text:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Raytheon Co system built into big blimp-like balloons has demonstrated capabilities that could make it easier to detect and track certain enemy ballistic missiles, the company and the U.S. Army's manager of the program said.
System tests in December at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, successfully tracked four targets mimicking tactical ballistic missiles in "high-threat" regions, Raytheon is set to announce on Tuesday.
The hardware is known as Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, or JLENS. It includes a targeting radar and a wide-area surveillance radar with a 360-degree look-around capability that can reach out to 340 miles.
Each radar system flies as high as 10,000 feet with a separate, 74-meter-long aerostat capable of operating aloft for up to 30 days while tethered to mobile moorings.
The bulbous, blimp-like aerostats work in pairs officially estimated to cost about $450 million - though Raytheon has said it can lop a third off of that price.
The December 6-7 tests met all primary and secondary goals, including "launch point estimation, ballistic tracking and discrimination performance," Raytheon, the world's biggest missile-maker, said in a draft press release.
The missiles were tracked during their so-called boost phase, it said, including two that were "ripple-fired" one after the other.
JLENS' "proven capabilities" provide another tool that could help protect U.S. and partner forces from "the growing ballistic missile threat" and other threats, Dean Barten, who manages the program for the Army, said in the release. Barten's statement was confirmed to Reuters by an Army spokesman.
The army is preparing one of its two existing JLENS systems, formally known as an orbit, for a three-year exercise that will tie it into a high-tech shield designed to protect the Washington D.C. area from air attack.
The second existing JLENS system could be sent overseas sooner. The system is designed to provide more time to detect and react to cruise missiles, manned and unmanned aircraft and other threats, compared with ground-based radar.
It also has been demonstrated to be capable of picking out moving vehicles that could be used for attacks, including boats, cars and trucks, according to the Army and to Raytheon.
"We think JLENS is ready for action wherever it may be needed," Mark Rose, Raytheon's JLENS program director, said in a telephone interview.
The program has been scaled back sharply by the government amid Pentagon belt-tightening to help pare trillion-dollar-a-year U.S. deficits.
(Reporting by Jim Wolf; Editing by Bernard Orr)


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Roy Allen Jones was born September 26, 1935, to John Paul and Bertie Faye (Roberts) Jones at Boone, Okla. He passed away January 26th in Lawton, Okla., at the age of 77.
He married Barbara Ann Alvey on July 15, 1954, in Lawton, Okla. She preceded him in death on October 15, 2000. They moved to Ardmore in 1964 and Roy went to work for Dolese Brothers in 1967 at Ardmore as a hand shoveler. He worked his way up to managing a plant then retired as a supervisor at the Davis plant in 1997.
He was a member of the Apache Masonic Lodge and the Ardmore Order of the Oddfellows. He enjoyed fishing and doing carpentry. He was also an OU and Dallas Cowboys football fan.
He is survived by: one son, Rusty A. Jones, Cache, Okla.; two granddaughters, Katherine Jones and Jamie and husband, Mike Shannon; three great-grandchildren, Braxton Shannon, Jackson Shannon and Grayson Shannon; and two sisters, Marjorie Watters, Lawton, Okla., and Norma Lee Wierzbowski, California.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara Jones; and one daughter, Rhonda Ray "Ronnie" Lee.
Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday, January 30th at Fairview Cemetery in Apache, Okla., with the Rev. Bud Jones officiating. Burial will follow under the direction of Crews Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.crewsfh.com.


text:
I have worked a little while with the Microsoft compiler from Visual C++ but I worked a long time with G++, and I remember often having bad times understanding what was wrong in my code with the former.
Beside binary code generation and optimisation, I think this is a very important feature of a C++ compiler: giving the programmer a clue that makes him understand as fast as possible what is wrong with his/her code. I can understand some programmers understand programming as some sort of "competition" to make less errors, but to me that's a counter productive opinion.
I once tried Clang compiler for C from the LLVM thingie, I didn't use it for a long time, but I was impressed on how explicit and easy to understand the error messages were.
What are your experiences, and how do you think this matters ?
Some WIP of C++ Clang: http://clang.llvm.org/cxx_status.html


text:
December 11. 2012 11:55PM
Ian Clark's On Hockey: The goalie merry-go-round
By IAN CLARK
New Hampshire Union Leader
MANCHESTER -- Turns out the goaltending situation with the Manchester Monarchs is not as clear-cut as it was expected to be.
Coming into the season, third-year man Martin Jones was the obvious No. 1 and journeyman Peter Mannino would only see the ice during busy three-game weekends.
But after a hot start that included three shutouts, Jones has now lost five straight games and Mannino earned back-to-back starts over the past weekend for the first time this season.
"It's something that (Jones) has got to continue to battle," said Monarchs head coach Mark Morris. "He's got all the tools to make it happen. Every goalie has to work their way through and learn how to seal the deal. He's been great for us in the past and he'll be great again. It's part of the maturation process to go through the ups and downs of being a pro and learning how to be a starter."
Just a month shy of his 23rd birthday, Jones (7-10-1, 2.47 goals against average) has been struggling to hold leads late in games.
"I expect to be a leader on this team and when things aren't going well I look to my own game, for sure," Jones said. "I need to make sure I'm making the big saves when we need them and making all the saves I need to in order for us to win games."
And to be fair to Jones, the five losses with him in net have not all fallen on his shoulders. Defensive breakdowns and a failure to put teams away have stung the Monarchs (11-10-3), who play at Lewiston, Maine, against Portland Friday night.
"I've been quite happy with Jonesy," said Los Angeles Kings goalie coach Bill Ranford, who arrived in town on Sunday. "There's the odd situation where he could be better but for whatever reason, the team hasn't played very well in front of him. I don't know if the team relaxes a little more in front of him or what the deal is. We're at the point now where he's just got to find a way."
Ranford is confident that Jones will get back on track.
"He's very professional in his approach, not only on the ice but off the ice. If there were little things in his game that I saw that need to be improved on we'd be all over it," Ranford said. "The management of his game right now is good, the results just aren't there. You've got to find a way to buckle down and get a win under your belt and things will turn around because he's played very, very well."
Meanwhile, Mannino is trying to make the most of his playing time. Now with his ninth pro team, the 28-year-old has seen it all.
"Five years now, I've been through basically every situation," Mannino said. "In Chicago I sat for about a month and a half behind Manny Legace and Drew MacIntyre. Last year, I got called up (to the NHL) a week into the season and sat for a month in Atlanta so I've been there. I don't want to change what I need to do. When coach gives me an opportunity, I just want to be there, be prepared and do what I need to do."
Mannino is off to a 4-2 start with a 2.08 goals-against average. His well-traveled resume and spending the summer not knowing if he would be playing somewhere has made him hungry.
"He competes his tail off. I think that's why he's here," Morris said. "He's more determined than most because things haven't been handed to him. Peter is a popular guy in the room and we're not afraid to throw him in there."
Manchester has a tough weekend with the trip to Lewiston, a reverse of direction over to Glens Falls, N.Y., to play the Adirondack Phantoms Saturday and a Sunday matinee at home with the Springfield Falcons.
Both goaltenders will be called on, but which one gets the brunt of the ice time remains to be seen.
- - - - - - - -
MONARCHS captain Marc-Andre Cliche is expected to return to the lineup Friday. Cliche was injured in Saturday's 9-2 win over Connecticut and sat out Sunday's 3-2 loss to Worcester.
- - - - - - - -
Ian Clark covers pro hockey for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. He may be reached at


text:
Abu Dhabi, 22 June 2014 – This summer season, Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi and Traders Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi launches the innovative "Summer Meetings" package to keep guests cool and refreshed during the meeting.
The "Summer Meetings" package includes full-day use of the main meeting room, two coffee breaks, lunch buffet with chilled juices, one LCD projector and screen, whiteboard and flipchart, Internet access throughout the meeting and bottled mineral water.
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The "Summer Meetings" package is priced at AED220++ per person at Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi or AED200++ per person at Traders Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi.
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Khor Al Maqta, P.O. Box 128881, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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text:
Beaumont/Port Arthur
Saturday, Jan. 26, at 8:24 p.m., BPD patrol officers responded to a burglary in progress in the 3200 block of Ogden. A person called dispatch and said three people broke into a vacant house. Officers set up a perimeter and searched the house. Inside, officers located Hakeem M. Richard, 23, and Kerria Washington, 17, both from Beaumont. The third person was able to flee before officers could set up the perimeter.
While we harbor no disrespect for the Wall Street Journal who called us "that scrappy little paper from Southeast Texas," we prefer to think of ourselves as simple seekers of the truth. We're of the opinion that headlines and sound bites never tell the whole story. Our readers demand all the facts, facets and flavors of every story or event. And, they expect to be informed, educated and stirred to action.
For this week's New York Times crossword puzzle, pick up a copy of this week's The Examiner on newsstands now.


text: I purchased the stay from Groupon and am very glad I did. When I called Rick he mentioned that the weekends were all booked till Dec., but he put me on a waiting list and so I was able to go this last weekend (8/25-8/27/12). Rick was awesome, and the house was VERY CLEAN and welcoming. The breakfast was delicious... More


text:
November 14, 2013Everyday
White Tuxedo Dress, Two Ways: Street Style Inspiration From Christine Centenera And Laetitia Casta
Go editor chic in a white tuxedo dress like Christine Centenera by adding statement sunglasses and sandals or go high-glam like model Laetitia Casta with a dramatic veil and red lip. Can't decide which take on the dress we like more.
Photos via: Style Du Monde | Style Tao
Get the look...
+ Haute Hippie Oversized Asymmetrical Blazer
+ Tibi Amber Ankle Strap Sandals
+ 3.1 Phillip Lim Pegged Tuxedo Dress
+ J.Crew Fine-Knit Merino Wool Turtleneck Sweater
+ Vionnet blazer dress


text:
News Home
Pro-life News Sources
Priests for Life Press Releases
Priests for Life News Archive
Sources for Local, National, and International Pro-Life News and Commentary
Pro-Life Action
League News Page
Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM)
Society for the Protection of Unborn Children
Pro-life Radio News
Life-Talk (Life Dynamics)
Pro-life Perspective (National Right to Life)
America Will Not Reject Abortion Until America
Sees Abortion
Prayer Campaign
Take Action
Social Networking
Rachel's Vineyard,
A Ministry of Priests For Life
Silent No More Awareness Campaign, A Project
of Priests For Life
Clergy Resources
Pro-Life Leaders Slam Nets on March for Life Coverage
Katie Yoder
One week later, and the networks have long forgotten about their scant coverage of the March for Life – after all, they have a whole year before they have to ignore it again. The pro-life movement, however, has forgotten neither the March nor the unserious and insulting way the broadcast networks reported on it – or didn't.
As CMI reported last week, ABC and NBC gave just 46 seconds of air time to the many thousands who braved freezing temperatures to join the 2014 March for Life in Washington, D.C. CBS didn't even mention it. By contrast, the networks couldn't get enough of the debut of Bao Bao, the National Zoo's newest panda cub, cooing about panda "magic." The animal received six times more coverage than the March. Pro-life leaders noticed. It was, in the words of International Communion of Evangelical Churches' Bishop Harry Jackson, "media malpractice."
According to Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins, the media coverage of the March for Life was significantly better than in previous years," but that's an abysmally low bar. March for Life President Jeanne Monahan called the panda report "evidence that we still have a long way to go." Live Action President Lila Rose noted the irony. "The pro-abortion mainstream media, looking for a 'human interest' story, breathlessly focuses its cameras on a panda," she said, "while ignoring hundreds of thousands of actual humans marching for millions more precious humans in the womb." She added, "What's more humanly interesting than what is happening to our littlest and weakest humans?"
Reflecting on her experience with the March, Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, asked, "In what alternative liberal universe is this not news?"
But the March for Life "never receives the amount of media attention it deserves," according to Mallory Quigley, communications director of the Susan B. Anthony List. "The media's overall ignorance to our pro-life presence" is by now a "clichéd joke." And it is almost sadly comic. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins wrote, "Most networks have had a lot of practice perfecting their greatest magic trick: making hundreds of thousands of pro-lifers disappear!"
"When my grandmother didn't like what she heard, she would pretend she didn't hear it," said Anglicans for Life President and Silent No More Awareness Campaign Co-Founder Georgette Forney. "The media seems to mimic grandma!"
But the panda comparison is telling. The Radiance Foundation Co-Founder Ryan Bomberger said the "vacuous mainstream media values animals over human beings." Priests for Life National Director Father Frank Pavone observed that, unlike abortion, "It is easy to cover pandas; there is no personal challenge for us." And no challenge for a fundamentally unserious news media. "The emphasis on Bao Bao the panda," said Bishop Harry Jackson, "shows that we are interested in the entertainment value of our news more than we are in the depth or veracity of our news coverage."
Read the rest of this article and watch the related video at: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/katie-yoder/2014/01/31/pro-life-leaders-slam-nets-march-life-coverage#ixzz2seH9DkQv
Priests for Life
PO Box 236695 • Cocoa, FL 32923
Tel. 321-500-1000, Toll Free 888-735-3448 •


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text:
|2013-10-12, 00:14
|Link #181
Did someone call a doctor
Join Date: Apr 2007
Age: 35
I never actually said the old system was better btw, so good job putting words in my mouth. I just dislike the current iteration of the AI they are using, from the reviews and let's plays I've seen of it, it looks broken and buggy (ships driving on land, wut?). It could and should be improved to make it less schizophrenic. It's got potential, but it doesn't reach it from what I've seen.
Anyway, you answered my question, good day.
|2013-10-12, 00:23
|Link #182
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: "Sacrifice one to appease the few."
Rome 2 can't even form a correct formation. The Romans fought in formations, so I fully expect them to fight in that manner.
Barbarians can fight in blobs. That's fine.
The Romans though? C'mon!
|2013-10-12, 20:01
|Link #184
~Official Slacker~
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Xanadu
Age: 24
Well, we'll just need to keep waiting and hopefully see if these continuous big patches make this better. Because Rome 2 was unplayable at the start, but by patch 2-3 it became "somewhat" playable. Just still annoying and dumb when fighting the AI.
Here are the patch notes for 4
Spoiler for Big Patch is Big:
Last edited by Hooves; 2013-10-12 at 20:11.
|2013-10-13, 00:39
|Link #185
The Dark Knight
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: From the deepest abyss in the world, where you think?
Age: 32
It's getting so tiring that I'm just going to post a couple screens of what I've seen since it seems to be the rage that we all want everything to "fail"
Apparently there are rumors now that some of these videos are "MP" videos that are made to make the AI look really bad.
This is pretty much what I see on my battles with the AI. It forms up a battle line with cavalry on flanks and engages my line. I don't expect anything super great but I've always been fine with that.
So I have no idea where people are getting the idea that the AI sucks.
Depending on composition I've seen the AI send in 3/4 of their men and hold some back to send arrows into my lines or wait until an opening opens up and send their men into that breach to make it bigger.
One of the weirdest comments I've seen is that the AI just camps at the flag though I have yet to see that.
When I make a breach, the AI will send all forces to those areas and hold that line. It will also keep reserves in the back to tire my guys out. This siege took me almost 20 minutes to finish and while to break them.
If the AI has artillery it loves to make giant breaches in the walls so it can pour more men into it.
AI knows how to use siege equipment and uses it to capture gates and towers.
The AI kicked my ass in this one. They had one army cross the river and another at another crossing and destroyed me.
I have also seen the AI expand and it's gotten better with Patch 4.
In this minor settlement battle the AI keeps half of its forces away and sends in a unit at a time when their front is about to break. When my riders enter the middle though they do react and send in units to stop them.
And I haven't suffered a crash. Only with Beta 1.3 but that was easily fixed afterwards.
I've also seen confederations form, AI armies building forts, etc.
If you beat the AI then it'll sue for peace and even ask for client status.
So while there are problems in this game I do not see how this is unplayable.
|2013-10-14, 15:59
|Link #186
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Ontario, CA
Age: 28
So yeah, the game is helllllllalot better than it was when it first came out (tons of people speculated that it would take at least a month to fix up major issues). I started a new campaign again as Rome on very hard. I do have some mods with x2 unit size. The game runs very smooth compared to the beginning, especially in the world-view mode. Having no issues right now.
One of my concerns right now is diplomacy. Still kind of buggy and needs to be fixed (like when the losing faction asks for peace and DEMANDS money from you instead of offering if they are losing terribly).
My other concern is that the AI is still forming armies of basic/general units (like levies) instead of more advanced units as the turns progress. Kind of beats the point of actually assaulting. It's nice to always win, but again, battles last no more than 10 minutes. However, it might still be a little early for me to say this considering I started a new campaign.
Anyways, game is a LOT better and definitely worth buying now for those interested. More patches to come!
|2013-10-16, 18:00
|Link #187
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Portugal
Age: 38
I have been playing parthia with 13 armored melee cav + 6 + general armored archer cav. It's insane the dmg they do.
BTW, when I got to Jerusalem area the city was in possession of axum... and I was wtf? Egypt was gone. Axum had a lot of prov there. I had an hard time time against them since they dont suffer attrition from the desert and always in forced march. Hunting for their armies was a pain in ass. But then again I got Jerusalem and other settlements from them in the area and leaving 1 army there they wouldn't attack at all... doh! T_T They won't come out of egypt.
|2013-10-18, 14:33
|Link #188
~Official Slacker~
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Xanadu
Age: 24
Patch 5 is out now everyone and it brings us the Seleucids (confirmed by my personally as well)
|2013-10-21, 16:35
|Link #190
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Ontario, CA
Age: 28
Just noticed that the steam mod workshop is open. Some mods are on there. Radious's mods are on there which is probably the most popular with all the overhauls he's done and I highly recommend getting his mods. There is a 2, 4, and 12-turn per year mod as well. The workshop doesn't have too many mods yet though, but it'll get there.
|2013-11-23, 02:25
|Link #191
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Ontario, CA
Age: 28
Patch 7 went live yesterday. I kinda took a break since patch 4 or 5, but started a new on as house Julia of Rome and I definitely can tell a great improvement in the AI, overall FPS, and any bugs. I really like how they worked on unit formations and basically their overall "intelligence" during battle, especially during sieges. Their video they posted in regards to patch 7 mentioned something about putting back "rally points." IMO the game is totally worth buying, playing, and returning to now. Of course, one may want to wait for Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales, but I recommend this as a definite pick up!
Oh yeah, new free DLC coming up. They will be releasing Baktria as a playable faction. They didn't say if they were adding any other playable factions, but free is free !
|2013-11-23, 05:12
|Link #192
Join Date: Dec 2003
Chariots man, chariots. They mow threw enemies like no tomorrow. They do not go amok like elephants, has some armor to take hits if they ever get stuck (elephants die easily to focus firing from arrows), the two units act as this lawn mower that tramples everything in the pathes.
In other news I think shock cavs are finally worth using since they made the AI try even hard to get unstuck (+density change). Sure, shock cavs are excellent at mowing down ranged units, but they fall pretty fast as soon as they get stuck in melee combat. Standard heavy cavs can easily have just stayed and fight.
There are still a lot of balance issues. The archer buff makes them better, but still imo, pales in comparison to ballistas. The ballista needs a good nerf vs units.
I don't have much interest in Baktria - I expect them to be played just like any other faction (except nomads).
Late game is ever so boring. I have so far only bothered to finish a single campaign: and that is with Arverni: simply because they can liberate thus an economic victory can be quite easily achieved... relatively speaking.
Rally Point is their little web show thing, nothing new.
This game is only fun for its battles (it does give a very epic feel): assuming you have a computer that can handle the unoptimized graphics. Other than that its actually quite boring (esp the campaign map portion: all my provinces essentially look the same and its often a cat-and-mouse game between me and forced marched armies).
Oh yeah politics system is still broken: no clue why I can no longer promote generals after the civil war, and the ending of the civil war does nothing if you are not Rome or Carthage.
I would only give this game a 6.5/10 if not for the "feel of the battle" - no other game lets you get the "I am commanding an army" feel better than TW. With that taken into account I would give it a 7.4/10.
I would wait for at least a 50% off sale. There are still a few major issues they gotta fix so no need to rush (ballistas and politics are what I would consider as minor there). How about to make my machine feel like a 386 during thunderstorms for a change?
|2013-11-23, 11:19
|Link #194
The Dark Knight
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: From the deepest abyss in the world, where you think?
Age: 32
In any case I find that once they bog down into melee they fall like flies.
The problem with TW games is they don't have anything worthwhile to getting to the end IMO.
|2013-11-23, 18:41
|Link #195
Join Date: Dec 2003
Charitos and elephants need a more clear role:
Are they supposed to be AoE shock cavs? Then they need to do good AoE damage on charge then be able to withdraw.
Are they supposed to be line breakers? Then the damage needs to be lowered by a lot, but they should still be able to go through enemy infantry lines, knock them down and break formation.
Give them proper counter: ie: archers (with fire) has been good vs elephants.
Cavalry should be good vs chariots (right now chariots i think can handle even noble cavs which are stronger than cataphracts since cataphracts are shock cavs with low def and no shield).
The late game portion can be elegantly bandaided with diplomacy. Make it easier for you to make friends (not harder!) with force. This will cause the AI to form military alliances towards the military center of that region, and in late game you can use diplomacy to form military alliances with factions instead of steamrolling through that last 30 province needed for a victory condition.
All provinces look the same meaning the building setup is the same: (and ofc, they are REALLY slow at adding new maps - although they are doing it. Every coastal barbarian village all look the same with that little side entrance and a hill above it...)
Basically you want (for hellenic/rome factions):
In Capitals:
City hall public order building
Public order Temple
Might want a sanitation building for growth, or 2nd temple for food, or a city center food building
On settlements:
Food temple
That's pretty much the optimal setup. It just feels... boring.
One of the problem with the TW devs is that I feel as if they are stuck in tunnel vision mode:
Take the patch 7 formation attack thing.
Ok, you got hoards of people crying about formation attack on the forums, so they added that in.
But then, what is the point of using formation attack? Tests have shown that the blob is most effective in combat. I feel they added it not giving that function a clear purpose.
The various formations need a noticeable stat boost and a way to counter them (ie: ballista/back flank/elephants).
Some formations like the diamond formation isn't even worth using. For an optimal charge you want to spread out your cavalry units so every one of them can get a charge, instead of blobbing up, move at a reduced speed, and only allow maybe 10 charges to go through while the rest are stuck behind other cav units.
The devs need to take a look at the big picture again. How do the pieces fit together? How to make a fun game?
An idea of a fun faction would be one that is heavily reliant on their agents. Think of a faction that might have trash as units but agents have higher chance of critical success and more powerful operations! (or maybe they will throw in additional code to change max army size! It doesn't make sense how a full size Roman army is the same size as a full size nomadic army at 20 stacks).
Oh, pikes still feel stupid to use and get stuck a lot.
|2013-11-24, 07:58
|Link #196
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Ontario, CA
Age: 28
|2013-11-24, 11:09
|Link #197
Logician and Romantic
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Within my mind
Age: 37
Pikes are rather important for the defensive game. They are great once you have Catapults, as then with open battles it automatically forces the AI to come to you. Without Catapults the Pikes would be less useful. It is always better to play defensive if possible, just the nature of the units in that era.
|2013-11-24, 14:26
|Link #198
Join Date: Dec 2003
Pikes are only good for choke points. (roads in town/gates) In open battles they can be tedious to use. The AI will avoid your line of pikes and attempt to flank if they are put in the front lines. Heavy infantry does not run into that problem since they are still powerful out of formation. While in a heads on fight pike would win out in an open field, you can easily use the mobility of your idle heavy infantry to attack another group of enemies from behind. Good luck trying to do that with your pikes without them stopping whenever the poke a few guys to death.
x x x [ 1 ][ 2 ][ 3 ][ 4 ][ 5 ]
With pikes, 2 and 5 cannot easily help them out without getting stuck. While heavy infantry can go behind the forces of 1, 3 and 4 for a pretty nasty surround.
|2013-12-05, 00:21
|Link #199
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Ontario, CA
Age: 28
Stand alone DLC coming out December 12th for $15 bucks. A new "campaign" mode focusing on Rome vs the Gaul tribes, where you can play as Rome or any of the 3 Gaul tribes on a campaign map spanning across 18 provinces with the focus on 24 turns per year.
In addition, they're adding 3 new playable factions to the regular campaign map: Nervii, Boii, and Galatians. They are also adding one historical battle. Too bad they aren't adding "new" units to the current factions. In fact, there is nothing being added to the current factions.
I'll most likely get it (even though I'm not sure all that is worth 15 bucks, but it COULD have been worse ), but it's time they come out with patch 8 that fixes whatever =/. I am looking forward to the mini-campaign because sometimes the regular campaign is just too overwhelming and I'll only have to focus on 18 provinces (which IMO is NOT enough to make the campaign worthwhile). Hopefully, since that this new campaign is a lot smaller, frame rate won't be terrible. Aside from that, still enjoying my time as Rome. My battles are actually lasting longer than before and require a bit more skill. Fighting "average" units alone still takes a toll on my Praetorians; however, I still love being able to defend against a 1 vs 3 barbarian army. My loss is high, but it definitely gives me the thrill of having elite soldiers of Rome defend against hordes of barbarians just as in the movies.
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MIPS Assembly, an Introduction
by: h3r3tic
The following is a short introduction to programming in assembly for the MIPS architecture. I know what you're thinking,
"I don't even know what MIPS architecture is, why would I want to write assembly for it?" Well, I'll tell you why.
There is a simulator available for download here: http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~larus/spim.html
which will let you run your MIPS assembly programs without having a computer with the MIPS architecture.
I've dabbled a little with nasm, and I just think MIPS is a lot more straightforward, and everything seems to
have a simple explaination of why it's there or what it's doing. So I have decided to share this perhaps
little known, or perhaps well-known "language" with you. (I only knew about it after starting a class where
we use it).
I'll start by showing you how to write the traditional "Hello World!" program. Now, there is no set way
to do this, and I'm sure it can be done many ways, but I will show you two ways to do it.
So, the uncommented code is as follows:
and here is the commented code:Code:.data hellostring: .ascii "Hello " .asciiz "World!\n" .text main: la $a0, hellostring li $v0, 4 syscall li $v0, 10 syscall
The preceeding code will output:Code:.data # comments are preceeded by the # character # .data is where you define "variables", or how I understand them... # references to the space in memory where the following defined data is stored hellostring: .ascii "Hello " # .ascii is how you define a non-null terminated # string. .asciiz "World!\n" # this .asciiz is a continuation of hellostring, # putting the rest of the string in memory, with # a null terminator, which is what the .asciiz if for # I could have made it one line with: # .asciiz "Hello World!\n"; .text # this defines where code to execute starts main: # this can be defined as many things in my opinion # I would have to say it is most accurately described # as a memory reference, but you could also say # it defines the beginning of a procedure or function. # la = load address la $a0, hellostring # this loads the address which hellostring refers to into # the register $a0, which is one of 3 used for arguments # to "functions" # li = load immediate # which is used to load characters and integers # onto registers li $v0, 4 # we are loading the integer 4 onto the register # $v0, which tells the system we want to output # a string. I will go over more system calls later syscall # this tells the system to execute the "function" # defined by loading 4 onto $v0. $v0 is out register # for system functions. When you do your own functions # you don't need to use $v0, but can, and you won't # have to say syscall, and don't know if you even can li $v0, 10 # 10 is the call to end the program, and when this value # is on $v0 and a syscall is made as here, the program # will terminate. syscall
Hello World!
Pretty simple for being assembly eh? To run your code you can save it with any/no extension, and on linux
just type the command:
spim -file yourfilename
and it will run your program (assuming spim is in your path and you saved your file in the current directory you
are in as "yourfilename" without quotes :P).
On windows with pcspim, I think you can do the same thing on the command line.
If not check out the site you downloaded it from (http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~larus/spim.html) they have a bunch of
info including how to run programs in the pcspim gui. You can probably figure it out on your own though. Moving on.
Let's take a look at a more interesting approach to the hello world program:
full uncommented code:
leaving out repetitive parts and commented:Code:.data stringstore: .space 20 .text main: la $s0, stringstore li $t0, 'H' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 li $t0, 'e' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 li $t0, 'l' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 li $t0, 'o' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 li $t0, ' ' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 li $t0, 'W' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 li $t0, 'o' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 li $t0, 'r' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 li $t0, 'l' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 li $t0, 'd' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 li $t0, '!' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 li $t0, ' ' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 sb $zero, ($s0) la $a0, stringstore li $v0, 4 syscall jr $ra
For me this version of hello world relates heavily to C. $s0 in this program is like a character pointer,Code:.data stringstore: .space 20 # allocate 20 bytes starting at address referenced by # stringstore .text main: la $s0, stringstore # load address of stringstore into $s0. $s0, is one of # seven save registers ($s0-$s7). You can store stuff in these # save registers with confidence it will be there later # I believe each register is 32 bytes. li $t0, 'H' # $t0 is, like $s0, one of seven of its kind ($t0-$t7). But unlike # $s0 it is meant for temporary storage, which is why it's called # temporary register. You use it to load things # you will need access to soon, but not throughout the program. # I am loading the literal character H onto $t0, (or maybe # its ascii value, who knows what it's actually doing) # sb = store byte sb $t0, ($s0) # ok, this part is important, and took me a while to figure out. # notice the parenthesis around $s0. Those are # indicating that I am storing the contents of $t0 # at the address on $s0. I didn't know this was possible # at first, but it is very useful, for me at least. # I really needed to store stuff at an address I had # on a register in most of my programs. addi $s0, $s0, 1 # $s0 = $s0 + 1; The far left register is the destination. # the i on the end stands for immediate, meaning you can # specify integers rather than having to load them onto a # register to use the normal add. We are adding 1 here # to increment to the next address to store the next letter # in our buffer of 20 bytes called stringstore. Remember # we loaded its address onto $s0 at the beginning of main # now we are at a location one byte away from its address # which is convenient since characters are 1 byte, so we can # now store our second character. li $t0, 'e' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 li $t0, 'l' sb $t0, ($s0) addi $s0, $s0, 1 sb $t0, ($s0) # notice I didn't load a new character onto $t0, that's because # I already loaded 'l' onto $t0 and it's still there, no need to load # it again. li $t0, 'o' sb $t0, ($s0) # I think you can see where this is going # to load a newline character you can give it literally, like this li $t0, ' ' # notice the ending single quote is on the next line. That's because # I hit enter there to indicate a newline character. I think I tried this # using '\n' and it didn't work. So this should work for you. # ok, so now you're loaded and stored all the proper characters into stringstore # assuming you filled in code I left out because it repeats # we probably don't need to null terminate the buffer, but let's # do it anyways just to be safe. I am assuming here that you incremented # $s0 after storing the last character into stringstore sb $zero, ($s0) # $zero is a reserved register in mips, for zero. Which can also be used # to terminate strings, and as false for booleans etc.. $0 is the same as # $zero. So now we have all our characters in our "buffer" and they are # "null" terminated. Let's load our "string" for output la $a0, stringstore # all that stuff we were doing earlier was directly affecting the memory # allocated for stringstore, so essentially, stringstore is a pointer to # the address of the first character in our string. Let's do the same syscall # as in the previous hello world program, which will output what's in our buffer # until we hit a our terminator (where we stored $zero) li $v0, 4 # call for string output syscall # do string output jr $ra # another way to end the program other than loading 10 onto $v0 # this is assuming $ra hasn't been modified, which it hasn't. # $ra gets modified when you do a jal (jump and link) which # stores the spot after your jump in your program into $ra # so you can return to it by jumping to it.
and you are simply moving through an array of bytes storing each character to make a string.
Also, in the example above, I used sb to store one byte of data at the address which was on
a register. You can also work with an address on a register with load byte (lb).
lb $t0, ($s0)
Will load the value stored at the address on $s0, which will probably be a character, or if
an integer (4 bytes) is stored there, you will only get part of it. So I recommend you only
use this when working with characters as above or anything that is only one byte.
Here are some of the basic system calls
1: When you load immediate (li) 1 onto $v0, you are telling the system that you want to output an integer.
I will show you an example using integers later. You will have to load the integer you want to output onto
$a0, before you do your syscall. $a0, is the argument for this system call, in this case an integer.
4: When you load immediate 4 onto $v0, you are telling the system that you want to output a string.
We have discussed this a bit already. Basically it will output what's at the address on $a0 until it hits
a null terminator. An address must be loaded onto $a0 as an argument to this function prior to your syscall.
5: When you load immediate 5 onto $v0, you are telling the system that you want to read in an integer.
I will also show you an example using this later. This call does not use $a0, instead it stores the integer
you input onto $v0, which is the standard for return values. You can then move that value onto another register
or store it in a "variable".
8: When you load immediate 8 onto $v0, you are telling the system you want to read a string. This function
takes two arguments which you load onto $a0 and $a1. On $a0 you put the address which you want the string
you enter to be stored at, and on $a1 you put the length of the string you want to enter. You can use li to load
your length onto $a1, which lets you load an integer rather than having to load it onto another register than move it.
One thing I noticed about this function is that it seems like when you specify a length, it only reads up to one less
than the length you specified. So just be aware of that, and maybe add one to the actual length you want when using
this. I will also give an example of this later.
Yay, later is here, I can give you all those examples I promised. Or cram them all into one little I/O example.
First the uncommented version for easier pasting:
now the commented version:Code:.data num1: .word 0 num2: .word 0 str1: .space 50 prompt1: .asciiz "Enter a string: " prompt2: .asciiz "Enter a number: " prompt3: .asciiz "Enter another number: " msg: .asciiz "You entered the string: " msg2: .asciiz "You entered the numbers " msg3: .asciiz " and " newline .asciiz "\n" .text main: la $a0, prompt1 li $v0, 4 syscall la $a0, str1 li $a1, 51 li $v0, 8 syscall la $a0, msg li $v0, 4 syscall la $a0, str1 li $v0, 4 syscall la $a0, prompt2 li $v0, 4 syscall li $v0, 5 syscall sw $v0, num1 la $a0, prompt3 li $v0, 4 syscall li $v0, 5 syscall sw $v0, num2 la $a0, msg2 li $v0, 4 syscall lw $a0, num1 li $v0, 1 syscall la $a0, msg3 li $v0, 4 syscall lw $a0, num2 li $v0, 1 syscall la $a0, newline li $v0, 4 syscall jr $ra
Just as a side note, you can use lw to load a word from an address stored on a register, just as you canCode:.data num1: .word 0 # .word is for storing integers, or just 4 bytes of data. # We initialize it to 0 just because we're going to # change it anyway num2: .word 0 str1: .space 50 # allocate 50 bytes for string input prompt1: .asciiz "Enter a string: " # prompts to output to user prompt2: .asciiz "Enter a number: " prompt3: .asciiz "Enter another number: " msg: .asciiz "You entered the string " # strings to prepend to the user input for labeling # our output msg2: .asciiz "You entered the numbers " msg3: .asciiz " and " newline .asciiz "\n" # "declaring" the newline character so we can output a newline # when it's not already there .text main: la $a0, prompt1 # load the address of prompt for string output li $v0, 4 # and output it syscall la $a0, str1 # load the address of str1 (our buffer for input) onto # $a0 as the first argument for string input. # the input will be stored at this address. li $a1, 51 # then load the length we want to read onto $a1 # as our second argument for string input. li $v0, 8 # li 8 onto $v0 for the call for string input syscall # make the call la $a0, msg # you should know what this does by now li $v0, 4 syscall la $a0, str1 # loading the address of our buffer which should # now have the users string in it. li $v0, 4 syscall # output our buffer la $a0, prompt2 # standard string output routine, same as before li $v0, 4 syscall li $v0, 5 # this is our integer input call, notice we don't have # any arguments here, i.e. nothing needs to be # done with the $a* registers. syscall # sw = store word sw $v0, num1 # the users input is stored in $v0 after the syscall, this # stores it in num1. This is similar to sb. any register containing # a word (integer) can be used here instead of $v0, it's just that in this # case we want what's on $v0. la $a0, prompt3 # seen it li $v0, 4 syscall li $v0, 5 # getting our second integer syscall sw $v0, num2 # storing it. la $a0, msg2 # seen it li $v0, 4 syscall # lw = load word lw $a0, num1 # load integer at address num1 (not the address which would # be loaded with la) onto register $a0 as an argument for integer # output. You can lw onto most of your regsiters, including # all your save and temporary registers li $v0, 1 # load immediate 1 onto $v0, which tells system we want to do # integer output syscall # tell the system/do it la $a0, msg3 # seen it li $v0, 4 syscall lw $a0, num2 # same as with num1, except this time we're loading what's at num2 li $v0, 1 syscall la $a0, newline # output our newline so we don't get the command prompt # right after our output li $v0, 4 syscall jr $ra # end program
use sw to store a word at an address stored on a register. to use sw in this way it's just as we have seen
before with sb, you do:
sw $t0, ($s0)
assuming you have a word/integer on $t0 and an address on $s0. Using lw to load from an address on a register
is accomplished in this way:
lw $t0, ($s0)
This is loading the value stored at the address on $s0 into $t0.
I would like to mention two more things before I end this tutorial. First, the move operation. I didn't use it in any
of the examples above, but it is important. Let's say you had an address on $s0, and you wanted to load that address
onto $a0 for string output. It would be cumbersome to store what you have on one of your variables to load into $a0. This
is where move comes in. you can simply do this in the situation described a moment ago:
move $a0, $s0
in this operation, the register on the left, in this case $a0, is your destination, and the one on the right is your source.
So whatever is in the $s0 register will be "moved" into the $a0 register. Another good thing is that it is also still on
the $s0 register, even though the name almost indicates it will not be on there anymore but will be moved to $a0.
The last thing I wanted to mention is offsets. If I do another tutorial I will go into this in more detail most likey doing
some array examples. Let's say you had a .space buffer with 80 bytes allocated. On this buffer you have an 80 character
string. Let's say you only wanted to print from the 5th character to the end. What you could do is load the address onto
$a0 with an offset like this:
la $a0, 4($s0)
I used 4 here because 0($s0) would be the first character of the buffer assuming the address of the buffer was stored on
$s0. So if 0 is the first character that makes offset 4 the 5th character. When working with "arrays" of words, you will have
to multiply whichever "element" you want by 4, because each "element" is 4 bytes. So assuming we want the 5th
number in an array, we would do:
lw $t0, 16($s0)
same as before, except we're loading a word stored at the position we want, and each position occupies 4 bytes instead of 1.
That is a short summary of offsets, but I think that's pretty much all you need to know about them to use them.
I have hardly scratched the surface of programming in mips assembly, but I have almost taught you everything I know.
I hope that you have learned a lot and will take the time to mess around with this. It's very interesting and if you're a
geek like me, it is also fun. If I get enough positive feedback on this, and it seems like you all want to know more, I
might write another tutorial which will probably bring everyone here up to where I am. Enjoy!


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text:
RYE, N.H. — A New Hampshire fisherman has discovered whale vertebrae, porpoise skulls and an old fuel tank that he thought was a treasure chest. Now, he may have hit the big time: a possible mammoth tooth.
Mike Anderson of Rye was fishing for scallops near Rye Harbor on Tuesday when he winched up the dredge he trawls behind his boat and noticed a 6-inch, triangular object amid the scallop shells and rocks.
"We knew right off it was a tooth because it has a nerve at the top," he told the Portsmouth Herald.
Will Clyde, a University of New Hampshire associate professor of geology, said it may be a fossilized mammoth tooth.
He said mammoth and mastodon bones have been dragged up before in nearby waters, although they're more commonly found in the western and southern parts of the country. He wants to take a closer look, he told Anderson's co-worker, Shane Nicols, in an email.
But closer examination will have to wait. Clyde is in Argentina on sabbatical until June.
Anderson said he pulled the odd object from a depth of about 120 feet about eight miles south of the harbor. He said it was the weirdest thing he has ever snared, although previous finds include whale vertebrae and porpoise skulls. He also has found the body of a drowned kayaker.
Anderson said he would really like to find a tusk next.
Maine Compass: Trump is just the worst symptom
Our View: Solar suit aims to put Maine back on track
Election 2018
When time comes for candidate debates, the underdogs have no stage fright. Here's why.
Today's editorial cartoon
Maine Compass: Climate risk, not powerline, is the real enemy


text:
DAVIS, Calif. -- The results of a 2004 study by University of California economists determined that production of extra-early cling peaches loses $400 per acre. That compares unfavorably to a 2003 study of late-harvest varieties, which profited more than $500 per acre.
The economists investigated production practices and costs of producing extra-early varieties of cling peaches in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. Although the extra-early cling peaches received $10 more per ton in the 2004 study, they also yielded 3 tons per acre less that their late-harvested counterparts, resulting in a $535 per acre higher gross return for late-harvest varieties. Production costs are also higher for extra-early varieties primarily due to additional pruning and fruit thinning costs.
The study is based upon a hypothetical farm using practices common in the regions. UCCE farm advisors, researchers, growers, equipment and chemical suppliers, and other agricultural associates provided input and reviews. Assumptions used to identify current costs for orchard production operations, material inputs, cash and non-cash overhead are described in the study. Tables show production costs, profits over a range of prices and yields, monthly cash costs, hourly equipment costs, and the whole farm annual equipment, investment and business overhead costs. The study is intended as a guide and can be used to make production decisions, determine potential returns, prepare budgets and evaluate production loans.
The study was prepared by Janine Hasey, UCCE farm advisor, Sutter/Yuba Counties; Roger Duncan, UCCE farm advisor; Stanislaus County; Maxwell Norton, UCCE Farm Advisor, Merced County; Karen M. Klonsky, UCCE specialist, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis; and Pete Livingston, UCCE staff research associate, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis.
The 2004 study -- titled Sample Costs to Produce Cling Peaches in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, Extra-Early Harvested Varieties -- and the 2003 study -- titled Sample Costs to Establish a Cling Peach Orchard and Produce Cling Peaches, Sacramento and San Joaquin Valley, Late Harvested Varieties are available online at http://coststudies.ucdavis.edu, at county UCCE offices, by mail from the University of California, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616; or may be requested by calling UC Davis at (530) 752-4424. Cost of production studies are also available for many other commodities and locations, dating from 1931 to present. Internet downloads are free. There is a $3 handling fee for each mailed report.


text:
The Amazon Kindle Fire 2, in both 7in and 9in versions, is coming – just not necessarily to the UK. Since Amazon shunned British shores with the release of its Kindle Fire tablet, we're not getting our hopes up too much following news that it's releasing a Kindle Fire 2 tablet, shipping this May.
The Kindle Fire 2 should pack in an improved spec while remaining wallet-friendly, since Amazon sells tablets at a loss – making money back on ebooks, music and videos. It will likely remain around the current US$200 price mark, in spite of improvements, thanks to a switch to cheaper manufacturing plant Foxconn, according to The China Times.
While an Amazon Kindle Fire 2 is an exciting prospect, it's got nothing on the iPad 3 coming March 7th. And since Apple's new release should push down the price of the iPad and iPad 2 even further – it begs the question – can Amazon compete?
You may also like
Sharp ramping up production of displays for Apple's iTV
Razer unveils Mass Effect 3 gaming gear


text:
In the first congressional hearing this year on immigration on Tuesday, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro pushed for major reform that embraces both border security and legalization to undocumented immigrants who meet strict criteria.
Castro, a young star within the Democratic Party and who draws from his experience as a border state leader, told members of the House Judiciary Committee: "We must do at least three things: further strengthen border security; streamline the legal immigration process so that law-abiding companies can get the workers they need in this 21st century global economy; and create a path to citizenship to bring the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country out of the shadows and into the full light of the American Dream."
Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said during the daylong hearing that the nation's immigration system is "in desperate need of repair."
The much anticipated hearing came as President Barack Obama pushes for swift action to pass immigration legislation and as bipartisan Senate negotiators work to craft a bill. But in a sign of difficulties to come, Goodlatte cautioned against a "rush to judgment" and said each piece of the issue must be examined in detail.
Earlier in the day, Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, reiterated a similar warning, saying leaders need to take their time and not try to rush to enact a new immigration law.
Goodlatte said there are lots of questions about how any large-scale legalization program would work, how much it would cost and how it would prevent illegal immigration in future.
Obama supports a pathway to citizenship for the country's estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country, something many Republicans oppose.
Goodlatte questioned whether another approach might be possible: "Are there options we should consider between the extremes of mass deportation and a pathway to citizenship for those not lawfully present in the United States?" he asked.
His question underscored the discomfort within GOP circles with granting eventual citizenship to undocumented immigrants, something conservatives often decry as amnesty -- rewarding illegal behavior.
At one point the hearing was interrupted by protesters, apparently young undocumented immigrants known as "DREAMers" brought illegally into the country as children, who shouted "undocumented and unafraid," a mantra they use often -- before being escorted out of the hearing room.
Yet Tuesday's hearing, which focused on fixing the legal immigration system and on enforcement, was notable for the generally measured tone from some Republicans known for strong anti-immigration positions.
Several questioned whether there's a way short of citizenship to deal with undocumented immigrants, and others on the panel agreed on the need to allow more high-skilled workers to enter the country, a priority for technology companies.
"Let's not let the more contentious issues and the idea of comprehensive reform prevent us from passing something," said Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala.
Bachus' appeal for a clear-eyed approach to reviewing the contentious issue was part of a larger shift by Republicans who have begun to embrace action on immigration reform in the wake of the November elections in which large proportions of Hispanic voters supported Obama, helping him win re-election.
Some GOP leaders concluded that softening their views on immigration is becoming a political necessity.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., delivered a speech Tuesday embracing "an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship for those who were brought to this country as children and who know no other home."
It appeared to be a significant reversal for Cantor, who voted against DREAM Act legislation to allow a path to citizenship for certain immigrants brought here as youths.
But even the softened GOP tone did not satisfy some immigrant advocacy groups, which criticized the hearing's focus on enforcement.
"The GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee held a hearing that tilted away from common sense solutions," said Eliseo Medina, an administrator with Service Employees International Union said. "It serves as a reminder that we have to remain watchful over the legislative process to make sure that voters learn who are the champions of reform and who are the ones who will try to obstruct the process."
Meanwhile, groups that favor strict immigration enforcement also had their own criticism.
"President Obama's meeting with union and business leaders today reinforced their support for loose labor markets and their disdain for the American worker," said Roy Beck, who heads NumbersUSA, which lobbies for stricter immigration enforcement. "It's not surprising to find some big business executives rallying behind increased flows of foreign workers to depress wages. However it is utterly baffling that union leaders can be for Obama's blueprint for a massive expansion of foreign workers to directly compete with their members."
Some in Congress believe that the best way to reform various aspects of immigration is through piecemeal legislation
On Tuesday, a group of mostly Democrats in the House introduced a bill that would allow gay and lesbians to sponsor their partners for legal residency in the United States. Supporters of the measure, known as the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), say that a reform of the immigration system should include gay and lesbian families.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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A community to unite us bloggers and journal writers that reside in the Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, B.C. Canada). AUGUST 30, 2006: If you recently signed up and haven't been added, please sign up again... I accidently erased the queue. Yes, I am a big dork. Sorry.
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Just another caffeind in Portland, OR...
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Listen Up. Quandrous and Kid Topher make up the Matchstick Men, a Portland, Oregon, Hip-Hop group that is ready to take over. If you are looking for radio-ready, overly-commercial, drug/alcohol-driven, ...
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This was a weekend of firsts for me…
First Daring Bakers Challenge,
First time making meringue (on my own), and
First time making pavlovas, which I can now happily cross off my culinary bucket list, although I suspect this isn't the last time I'll be baking them.
I excitedly joined the Daring Bakers community at the end of last month, after eying its members' wonderful creations for quite some time. As part of my resolutions this year, I wanted to start challenging myself more, all the while investing more time and energy doing the things that I love. Baking being very high up on that list, Daring Bakers seemed like the perfect group to join.
Here we are, a few weeks later, and it's time to post my results for the June 2010 Daring Bakers' challenge, which was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphanyby François Payard.I will admit I was nervous when I started reading all the different elements that were required. I kept thinking that not only was this going to take forever, but that if I didn't manage to make one or more of the components correctly, the entire dessert would be ruined. Since it was my first challenge, I wanted to stay as true to the instructions and recipe as possible. That said, I'm pretty picky with my chocolate desserts. I don't often like dark chocolate in recipes, chocolate on chocolate (crazy, I know), and the pairing of orange and chocolate. So, I decided to considerably reduce the amount of mousse I'd be making, as well as mascarpone cream, and omit the Grand Marnier, just in case. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly each piece of the pavlova came together. Most of my time ended up being spent waiting for the crème anglaise to cool and the meringue shells to bake.
As I suspected, the combination of the chocolate on chocolate topped with mascarpone cream was a little too rich for my taste, although I used semi-sweet chocolate instead of the dark chocolate required. My mascarpone cream didn't turn out quite as expected and ended up instead having more of a pudding like consistency, probably because I whipped the heavy cream a little too long. The flavors were there, so it was still good, but it didn't help make the dessert any lighter. I wasn't quite sure how to plate the dessert to make it attractive. I made a couple of attempts at just adding the mousse on top of the meringue shell and drizzling the mascarpone cream, but I just didn't like the way it looked… Finally, I decided to turn it into a trifle by alternating layers of the meringue, chocolate mascarpone mousse, and mascarpone cream and topping it with a couple of plum slices.
While browsing the internet for some inspiration, I came across Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova recipe, and Petrina Tinslay's beautiful photo of the dessert. All I could think about was how I wished that's what my dessert looked like. So, since I have some beautiful meringue shells leftover, I will be making a simple vanilla whipped cream, piling that on top of the meringue and topping everything with fresh raspberries and chocolate shavings. I can't wait!
Thank you Dawn for an exciting first challenge!


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Patriots' Brady Misses Practice With Shoulder Injury
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady sat out of practice Tuesday due to a left shoulder injury. ESPN reports Brady is expected to keep playing through the injury. The 40-year-old has been sacked 16 times this season but still leads the NFL with 1,702 passing yards.
The 3-and-2 Patriots visit the New York Jets this Sunday.
Photo: Getty


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Get easy access to culture and sports with a stay in our Manchester Sale hotel. Enjoy a smörgåsbord of entertainment at the Waterside Arts Centre which is within walking distance of our hotel.
And, if sport is more your thing, then you're spoilt for choice with the Sale United Football club and Old Trafford Cricket and Football stadiums - all only a few minutes away.
This hotel features our upgraded rooms each with a comfy king size bed complete with four plump pillows and a cosy duvet. Our on-site restaurant and bar serves breakfast and tasty evening meals.
Free parking is available at this hotel. Parking is controlled by third party company UKPR Ltd. Travelodge customers must provide vehicle registration at check-in to receive free parking. This car park is shared and customers should park in the Travelodge bays marked "T".
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I can buy quality products at great prices. And i have variety of brands that i can choose of. My kids will definitely love it
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Stop if you are in the way and does not deserve a dedicated trip. This outlet shopping mall has very limited number of shops and discount are not attractive.


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The Sun Bowl Association announced a six-year extension on Thursday with the Atlantic Coast Conference set to begin in 2014.
The Sun Bowl will share the third through sixth selections from the ACC with the Belk Bowl, the Pinstripe Bowl and the Gator Bowl or the Music City Bowl. The Orange Bowl will continue to have the conference champion or the first selection followed by the Russell Athletic Bowl.
The ACC representative will face an opponent from the Pac-12 Conference in which the Sun Bowl selects after the newly-formed College Football Playoff and/or the Rose Bowl, the Alamo Bowl, the Holiday Bowl and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.
"We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the ACC," said Walker Crowson, Sun Bowl Association President. "We have been part of the ACC family for the past three seasons which has allowed us to bring high-profile, competitive teams to the Sun Bowl and we look forward to building upon that tradition."
First played in 1935, the Sun Bowl is the second oldest college football bowl game in the nation.
"The Sun Bowl Association does a first-class job in its hospitality, community involvement and creating an experience that will long resonate with our participating teams," said ACC Commissioner John Swofford.
"The new college football playoff system has significantly altered the landscape in which all bowls are operating," Crowson added. "In light of all of the changes that bowls are facing, we could not be happier that we are able to continue our strong partnership with one of the premier conferences in the country for the next six years."
This year's game will mark the 80th anniversary of the Sun Bowl and is scheduled for Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. (ET) at Sun Bowl Stadium. CBS Sports will broadcast the game for the 46th consecutive year.


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HIV+ Porn Stars, Rod Daily & Cameron Bay, Plead For Condoms To Be Required In Porn
Adult film stars Rod Daily and Cameron Bay, who are in a relationship and both recently tested positive for HIV, pleaded with the porn industry on Wednesday to require condom usage in scenes.
Daily's and Bay's HIV-positive diagnosis resulted in two filming moratoriums this summer. The most recent will be lifted on Friday.
The couple spoke openly during a press conference organized by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF).
Cameron Bay and Rod Daily fought back tears at a Hollywood press conference as they spoke of their distress at learning they were infected. They joined a wave of adult actors to be diagnosed with the virus this summer, which prompted a halt on production on many US porn film sets.
Daily, 32, criticized industry bosses for failing to promote safe sex, saying: 'Ultimately, it's a business, and their main concern is money and not their performers.'
His partner, 29, said she felt naive to have trusted industry sex infection tests, which performers are required to have every 14 days.
But she said many actors felt they would struggle to find work if they asked for condoms.
'I learned there's always someone younger and sexier, willing to do something you're not,' she said.
'I think we need more choices because of that. Condoms should be a choice.'
(*Editors note: HIV testing has only recently become required every 14 days; prior to the moratorium it was every 28 days.)
Daily and Bay were joined by fellow porn performer Patrick Stone and another unnamed performer participated over the phone.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation played a large role in the passage of Los Angeles County's Measure B, which will require condom usage on porn film sets in Los Angeles County.
AHF President Michael Weinstein praised the performers for speaking out, saying: "Four performers stepping forward in this very heated environment – it takes an enormous amount of courage."
What do you think of their decision to speak out, Instincters?
Do you agree that condoms should be required in porn? Will the industry hear their pleas?
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Les derniers petits copains que j'avais étaient tous très grands, j'aime beaucoup, surtout lorsqu'il s'agît de faire l'amour, cela donne beaucoup de possibilités pour des positions vraiment coquines, je pense que vous trouverez tout seul:-) Là, je suis seule depuis quelques semaines et même si je vis encore chez mes parents, les nuits sont longues quand je suis seule au lit. Mon petit nom est Marlène, et vous, vous vous appelez comment
If someone is going to do porn, they better go in with their eyes open factoring for everything from STDs to whatever stigma they may face for doing it. I'm sure there are some decent studios but I'm sure most are questionable but they also have to realize that if they don't take care of their performers (ie only hire clean ones) there won't be anyone left to perform. Condoms do break.
They are not victims - they had and still have the choice to not do scenes without condoms. People like this are eternal victims, nothing is EVER their fault. Everyone could be making more money somehow, but the law or our morals keep us from doing it - they need to grow up and be accountable for their choices.
Of course not. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to draw the line and say no. Rod Daily and Cameron Bay led risky lifestyles. If they felt unsafe, they should have stopped it! It is so much easier to blame someone else for our mistakes. No matter, the porn industry isn't going to require condom usage.
With that, I will say that I am sorry for them. It is a sad, sad thing.
No. Hell no.
a requirement?! That's telling people what to do with their own bodies. Fuck that. You can't tell me these people didn't know they were at risk. Porn or not, if you have unprotected sex, YOU'RE AT RISK for hiv or any other std. In this day and age, everyone knows that.
This seems contrived.
this seems like it was thought up by "mainstream" porn producers who are having trouble competing with more independent bareback porn producers. Bareback porn is hotter. It's more spontaneous and, the truth hurts but, MORE REALISTIC.
this is just an attempt to outlaw bareback porn because condom porn can't compete. AND/OR, it is an attempt to tell people what they can and can't do with their own bodies. Both really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Yes, the industry should protect their performers like any other industry. But with that said, Daily and Bay both admitted they likely caught HIV in their personal time off set. Which means they were taking part in unsafe sex practices when they were not working. I have a feeling the most strict amount of over-site and regulation on the porn industry would have not protected these two from contracting HIV since they themselves were already taking part in unsafe sex off set. In this case contracting HIV was a consequence of their poor judgement and not the studios fault.


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Vinegar Fish
Comments :
- Wonderful Life said... on
- 23 September, 2008 18:41
It looks delicious and simple to cook!
- Sarah's Daddy and Mommy said... on
- 23 September, 2008 23:26
Lydia, I never know that has such a healthy and nice recipe.
I wonder what will the fish taste like?
- Lydia said... on
- 26 September, 2008 16:26
wonderful life: it is really simple to cook, best part is no need to use oil.
joanne: tastes bit like teow chiew steamed fish with sour plum.
- Sarah's Daddy and Mommy said... on
- 27 September, 2008 01:31
Hmmm..I never taste teo chiew steamed fish b4. Anyway, you are very creative in dishes.
- [eatingclub] vancouver || js said... on
- 29 September, 2008 13:34
This looks just delish. I love fish cooked in vinegar.
- Anonymous said... on
- 29 September, 2008 21:01
Hi Lydia, what sort of fish do you normally use? Freshwater or normal market fish? Tks, want to try this soon, Mrs Singh
- Lydia said... on
- 30 September, 2008 00:20
[eatingclub] vancouver || js:
Any recipes to share? Would like to explore more in cooking with vinegar. Thanks.
Mrs Singh:
I used fish from the market, I think this one is called "cencaru" in Malay... sorry if I give you wrong name cos I can only distingush fishes by their look.