferson Davis High School
1101 Quitman St.
Houston, TX 77009
|Nov. 19, 2013
5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
|To present information about the project and give people an opportunity to provide feedback on reasonable alternatives for highway improvements in the North Houston corridor. People also can comment on the process being used to evaluate these alternatives and how community feedback has been incorporated in the planning process.
To submit a written comment on the project, do one of the following:
|The proposed improvements are designed to manage congestion, enhance safety, and improve mobility and operational efficiency. The North Houston Highway Improvement Project involves the evaluation of:
|TxDOT Houston District
Public Information Office
(713) 802-5072