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Ever heard of
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? HYPER is a peer-to-peer digital currency with settlement times twenty times faster than Bitcoin. To make it special, the currency is designed for use in online games, MMOs, virtual worlds and more. A cryptocurrency designed to bring the world stable monetary growth outside of traditional banking and to specifically cater to the needs of online gaming environments. It's a concept that we haven't seen before.
To start off, it seems a good idea to explain what HYPER is. The developer described the currency as follows:
"Essentially, HYPER is a low energy cryptocurrency designed for use in online games, MMOs, virtual worlds and more. The currency is currently used in Counter-Strike, Minecraft, and Zandagort – a space-based strategy MMO game server we are running where an in-game free market trading platform for HYPER is being currently developed."
The gaming aspect of HYPER is what makes it stand out from other cryptocurrencies. Of course, this is not the only interesting aspect about this new coin. HYPER is low energy as it is a 100% proof of stake coin. The people who have HYPER in their wallet support the network by keeping their wallet open. By doing so, they will mint new coins with their computer as a reward for supporting the network. This approach eliminates the otherwise unavoidable introduction of high-end ASICS which is
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with other cryptocurrencies.
So if HYPER has launched already, why haven't we all heard of it before? "Although I have been mulling over the details of HYPER and the cryptocurrency space MMO for over a year, HYPER was launched with very little fanfare on May 25th, 2014, on the bitcointalk forums. Looking back a pre-ANN would have been much better for the coin, but this is my first coin, and hindsight always makes things easier," said HYPER's developer. While hindsight does make things easier, building up a great hype on bitcointalk forums is
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. Too many coins did this and failed to live up to expectations in the end. A rather shy launch shows the public that a coin wasn't developed for quick gains. By doing so, it makes people believe that the developer is in it for the long run.
Heaven's Door – a collection of American Whiskeys developed in collaboration with Bob Dylan and renowned craft distillers, will be available in May. Years in the making, the inaugural trilogy of expressions includes a Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Double Barrel Whiskey and Straight Rye Whiskey finished in oak barrels from Vosges, France, air-dried for 3 years. The perfect blend of art and craft, each bottle showcases Dylan's distinctive welded iron gates that he created in his metalworking studio, Black Buffalo Ironworks.
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subset: commoncrawl


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I was running on the treadmill yesterday when I felt something in my left shoe rubbing against my small left toe. It felt like a small pebble might have been stuck in there. Turns out, it was just an awkward positioning of my sock. It was more annoying than painful, and once I stop running I tend to have a hard time starting back up again -- it's like a Band-Aid, get it out of the way as fast as possible and it is less painful -- so I ignored the pebble-type sensation and continued to run. But when I stopped running 18 miles later -- OK, so it wasn't 18 -- the top right side of my left ankle hurt.
Now, you may be asking yourself one of two things:
1) Is this a subtle plea for prescription pain meds?
2) What in the name of Sancho Panza's donkey does this have to do with Brad Lidge?
To any Federal Agents who happen to be reading this blog, the answer to the first question is: Um, no. I tell this little anecdote because it is the first thing I thought of when I listened to Lidge talk about his knee and elbow problems at a press conference yesterday. The human body is an intricate machine, one that has a remarkable ability to compensate for shortcomings in one area by instinctively transfering energy to another area; or, as Subaru would say, from the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip. When I was running on the treadmill, I was subtly changing my stride to alleviate pressure on my left toe, which required transfering more pressure to the right side of the foot, which led to the second bout of soreness I felt.
I draw two parallels to Lidge's situation last season -- one literal, and one figurative. The literal: the fact that Lidge's elbow required surgery after the season makes perfect sense, given the fact that he says he was favoring his knee and changing his mechanics all season. The figurative: Lidge's fastball was most affected by the knee injury, which made his slider seem more ineffective than it really was.
The second scenario is what really intrigues me, because Lidge's slider was the pitch that was the subject of so much speculation last season. Had he lost confidence in it? Had he lost a feel for it? Were hitters laying off it at a far greater rate than in previous years? Was his lights-out 2008 season mostly the result of hitters consistently fishing for sliders out of the zone?
While there was good reason to ask any one of the aforementioned questions, I don't think they hold the key.
I haven't done enough research to say anything concrete, but I have done enough to say this: I strongly believe that the overwhelming difference between Lidge in 2009 and Lidge in 2008 was more a result of an inability to control his fastball location inside the strike zone, and less a result of hitters waiting out sliders (perhaps suggesting tipping, or lack of command) or crushing bad ones.
I. The Slider
Let's look at the 44 sliders Lidge through in the 2009 playoffs
- Strikes: 30
- Called strikes: 7
- Swings/Misses (including fouls): 12
- Hits: 1
- In-play Outs: 3
- Strikeouts Swinging: 3
- Strikeouts Looking: 1
Now let's look at the 109 sliders he threw in the 2008 playoffs:
- Strikes: 70
- Called strikes: 20
- Swings/Misses: 32
- Hits: 2
- In-play Outs: 7
- Strikeouts swinging: 8
- Strikeouts looking: 1
The one glaring difference is the number of sliders he threw. In 2008, 63 percent of his total pitches were sliders. In 2009, 42.7 percent of his total pitches were sliders. This jibes with his percentages during the respective regular seasons, when he threw 49.3 percent sliders in 2009 and 56.2 percent in 2008. Why the disparity? Who knows. Maybe he wasn't as confident in the pitch, maybe he was trying repeatedly to establish his fastball, maybe he didn't feel it was effective. All of those are legit questions. But that's a different topic of conversation. My search here was to find him he was throwing the slider as effectively, and the numbers suggest that -- at least during the playoffs, he was:
- Hitters actually swung at the slider more in the 2009 postseason (50 percent of the time), than they did in the 2008 postseason (45.0 percent of the time).
- He threw his slider for more strikes in 2009 than in 2008
- Hitters put sliders into play at a similar rate in 2009 (9.1 percent) as they did in 2008 (8.3 percent)
- Lidge threw his slider for more called strikes in 2008 (18.3 percent to 15.9 percent), but hitters swung and missed or swung and fouled off more sliders in 2009 (34.1 percent) than they did in 2008 (29.4 percent).
- All other categories were comparable.
Of course, this was the playoffs, when Lidge's results were as good as they'd been all season. So I also looked at two separate five game stretches in May, the first from May 8-15, the second from May 26 to June 1. I tried to pick one of his worst stretches of the year, and one of his best. I don't expect them to prove anything, since they are arbitrary dates and - along with the playoffs -- represent roughly 15 percent of his appearances during the year.
Here is his breakdown from early May (5.0 IP, 8 ER, 10 H, 24 AB, 4 SO, 3 BB, 6 XBH), when he threw 106 total pitches:
- Sliders: 60
- Strikes: 35
- Called Strikes 7
- Swings/misses: 18
- In-play Outs: 5
- Hits: 3
- Strikeouts swinging: 2
- Strikeouts looking: 0
Now here is his breakdown from late May (4.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 13 AB, 5 SO, 1 BB, 0 XBH), when he threw 64 pitches:
- Sliders: 28
- Strikes: 20
- Called Strikes: 5
- Swings/misses: 7
- In-play Outs: 2
- Hits: 2
- Strikeouts swinging: 3
- Strikeouts looking:1
So during his rough five-game stretch, Lidge threw more sliders (56.67 percent to 43.8 percent), and threw fewer of them for strikes (58.3 percent to 71.4 percent). But. . .
- Hitters swung at his slider at a similar rate (46.7 percent during his rough stretch and 50.0 percent during his good stretch, the equivalent of about one more swing during the good stretch and two more during the rough stretch).
- Hittters "missed" when swinging at the slider -- in other words, did not put a ball into play -- at the exact same rate in both stretches (71.4 percent)
- Hitters put the slider into play at a similar rate during both stretches (13.3 percent of all sliders during the rough stretch, 11.1 during the good stretch).
What does all of this mean? Nothing conclusively. But at the very least, it doesn't appear as if there is a huge disparity in the frequency with which hitters elected to swing at Lidge's slider during any of thestretches. And the similar in-play rates would seem to indicate the hitters were having only slightly more success against the slider during the bad stretch than during the good stretch.
II. The Fastball
Conversely, the difference between Lidge's fastball was vastly different between the two May '09 data sets.
- During the good stretch, 0-for-12 against his fastball. During the bad stretch, they went 8-for-19, meaning 42.1 percent of the time a batter swung against a fastball, it resulted in a hit (and six of those hits were for extra bases).
- During the bad stretch, 13 of the 46 fastballs Lidge threw (and 13-of-19 swings) resulted in a Ball In Play. During the good stretch, 4 of the 36 fastballs he threw (and 4-of-12 swings) resulted in a Ball In Play.
- Hitters swung more at his fastball during the bad stretch (41.3 percent) than the good stretch (33.3 percent), but no more than they swung at his fastball during the playoffs in 2008 (42.2 percent), when they put just 13 of 64 fastballs and 13-of-27 fastball swings, into play.
III. Conclusion
As I said earlier, these are really small sample sizes, so nothing about this is scientific. But I think some of the examples illustrate were the bulk of Lidge's problems lay last year. He still had his slider, even if it was slightly less effective. But hitters killed his fastball at a ridiculous rate, thanks to his difficulty in putting the ball where he wanted it.
What does all of this have to do with Lidge's knee? Maybe nothing. Maybe he just flat-out lost his command. But the knee makes sense in a lot of ways. It explains the location issues. It explains the inconsistent velocity he displayed throughout the season (While his fastball averaged just 0.7 MPH less than in 2008, there seemed to be days where he wasn't throwing as hard. For example, during the 2008 postseason, he threw just one fastball out of 61 total that was clocked below 93 MPH, according to PitchFX. During the 2009 postseason, he threw 12 such pitches out of 51 total fastballs.
Take Game 4 of the World Series, for example, when Lidge allowed three runs in the top of the ninth to blow a tie game. Seven of his first 10 fastballs clocked in at 94 MPH (the other three at 93). Of the final seven that he threw, six clocked in at 92 (including a Mark Teixeira HBP, Alex Rodriguez's RBI Double, and Jorge Posada's two-run single).
Again, anecdotal evidence doesn't prove anything. And it certainly doesn't prove that all will be well with Lidge now that his knee (and, consequently, elbow) are surgically-repaired. Maybe the drop in velocity came from poor mechanics, or the fact that he was pitching from the stretch.
But if the knee was the problem, and if it remains trouble-free this season, all the offseason worry about the bullpen could prove to be unfounded.


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By Simon Bain, Simplexo
Big Data is very much a hot topic right now. There doesn't seem to be a day that goes by when we're not being spoken to, about, or at on the subject. With this in mind, I wanted to conduct a swift survey to see how seriously organizations are taking the threat of data breaches in relation to big data.
It was nothing too scientific: a quick internet search of the terms 'Big Data' and 'security' brought up 53,600,000 results in 0.31 seconds. A positive start, I thought initially, but as I dug deeper my optimism began to fade.
The results largely featured companies advertising how they can analyze big data sets to see where a threat may arise from. So, in essence, nothing really about security at all, just about how to sell software to analyze web traffic and determine where a hack might occur. Now this might seem all well and good, but when you consider that now days the majority of serious attacks are no longer web based but internal, it does raise a few worrying questions.
Please log in or register below to read the full article.


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Movie Night: This is 40April 5, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Mānoa Campus, campus center 2nd floor
The Campus Center Board Activities Council invites you to our free movie night!
Join us at the Campus Center Forum (2nd Floor) on Friday, April 5, 2013 for a special showing of This is 40!
Five years after writer/director Judd Apatow introduced us to Pete and Debbie in 'Knocked Up', Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann reprise their roles as a husband and wife both approaching a milestone meltdown in 'This Is 40', an unfiltered, comedic look inside the life of an American family.
After years of marriage, Pete lives in a house of all females: wife Debbie and their two daughters, eight-year-old Charlotte (Iris Apatow) and 13-year-old Sadie (Maude Apatow). As he struggles to keep his record label afloat, he and Debbie must figure out how to forgive, forget and enjoy the rest of their lives...before they kill each other.
In his fourth directorial outing, Apatow's new comedy captures what it takes for one family to flourish in the middle of a lifetime together.
The all-star cast portraying the family and friends, colleagues and neighbors represents an ensemble of actors from many of Apatow's previous projects, as well as new comedy players who have been welcomed into the fold. They include John Lithgow, Megan Fox, Chris O'Dowd, Jason Segel, Melissa McCarthy, Graham Parker, Lena Dunham, Annie Mumolo, Robert Smigel, Charlyne Yi, Lisa Darr and Albert Brooks.
This is 40 Movie Night:
- Friday, April 5, 2013
- Campus Center Forum (2nd Floor)
- Two Showings: 6:30 PM & 8:45 PM
- 25¢ Subway Sandwiches, Popcorn, Cotton Candy, Drinks, & Subway Cookies!*
- This event is FREE and open to the public!
*Supplies are limited
**Food/drinks will be available for purchase before each showing
Invite your friends and join us for another exhilarating Friday Night Movie at Campus Center!
Please Note: Masks and face paint are not allowed. Anyone who is not easily identifiable will NOT be allowed to enter the event. No exceptions!
***Presented by the Campus Center Board Activities Council (CCB AC)***
*Interested in being a CCB Activities Council member?
Find out more at http://uhmccbac.weebly.com/apply-to-ccb-ac.html
Event Sponsor
Campus Center Activities Council, Mānoa Campus
More Information
CCB Activities Council, 956-4491, firstname.lastname@example.com, http://www2.hawaii.edu/~ccbac/
Friday, April 5
BEES: GROWING A BEE GARDENHarold L. Lyon Arboretum 3860 Manoa Road Honolulu, HI 96822
Ambassador Dino P. Djalal: Indonesia and Asia's Geopolitical ChangesMānoa Campus, John A. Burns Hall, Room 2121
Sociology Final OralMānoa Campus, Saunders 624
Mongolia: The Struggle to Develop Natural Resources while Protecting CultureMānoa Campus, Saunders 624
Campus-Wide ConversationMānoa Campus, Kuykendall Auditorium
Women, Camps, and "Bare Life" in the Northern Uganda ConflictMānoa Campus, Saunders Hall 637
Master's Thesis DefenseMānoa Campus, St. John, Room 11
German Club - StammtischMānoa Campus, Manoa Gardens
Assessing interactions of multiple ecosystem services in agricultural landscapesMānoa Campus, POST 723
Movie Night: This is 40Mānoa Campus, campus center 2nd floor
Malka Haymer, sopranoMānoa Campus, Orvis Auditorium
Movie Night: This is 40Mānoa Campus, campus center 2nd floor
A Lovely Violent Ghost Haiku with GunMānoa Campus, Late Night at the Earle Ernst Lab Theatre


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15 Easy and Inspiring Recipes for Bakers Young and Old
The year 2011 brought cakes, cookies, quick breads and pies. It brought cupcakes, turnovers, biscuits and scones. Some were more challenging recipes and others were perfect for the young baker eager to break out the butter and sugar and get crackin.'
We scoured our archives looking for baking recipes most appropriate for amateur bakers, recipes that have relatively simple ingredient lists and straight-forward instructions yet are appealing and inspiring. To close out a delicious baking year at The Kitchn, here are our favorite 15 grab-and-go recipes. Happy mixing.
• 1 Spiced Pear Muffins
• 2 Dark and Damp Molasses Cake
• 3 Hazelnut and Olive Oil Shortbread
• 4 No-Bake Nutella Peanut Butter Cookies
• 5 Baked Apple Dumplings
• 6 Easy, Foolproof Cobbler For Any Fruit
• 7 Plum Crumble
• 8 Chess Pie
• 9 Peanut Butter and Jelly Icebox Cookies
• 10 Carrot Sheet Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
• 11 Chewy, Salty, Sweet Ritz Cracker Cookies
• 12 Almond Buttermilk Cake with Cherries
• 13 Crisp Meringues with Whipped Cream
• 14 Crinkle-Top Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
• 15 Extra Dark Brownies with Sea Salt and Lime
Welcome to The Kitchn's Best of 2011 roundup! From December 19 through January 1 we are rounding up some of our favorite (and your favorite) posts from the past year.
(Images: See linked posts for full image credits)


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Santorini wedding photography has become about story telling - capture of the emotions and atmosphere of the day through reportage style photography. Black and white and color combine to create a contemporary, stylish and complete story of your wedding day in Santorini.
"In the years to come it will be the pictures that tell your wedding story"
Your wedding picturesshould be about you and not just of you. I am looking to capture the real you and that means who you are and how you feel about your intended spouse, your family, your friends and your wedding day. I concentrate on those photographs that tell your story.
I avoid being intrusive and believe it's best to melt into the crowd so that I can observe discreetly. Most people are more comfortable and more themselves when they are unaware of the camera. However, the photographer must have special technical, emphatic and anticipatory skills in order to capture these precious moments.
Own your Images: It is our policy to provide all files and images to our clients in any resolution or format for no additional charge. This is a big deal as most photographers maintain these rights and are free to charge what-ever rates they wish for reprints and albums.
Primarily, I am an artist photographer. I am looking for images that are timeless in that they are not just reproductions of faces, but rather images that emote the special feelings shared by those photographed with you


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The Navy on Thursday established its first aircraft squadron made up of both traditional helicopters and remotely piloted drones, joining other U.S. services in using the cheaper, virtually indefatigable but controversial unmanned vehicles.
Saying the future is now, the Navy expects the Coronado squadron to make its first deployment in early 2014 on the littoral combat ship Fort Worth, with two Fire Scout unmanned vehicles and one traditional Seahawk helicopter.
The new squadron is Helicopter Maritime Strike 35, "the Magicians." Its pilots will fly the drones from a control room inside the ship, in addition to their regular piloting duties.
Vice Adm. David Buss, commander of the Navy's air forces, said the unmanned helicopters — small, boxy, windowless aircraft — can fly for eight hours and travel 110 nautical miles from home base. Already, their infrared cameras can do surveillance. In the future, the Navy plans to put weapons on them.
"That's some real reach and endurance that we desperately need," Buss said in a ceremony in a North Island Naval Air Station hangar decorated by a wall-to-ceiling American flag and filled with both active and retired aviators.
"I really believe this is the Navy's future," he said. "Because we're bringing these two capabilities together at a time when we really need both manned and unmanned systems."
The Magicians squadron will be made up of eight MH-60R Seahawks and 10 MQ-8B Fire Scouts. However, the Fire Scouts will reside at the Rancho Bernardo campus of Northrop Grumman, the defense contractor that designs them, said Cmdr. Christopher Hewlett, the squadron's commanding officer.
Also, don't expect to see the 24-foot unmanned helicopters flying over San Diego. A spokesman for Buss' office said the current plan is to truck the Fire Scout to the ship pier for deployments. Test flights will occur in restricted air space over Point Mugu in Ventura County.
The Navy sees a business case for unmanned aerial vehicles, which have been used extensively by other military branches in Afghanistan for both surveillance and fire power.
The Fire Scout model to be used by the Magicians costs about $10 million, while the price tag for a MH-60 Seahawk is $33 million plus the risk to the lives of the four-person crew.
But the Fire Scout has had a shaky performance record as the Navy tested it in Afghanistan and on ships off South America and the African coast. The drone's surveillance abilities did help catch drug runners and pirates. But after two crashes in 2012, Navy officials called an "operational pause" for the Fire Scout.
A Pentagon report on the drone's deployment aboard the frigate Halyburton said the craft completed only half its missions.
Buss acknowledged those problems Thursday.
"As with any new system, you work your way through the bugs early on. … We're getting stronger every day," he said. "So I would say by the time this squadron deploys …. we will have many of the bugs worked out."
Defense analyst and author Norman Friedman said the Navy probably wants to test the unmanned Fire Scout and the manned Seahawk side by side to answer the question of which works best for various missions.
"The pilots are not going to be happy with this. Pilots are very important in the military services. They absolutely dominate in the Air Force; they are very important in the Navy. You could argue unmanned vehicles are a threat to them," said Friedman, author of the 2010 book "Unmanned Combat Air Systems."
"The Air Force is trying to overcome that by having a pilot on the ground flying each airplane. But when the Army flies them without pilots, they seem to be much more reliable. Oh, by the way, it's much cheaper."
Buss, a former A-6 Intruder flight officer and the Navy's "air boss," said he and his counterparts are still mulling what level of experience is required to run a drone.
"This isn't just about Fire Scout, this is about how we operate unmanned systems at the tactical level in the future," he said.
"Do we need winged pilots to be operators? Can we use enlisted operators? The ink has not dried on any set of criteria on that."
As it stands, the Magicians pilots will be expected to do a round-robin of cockpit flying, resting, then operating the Fire Scout. Similarly, enlisted crew members will fly their shifts in the Seahawk, come back and rest, then operate the Fire Scout's surveillance system.
Asked if that means twice as much work, one Magicians pilot said, "We're still working that out."
Hewlett, the squadron's skipper, said he'll have an lieutenant commander overseeing the crew's rest time so they don't get overloaded.
Lt. Kevin Shikuma, a 10-year Navy pilot, said he thinks learning the Fire Scout will be a breeze. And he's happy to be on the cutting edge.
"From what I hear, the UAV is a lot easier to fly. It's very automated so it'll be more like running a mouse and a keyboard instead of stick-and-rudder skills that the helicopter requires," he said.
Will he miss his cockpit time?
"We do love to fly, and now our time will be split between both. But I'm sure we'll remain proficient in both," Shikuma said.
Even as the military has seen the effectiveness of land-based Predator drones in making surgical strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, some Americans have started to oppose the idea of "killer drones" on moral grounds.
The Northrop Grumman San Diego facility was the site of protests last month by anti-drone activists.
But the Navy, after being somewhat late to enter the drone game, is hitting the gas pedal.
It plans to buy up to 168 Fire Scouts. Twenty-three of the first-generation MQ-8B version are already purchased, said a Naval Air Systems Command spokeswoman.
And 28 of the larger C version have been authorized for purchase to support special-operations troops. Those will operate from destroyers, at first. Some of the Fire Scout B's will also operate off frigates with special operations.
The Navy is also poised in coming weeks to do the first aircraft carrier-based test of its unmanned fighter jet model, the X-47B.


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By Michael S. Goldberger, film critic
It was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who offered that "The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton." But I think it was my Uncle Ignacz who opined, "Morality is originally taught in the animated films of Hollywood." True or not, numerous funny examples abound in director Rich Moore's "Wreck-It Ralph."
Safely recuperating in a warm Catskill movie house after fighting the cruel ravages of the very unladylike Hurricane Sandy, I was tossed among the tots, moppets and urchins generally delighted by this novel paean to the video game. And in all honesty, I think I laughed more than the little viewer to my left, a look-alike of the film's female heroine.
But my tacitly adopted, cinema barometer doubtless was much hipper to the jive. As she animatedly rocked to the colorful, music-filled adventure about Wreck-It Ralph, a video game villain who wants to be a good guy, and Vanellope Van Schweetz, an ill-treated, would-be race champion, I could only speculate what marvelments she saw that I didn't.
A stranger in a strange land, an Alexis de Tocqueville visiting and observing in the realm of the kiddy flick, I guessed at the countless, actual video game characters who essentially supplied credibility to the fictional scenario. Wary of getting lost in the minutiae, I nonetheless made connections and learned the language as best I could.
And I can only hope I'm a better man for it, the ethical lessons taught in Wreck-It Ralph's sojourn to self-fulfillment having at least somewhat rubbed off on me. The fine voicing by John C. Reilly as the title character, Sarah Silverman as the diminutive gal he befriends and Jane Lynch as the head honcho in another game make it all come alive.
Act #1, Scene #1, Ralph explains his plight to his group therapy cohorts. He doesn't want to be the bad guy anymore. But after the venting ends Ralph is back to the grind in Fix-It Felix, Jr., destroying everything in sight and fated to ultimately be bested by game namesake Fix-It Felix, a handyman with a golden hammer and the perennial hero.
However, as is oftentimes proved in these cartoon cells, the heart is a lonely hunter and the ego needs to be fed. Figures Ralph, if he's stuck in this microchip caste system, with no chance of ever getting the shiny medal he so longs for, he may as well immigrate to another game and try his chances there. The big lug washes ashore at "Hero's Duty."
There, where Jane Lynch's Sgt. Tamara Calhoun commands deadly force and leads the way in a never-ending battle against the Cy-Bugs that threaten the video game world, he becomes a soldier of fortune. Challenged but undaunted, he fights the good fight. But the real epiphany comes when, loping through the arcade universe, he meets exile Vanellope.
Decried a glitch, the outcast is to the other gal racers in "Sugar Rush" what Rudolph was to his fellow reindeer…barred from their games. This makes for a catch #22. You see, to free herself from the electronic curse, she must cross the finish line. But fat chance if disingenuous King Candy (Alan Tudyk), who sounds like Ed Wynn, has his evil way.
Happily, after a sizing-up tussle when Wreck-It Ralph first lands on Ms. Van Schweetz's square, a scene reminiscent of Robin Hood's initial meeting with Little John, the odd couple find a commonality. It's a familiar variation. If you were casting a live action version back in the day, Wallace Beery could play Ralph to Shirley Temple's Vanellope.
In any case, forming a camaraderie that refuses to relinquish its chiding component, the two set out to build the ultimate race car…one that hopefully will enfranchise the winsome waif. Constructed of confections—I think those wheels are cookies—as is all of Sugar Rush's infrastructure, one can only venture the number of hypothetical calories.
The tutorial in morality, tolerance and optimism is obvious. And while no substitute for lessons that should be instilled at home, like chicken soup served to cure a catarrh, it couldn't hurt. Equally present but far less accessible unless you're a video game fanatic are the innumerable send-ups, references and cameo appearances of arcade royalty.
Thus a disconnect exists between fairy tale and the ode to gamers. But then again, the odyssey through the folkways and laws of this world has its fascinations. Did you know that if you die in any game other than your own you can't regenerate? So while "Wreck-It Ralph" is in need of repairs, it shouldn't short-circuit gramps and junior's plans to see it.
"Wreck-It Ralph," rated PG, is a Walt Disney Motion Pictures release directed by Rich Moore and stars the voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman and Jane Lynch. Running time: 101 minutes
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Something peculiar is happening to rivers and streams in large parts of the United States — the water's chemistry is changing. Scientists have found dozens of waterways that are becoming more alkaline.
To meet current U.S. coal demand through surface mining, an area of the Central Appalachians the size of Washington, D.C., would need to be mined every 81 days.
In the 1980s, the dying red spruce trees of New England—many of them taller than eight-story buildings and more than three centuries old—furnished frightening proof of the power of acid rain.
PodcastWAMC reports on the long-term impacts of acid rain.
Human activities are changing the water chemistry of many streams and rivers in the Eastern U.S., with consequences for water supplies and aquatic life, so reports a new study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
Some tick-borne diseases are just becoming known and thus are often not recognized by physicians.
PodcastA new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looks at whether spraying yards with pesticides reduces the risk of contracting a tick-borne disease.
Managing fish in human-altered rivers is a challenge because their food webs are sensitive to environmental disturbance. So reports a new study in the journal Ecological Monographs, based on an exhaustive three-year analysis of the Colorado River in Glen and Grand Canyons.
Michael Meaden is a hands-on, outdoor teen. As a youngster, he enjoyed outdoor youth camps at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook. But then the 14-year-old outgrew the camps. Fortunately, last year a new teen program was added to the youth camps: Eco-Investigator, for rising eighth- through 10th-graders.
Join the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies for the 26th Annual Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Symposium, where eleven students will present the results of their summer research projects.
Dr. Gene E. Likens, the Founding President of Millbrook's Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, recently celebrated 50 years of research at The Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study (HBES) in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Since 2011, scientists have been exploring people's yards in six U.S. metropolitan areas–Los Angeles, Phoenix, Boston, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Baltimore.
As our climate shifts and changes, wildlife and weather also shifts and changes. Now, researchers have found something else that's deviating from the norm.
Climate change is affecting the spread of infectious diseases worldwide, according to an international team of leading disease ecologists.
While extremely rare, Powassan virus is deadlier than other tick-borne illnesses — killing 30 percent of those infected statewide since 2004 — and its victims are infected much more quickly.
Cary visiting scientist Ken Schmidt and his research team have been studying the ecology and behavior of birds on the Cary Institute grounds since 1998.
Mosquitoes testing positive for West Nile virus in Pennsylvania are very low in sharp contrast with the numbers recorded in 2012.
We see so little of the world that we live in. I was reminded of this yesterday when I visited Tivoli, where 17-year cicadas have emerged in great hordes.
Discover how water from Catskill Mountaintops feeds Manhattan taps in the dynamic presentation, The City That Drinks the Mountain Sky.
A recent study shows a link between a certain type of tick and a rare illness. The report shows the virus is on the rise in parts of the Hudson Valley and has spread to the Capital District.
In the Northeast, the black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) that spread Lyme disease also infect people with other maladies, among them anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and – as a new paper in the journal Parasites and Vectors reports – Powassan encephalitis.
Understanding the natural world is important — especially to scientists. But they'll be the first to say: Science is not the easiest subject to explain.
Monitoring a forest in New Hampshire provides clues to how important trees, such as maples, respond to changed conditions due to global warming.
The New Yorker reports on the controversy surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease. Columnist Michael Specter interviewed Cary disease ecologist Richard Ostfeld about the ecology of ticks and the spread of the disease.
How green is your grass? An upcoming scientific study in Conservation Letters shows that illegal marijuana farms can have serious environmental effects.
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Week In Tweets: Stacey Dash Backs Paula Deen, Chris Brown Defends Himself, Prayers For Mandela
Week In Tweets: June 23 – June 28, 2013
Aside from sending the Internet into a frenzy by releasing our exclusive digital cover featuring Pusha T and No Malice, this week was full of newsworthy happenings on Twitter. Stacey Dash complimented Paula Deen amidst her endorsement woes, Kevin Durant joined the Roc Nation empire and Wale released his third solo album The Gifted. Click through for a recap of celebrity tweets of the week.


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By Dana Feldman
RIVERSIDE, California (Reuters) - Attorneys representing a 12-year-old California boy charged with murdering his neo-Nazi father rested their case Tuesday without calling him to testify in a case that drew attention due to the rarity of a parent being slain by a child so young.
Lawyers for Joseph Hall concede that the boy, then just 10 years old, shot his father in May 2011 at point blank range, but argue that he should not be held criminally responsible. The gun belonged to his father, Jeffrey Hall, 32.
The boy's lawyers had suggested on Monday that he might testify in his own defense before the closely watched juvenile trial in Riverside County Superior Court concludes.
But defense attorney Matthew Hardy, in resting his case, said Hall would not be taking the witness stand, clearing the way for closing arguments to begin on Wednesday. Hardy did not elaborate on the decision.
Superior Court Judge Jean Leonard said she would likely render her verdict in the case, which is being conducted without a jury, on Monday morning.
"At this point, I'm really not sure what I'm going to do. I haven't made any decisions," Leonard told the attorneys.
The case has made headlines because of the father's neo-Nazi associations and the rarity of a parent being killed by a child so young.
Kathleen Heide, a criminologist who specializes in juvenile offenders, has said that 8,000 murder victims over the past 32 years were slain by their offspring, but only 16 of those were committed by defendants aged 10 or younger.
Hardy formally withdrew a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on Monday and said that he would ask during closing arguments that the charges against Hall be dismissed on the grounds that prosecutors had not proven the boy was culpable.
Since Hall is a minor, the purpose of the trial is not to determine guilt or innocence but whether certain allegations about his motives are true. If he is found responsible for the crime, he could be sent to a juvenile facility until he is 23.
The outcome hinges on the boy's understanding of right and wrong at the time. Defense lawyers have said the boy was conditioned by his father's violent, racist behavior and that he killed him to put an end to the physical abuse inflicted on him.
Prosecutors say Hall, who lived with four siblings, killed his father because he thought he was planning to divorce his stepmother, Krista McCary. Prosecutors said the boy was close to McCary and considered her his true mother.
(Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and M.D. Golan)


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Government has a love/hate relationship with key drives. Agency workers, just like everyone else, love the convenience of being able to store gigabytes of information in the palm of their hands. But if those little devices are lost or stolen, it means a lot of data is potentially compromised.
And given how cheap storage media is these days, even the average user is likely to collect a handful of key drives. Some of those devices are likely to have pretty large storage capacities, but you still can't use them at the office. But what if you could somehow "secure" those key drives in your desk drawer?
The Cipher USB FLE F1 from Addonics Technologies, claims to be able to take any generic key drive and make it secure enough for government use. It sounded like a bit of a magic trick, so we were happy to pull back the curtains to see how, and how well, such a device actually worked.
The Cipher USB FLE is inexpensive, at $40, and looks like a key drive itself. It plugs into a USB port and has another port on the back where you can attach the drives you want to encrypt. If you stick the device into a USB port on its own, it won't do anything, and the system won't detect it, because the Cipher USB FLE is set up with pass-through USB protocols. There has to be a drive on the other end.
The first time you attach it (and a required key drive) to a new PC, you will need to run the setup program and select a password. The device we tested was an F1, which required us to put a driver disk into the CD-ROM drive. You then set a password with the F1 the first time you set it up, which makes the encryption algorithm unique for that device. One set, you don't have to remember the password anymore unless you want to change it, which is not recommended. The F2 models add a second layer of security – a password is required to decrypt files -- which is not present on the F1.
With the F1, the hardware itself is all you need to decrypt files, because it's using the same algorithm every time. As long as the F1 is attached to a computer, you can decrypt any file that was originally encrypted with the same F1 unit. The catch is that changing the password on the unit changes the algorithm. So if you encrypt a bunch of files with your Cipher USB FLE F1 unit while the password was set to "Pollyanna" and suddenly decide to change it to "OscarTango," you won't be able to decrypt the files from before. It would seem as if the password no longer matched, but in reality, you are using a different algorithm at that point. Hence the advice to never change the F1's password once you set it up the first time.
Once you know all those little quirks, the Cipher USB FLE works surprisingly well. We used one of the most generic USB drives we could find, a tiny 256M unit passed out at a trade show. We plugged it into the back of the F1 that was set up with the robust password of "test" (since password strength doesn't really matter). When the F1 was plugged into a computer running Windows 7, it detected both the key drive and the Cipher. We told it to open the key drive in one window and run the Cipher program from the F1 on the other. We then added a 5.49M test file to the key drive, which showed in the window and also on the status screen of the Cipher program. A quick right click on the file, and we were able to encrypt it. That process took less than two seconds, speeding along because the F1 uses its integrated hardware crypto engine instead of software to drive the process.
The key drive now contained the newly encrypted file, which surprisingly did not increase in size. It had the same name as before, and we could even tell that it was a bitmap. The only difference was that it now was listed as an Addonics file. It would not open, though Windows tried to get it to do so using photo viewing software, so the OS knew how it was supposed to work.
That actually brings up a bit of a concern. Since the name of the file and the file type are not hidden during the encryption process, a file called TopSecretAttackPlans written in Word will still be called that and identifiable as a Word file. While that would not give an attacker automatic access to the file, it would provide some clues. The file itself was protected using NIST-approved 256-bit AES encryption, so its likely unbreakable, though being able to see file names and types is still troubling.
For increased security, you can have the F1 encrypt an entire drive, though for maximum flexibility, just encrypting files as needed is better. Then you can work with your unsecured files as often as you need without having to run the drive through the F1. We would actually recommend setting up an encrypted folder within the drive and then leaving a text file outside of that window containing your contact information. That way a lost drive might make it back to you if found by an honest person, (I've personally returned three lost drives to their owners over the years) but still keep the data safe.
On the plus side, we learned that the Cipher USB FLE F1 is actually a bit of an encryption command center. Although you have to attach a key drive to the back of the unit to get it to run, you aren't limited to just putting encryption on that drive. You can encrypt any file or drive that is attached to the computer, even those on the host machine. In this way, the Cipher USB FLE F1 could be used to lock down an entire laptop or desktop PC, and it could be done relatively quickly and on the fly. You would just have to remember to keep the device close when you wanted to use the protected data, since it would be acting essentially as a token-based security system, though one that has native encryption.
The Cipher USB FLE F1 is a surprisingly inexpensive way to turn unsecured drives, which are essentially trash for a lot of government workers, into usable, protected stores of information. Using the F1 as a portable encryption command center makes even more sense, because it could be used anywhere to quickly protect data, or to unlock and work with data that had been protected with the same device -- or with an F1 that has the same password set-up. It's less magical when you peek behind the curtain, but no less impressive for ad hoc, easy-to-use security.
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Actually, I believe that the 2-factor security is available on the F1 model as well. It seems that the difference between the F1 and F2 models is actually the use of ECB encryption on the F1 and CBC encryption on the F2.
Both the F1 and F2 are available with either single factor or 2-factor authentication.
I see several possible problems with this device:1. Drivers: your article was winblows-specific, so I had to go the manufacturer's web site to see about other OS's. It states that you need special software that runs only on winblows and macs to set the password, so Linux, *BSD, etc are out.2. With the NSA debacle (and lots of previous stuff), how do we know there's not a back door in there somewhere? I doubt you are allowed to inspect the firmware. I'm leery of any hardware crypto device for this reason, not just this one.3. Hudy's comment is dead-on: for truly classified info, this won't make any difference until NSA blesses it.4. Related to Hudy's comment, crypto--like all security--is notoriously easy for lusers to use in a FUBAR fashion, resulting in a very false sense of security. Even if this were approved for govt/corp use, it is only one small piece of the security equation.
The last two paragraphs, while informative, are a little disingeunuous for governement employees. Because, until DoD dictates that we can use such a device, then it's just a nice to know piece of information. Today, my agency will not allow any USB device on any GFE. So while using this device would be AWESOME, until we are told we can use it - it's just good info. Good article also, despite the spelling and grammar issues.
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Classroom Technology Upgrades
Several projects were undertaken by CTS in our continuing efforts to make presentation technology widely available on campus as well as to upgrade existing classroom technologies.
Mahar 307 was upgraded to a full Advanced Technology Classroom (ATC) and Anthropology will share that classroom with other departments in Mahar. In Lanigan, new hi-definition projectors and a digital control system were added to the Graphics Arts classroom and lab. A new hi-definition projector and the cabling necessary for hi-definition video were installed in the Campus Center auditorium. New hi-definition projectors were also installed in Penfield instruction rooms, in several busy Campus Center classrooms, and in Snygg 106, 107, and B6.
At Phoenix, a new digital ATC was built with a large flat panel display. The computer lab presentation system was also upgraded replacing the old projector and speakers on a cart. At the Metro Center, new Interactive whiteboard technology was added to the great technology already in room 105.
Continuing the expansion of our campus digital signage, a new display was installed in Rich Hall. The infrastructure for a digital signage player was installed in Tyler with the actual display coming soon.


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Kendall-Whittier Library will be closed Sep. 24 - Oct. 7 for library improvements
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Erdrich is my favorite novelist, so it stands to reason that if she publishes a book during the year, it will be on my favorite list. In this novel, Fourteen-year-old Joe Coutz comes to understand the complexities of justice and revenge when his mother is brutally attacked and sinks into a debilitating depression.
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With James Taylor making his theatrical stage debut next month in "A Christmas Carol" at the Berkshire Theatre Group in Pittsfield, Mass. the qustion arises -- will he get the stage bug, a la Harry Connick, Jr. and seek out other musical stage projects?
What might be a good fit for the easy going, low-key and entirely likable singer-songwriter and his sweet baby James baritone?
Perhaps....The Narrator in "Into the Woods"
Sarah Brown's father in "Guys and Dolls"
Daddy Warbucks in "Annie?"
Herbie in "Gypsy"
The Starkeeper in...


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How Georgia and Alabama Got Their Shapes
By Marcia Goodrich | Published
Once upon a time, O Best Beloved, there were no states at all in the United States. There were rivers and oceans and lakes and mountains, but no imaginary lines you could straddle with one foot in Wyoming, the other in Colorado.
Then one by one and two by two, from colonial times until 1959 (practically yesterday, Dear One), people began making states and setting their borders, and sometimes they set very strange borders indeed. (Michigan comes to mind.)
Mark Stein wrote a book about it, a New York Times bestseller called "How the States Got Their Shapes." If you are attentive and deliberate in your literary habits, O Best Beloved, and read his "Acknowledgements" section from the beginning to the very end, you will discover that Stein is "especially appreciative of insights [he] received from [Michigan Tech's] Stan Vitton regarding the boundaries of Georgia and Alabama."
Thus it came to pass that Vitton, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, helped solve a border mystery that goes back nearly 200 years.
"Stein had a theory as to why Georgia is cocked on an angle," says Vitton. "The idea was that they warped the line to get more coal inside Georgia's state boundaries."
Stein consulted Vitton about his theory. "I immediately realized it couldn't be right," mainly because there are no coalfields in that part of Georgia, says Vitton, who was once an engineering manager for an Appalachian mining company and knows his coalfields front and back.
Then Vitton got to pondering the question, so he took a ruler up to the third floor of Dillman Hall, to the map of the United States. And he measured across Georgia and Alabama. And lo, they were nearly the same width for much of their length. "Once you took care of the kinks, everything fit within a mile," he says. The founding fathers were apparently quite concerned that states (if not men) be created equal.
Much more may be said on the subject, but not here. If you would like to delve more deeply into the matter, you may read the book about how it all happened, just so.
Michigan Technological University is a public research university, home to more than 7,000 students from 54 countries. Founded in 1885, the University offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, and social sciences. Our campus in Michigan's Upper Peninsula overlooks the Keweenaw Waterway and is just a few miles from Lake Superior.


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For events, updates and more: like us on Facebook.
In this program, you will learn to:
This program focuses on the worlds and realities of four major under-represented groups:
"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman, Civil Rights activist
Ethnic Studies promotes respect and understanding among different
races and ethnic groups, supports student success, and teaches critical
thinking skills that are applicable in every personal encounter and
professional engagement. Research
confirms that exposure to ethnic studies has positive academic and social
outcomes for students. In increasingly
diverse "global" environments, a systematic analysis of power and cross-racial
interaction can provide the competitive advantage necessary for success.
You can earn a minor in Ethnic Studies, or a
graduate certificate.
African Student Association, American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), Black Student Union (BSU), MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil de Aztlán), HAPA, Gamma Alpha Omega (GOA) sorority, Hispanic Honor Society, Omega Delta Phi fraternity, Native American Business Organization (NABO), and NAU Repeal Coalition, are just a few of the student service learning opportunities that reflect the history and cultures of different racial and ethnic groups.
Is the ethnic studies program right for you? Take our quiz to find out.


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E.W.P. - European Waterbed Productions BVBA/SPRL
Fenix Bed System boxspring waterbeds and classic Stretch-Top System® waterbeds are produced by E.W.P. BVBA/SPRL which is part of the T.T.I.-group (Tilmans Trading International). We can draw on 30 years of experience in the European waterbed market. This makes us a high-tech manufacturing company with a strong base.
We may count as one of the largest waterbed manufacturers in Europe with outlets in many EU countries.
Modern technology
E.W.P. has of a number of independent production units, each with its own focus.
These production units combine ultra modern technology and old-fashioned craftsmanship. It is exactly this combination which makes our production versatile and flexible.
Throughout our history we strived to take over the reins earlier and earlier in the whole production process, so we now have complete control over every aspect of the production.
This control ensures that we can guarantee every single part and that we can react quickly to all demands from the market. This combination of technology and craftsmanship also enables us to produce prototypes, made-to-measure products and small series.
The T.T.I.-group has developed, together with the manufacturer, the revolutionary 4D-Vinyl, a new vinyl film with unique properties. 4D-Vinyl foil is the only plastic film in the world that was developed specifically for water mattresses.
Design and development
During its existence, the T.T.I.-group introduced many improvements in the world of water mattresses. Many of these innovations are now accepted by all as standard. Our own development staff are constantly looking for further improvement of the system, in which taking care of our environment plays an important role.
Custom made products
Basically every single product is treated as a made-to-measure item. After all, the possibilities in our collections are so elaborate, that every single product that leaves the factory could indeed be different. Therefore, our products are only produced after they have been ordered and every part is already labelled with the names of the reseller and the client it is meant for.
The different production units are guided by the central planning department, which also controls the timing within the production.
European products for the European market
A privately managed production facility gives us the power to steer our products towards the wishes of the European market, making it independent of the standardised products imported from the US or the Far East.
Consequently, we have built an immense clientèle based on the knowledge, a solid company policy and customer-friendly service.


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Gearbox Software
October 20, 2009
Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition
Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition
Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition
Borderlands: Double Game Add-On Pack
Borderlands: Double Game Add-On Pack
More in this Series
Written by
Adam Woolcott
November 02, 2009
You must go to the Va... the Vaul... oooooh, shiny loot.
Gearbox Software is known for two things ? porting popular games to other formats, as the PS2 version of Half-Life and PC version of Halo can attest, and their World War II franchise Brothers in Arms. So a loot-driven RPG/FPS hybrid taking place in a barren wasteland full of crazy people, dancing computer-box thingys, and a crazy cel-shaded appearance just might seem a bit out of their wheelhouse. Yet here's Borderlands, one of this year's surprise hits that came out of nowhere. While it's definitely more of a first person shooter than an RPG, it has enough elements of that genre to make the game unique amongst other shooters, and more importantly, it's got so much loot you'd think it was a Diablo game. Whether you play it alone or with up to three friends in a cooperative fashion, Borderlands is a fun game that rewards you in ways few games do ? by constantly giving you reasons to keep playing, as if the game is a carrot on a stick, and you're chasing it, yet enjoying it all the same. It may not get many nods in year-end awards, but this is one of those great sleeper hits that assuredly shall be ?borrowed? from in the near future.
On the wasteland planet of Pandora, there's supposed to be a Vault that opens every 200 years that contains treasure beyond belief. Some people who migrated here for this purpose have resigned themselves to believe the whole thing is fake, designed to lure people to what's basically a hellhole, while others still believe and will do anything to be the ones to open it... one specific person completely loses their mind on their quest. A disembodied voice certainly believes, because after you choose your character class, it tells you that it's imperative that you find the Vault and will lead you in its direction while you work your way through this barely civilized planet of mutated dog-things, bandits, and completely insane non-hostiles. Though the story could be potentially very interesting, there's not much to it. Basically you're doing hundreds of quests and various adventuring to acquire keys to the Vault, and you pretty much rinse and repeat for 20-something hours. This in and of itself is what makes the game great, but if you're looking for a sweeping plot with cutscenes and the like, you won't find it in Borderlands.
What you will find is a class-based action-RPG with easy to manage customization, appealing to the potential shooter crowd that might not be used to in-depth RPG elements. There's four classes, but it's really four different characters ? the from-a-distance attacker in Mordecai, the heavy-duty solider in Roland, the completely crazy berserker class Brick, and the sneaky, conniving Lilith, a ?siren? type. Each character has a different feel and skill tree, and their very own special skill that makes them unique. For instance, Lilith can ?Phasewalk?, which is really an invisibility skill that can become deadly once it wears off, as it counts as an attack. Taking out enemies naturally earns experience, and with each level, you earn a skill point to plug into your character. Even if you hit the maximum level of 50, you won't ?max out? a character, so you have to pick and choose exactly what you want. A nice touch is at the ?New U? station (it's kind of like a Vitachamber from Bioshock in terms of respawning after death), where you also can wipe out all your progression and redistribute skill points, though it costs money to do so. When you complete the game and finish everything, you can start a brand new game using your existing character, with everything scaled up to meet you. Since you'll likely finish the game somewhere in the mid-30s if you're playing alone, you either need to keep playing and just grind, or start over to reach the top level. Or just go online and earn it that way.
Though the RPG elements are nice, Borderlands is really about questing and looting. There are roughly 5 bazillion quests in all the areas of the game, and in many cases, one quest spawns others. Admittedly, many of these are of the generic ?fetch this, kill that, acquire this? variety, but anything that takes advantage of the great gameplay mechanics, the better. At times, it seems like there's an endless supply of adventures (hence the carrot on a stick theory), many of which lead to some nice loot. The loot is the real joy of the game, wandering through a bandit camp, for instance, and coming across one of those lovely boxes of goodies. The loot itself is randomized, and nobody will find the same loot drop twice. It also respawns if you return to an area later, so you never know what you'll come across while traveling through the ?dungeon? areas, which usually are camps and caverns. If you're the kind who likes a more balanced, limited selection of guns, this will only confuse you, as there's frequently dozens of different variations of the same gun, so it all depends on how you want to play. It's possible to buy guns from a vendor, but they're always much weaker than the good stuff you find traveling. Other items like shields and grenades have dozens of modifiers too, so the game is definitely overwhelming at first. At least you can see exactly what everything does before picking it up.
Though it has all these RPG and loot-driven attributes, it's still a shooter. And it's a pretty good shooter. It's not brutally hard; as quest difficulty is tied to a specific level, not the level of your character, it's possible to hold off on a lot of quests, grind a few levels, and suddenly what was once ?tough? becomes ?trivial? and a bit easier. It still maintains a solid challenge throughout, as you'll often be attacked by hordes of aggressive enemies. Raiders, for instance, come in three varieties; the ?psycho? Raider will just charge at you for cheap melee attacks, and usually are just pests to distract you from the midget shotgunners (seriously) and the soldier-types that will pump you full of lead. Getting a shield is imperative to success, since it otherwise leaves you vulnerable to getting torn to pieces. The weakness of the enemies is the real dangerous ones tend to stand around or run in a circle making it easy to aim at them. In fact, it became a personal strategy to equip a powerful shotgun, get close, and pop their heads off in one hit, and if the shield went down, found a place to take cover... and repeat the process. Non-human creatures pretty much just charge towards you, which can get overwhelming in a pack, but easy to predict as well.
Borderlands can be played alone, and though playing by yourself might seem a bit lonely, it's still fun and being alone means you get all the loot without worrying about other people scooping it up. The game does lend itself to playing with others though. If you want to play local cooperative, there's a spilt-screen option for two players, and up to four players if you can hook up four PS3 machines through LAN. Playing online lets you start a game up to four players ? you can join someone else's game or let them in on your own, and your single-player character can be used in multiplayer. Depending on how many players you have in the game, the difficulty scales a bit, as multiple people would make mincemeat of everything if the game used the default AI for the single-player game. There's some competitive multiplayer, but it certainly won't appeal to the FPS fans who prefer hardcore deathmatch action. All you get are duels, which can be fought on the spot by whacking a teammate melee style, and if they return the favor, it's on; or you can hit up the Arenas scattered about Pandora for some more ?official? battles. Regardless, if you want some in-depth multiplayer that's not cooperative, Modern Warfare 2 is almost here.
When Borderlands first showed up, it looked kind of plain; it used the same Unreal Engine 3 genericness that we've gotten used to since it seems like every game uses it. But apparently the art guys at Gearbox started a mutiny and got it changed to something we usually don't see in a FPS game ? cel-shading. You'd have to go back to XIII to find a cel-shaded shooter. The cartoony effect works really well, it gives the game a charm that fits the irreverent attitude on display. Instead of it all looking brown and barren, it's colorful and barren, as if someone took a Crayola to the wastelands of Fallout 3 (as an aside, I've done everything possible to not compare Borderlands to Fallout 3 considering their similarities). The comic effect isn't over-exaggerated, thankfully, and still maintains a look of reality, just, you know, happier... even the brutal amount of gore seems to fit right in, if you're into blowing off entire torsos. The PS3 version runs well, though there are a few spots of slowdown in heavy battles. Because much of the game is text-based, there's not a lot of voice acting, though it's not bad. There is a lot of screaming and laughing from Raiders and other human enemies alongside a ton of explosions and other solid sound effects. There's not much music either, just background noise, the standard ?middle of nowhere? style tunes. It's a shame, because the game starts with a great tune from Cage the Elephant dubbed ?Ain't No Rest For the Wicked? which perfectly sums Borderlands up.
Bottom Line
In most ways, Borderlands is a first-person shooter that's really designed towards RPG fans, specifically the Diablo-styled hack & slash games. Regular shooter fans will find a lot to enjoy here however, thanks to the solid shooter mechanics. Despite the addition of skill points, loot, and experience, it's still a shooter at heart, something Borderlands does very well. Whether you play it alone or with friends, the game offers a huge variety of quests, a huge map to traverse, tons of battles, hidden stuff tucked away from all but the most curious, and of course, a heaping helping of loot. Oftentimes, the best games are the ones we don't expect much from, the ones that didn't get an overkill of hyperbole from gaming forums or magazine covers. Borderlands, a game most expected would blend into the background in a holiday season that has both a Halo and a Call of Duty game, might actually turn out to be the most memorable FPS of this fall, if only for the risks it's taking to stand out in the crowd... and I doubt anyone expected it.
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DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Military operations and insurgent attacks in lawless districts of Pakistan left eight members of the security forces and around 30 militants and criminal suspects dead on Sunday, officials said.
Two soldiers and 16 militants were killed in clashes in the Tirah Valley area of the Khyber tribal region in the northwest, the military said in a statement. Another three soldiers were wounded in the remote mountainous district near the Afghan border.
The army launched an offensive last month into the valley targeting the Pakistani Taliban and an allied group, Lashkar-e-Islam. The military statement said the latest fighting forced the militants to flee from two of their hideouts, leaving behind a huge cache of arms and ammunition.
In the North Waziristan tribal region, another northwestern district bordering Afghanistan, a roadside bomb attack on a convoy killed two soldiers and wounded three, said two Pakistani intelligence officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The tribal region is home to both Pakistani and Afghan militant groups, including al-Qaida-linked organizations with significant numbers of foreign fighters. The military conducts sweeps against the insurgents, inflicting losses but not preventing them from striking back with roadside bombs and ambushes targeting soldiers, government-allied militias, anti-militant politicians, and others.
Also Sunday, two members of the paramilitary Frontier Corps were killed in clashes in the Bolan district of the southwestern province of Baluchistan, said government official Waheed Shah. He said the fight also killed 13 "criminals" suspected in kidnappings and robberies.
In the province's Sibbi district, a convoy of an independent candidate running in Pakistan's May 11 parliamentary elections was attacked by two gunmen who killed two of his police guards, said police official Owais Ahmad. He said candidate Sardar Sarfraz Domeki's other guards fired back, killing one of the attackers and wounding the other. He said the police were questioning the wounded attacker.
The southwestern province has seen for years a low-level insurgency by nationalist groups who want a greater share of regional resources of oil and gas. Lawlessness in the region has also allowed sectarian groups and criminal gangs to operate.
Associated Press Writers Rasool Dawar in Peshawar and Abdul Sattar in Quetta contributed to this report.


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- Your selections:
Database Results for Your Selections
Results 1 - 3 of 3
Medieval Family Life-The Paston, Stonor, Cely, Plumpton and Armburgh Papers
The Medieval Family Life database contains the only 5 major letter collections from fifteenth century England, the Paston, Stonor, Cely, Plumpton and Armburgh Papers.Expand
The Paston letters document the life of a gentry family during the War of the Roses. The Celys were a merchant family in the wool trade and collections contains commercial dealings for both the economic and social historians. Plumptons documents continue through to the early 16th century, and Armburgh family material is primarily concerned with a dispute over a family inheritance. It includes both the original medieval manuscripts and transcripts, as well as family trees, a chronology, a glossary, a and an interactive map.
Subjects: English and American Literature, History Middle Ages 400-1450, History World
Medieval Travel Writing
This database presents manuscripts of European travel writing dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries culled from libraries around the world. It covers geography, exploration, trade, literature, and the new field of medieval postcolonial studies.Expand
The chief focus is on journeys to central Asia and the Far East, including accounts of travel to Mongolia, Persia, India, China and South-East, Asia as well as travel to the Holy Land. The original documents are in a range of languages including French, Latin, German, Spanish, Dutch and English, so supporting secondary texts of translations and editions are included. There is also a gallery of maps and images, a bibliography and chronology, and a slideshow.
Subjects: Archives and Primary Sources, Area Studies, Art and Architecture, History Middle Ages 400-1450, History World, Religion
Monumenta Germaniae Historica
The Monumenta Germaniae Historica (MGH) is a collection of medieval historical sources (historical works, charters, legal texts, letters, political texts, and literature) for the study of Germany, Austria and Switzerland in the Middle Ages.Expand
This database contains all five divisions of the MGH (Scriptores, Leges, Diplomata, Epistolae, Antiquitates) and is continually expanding with the hope that the entire body of MGH editions will be available digitally by 2016.
Subjects: Classics, History Middle Ages 400-1450, Archives and Primary Sources


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Sec. 31-348. Compensation insurance companies to report their risks. Every insurance company writing compensation insurance or its duly appointed agent shall report in writing or by other means to the chairman of the Workers' Compensation Commission, in accordance with rules prescribed by the chairman, the name of the person or corporation insured, including the state, the day on which the policy becomes effective and the date of its expiration, which report shall be made within fifteen days from the date of the policy. The cancellation of any policy so written and reported shall not become effective until fifteen days after notice of such cancellation has been filed with the chairman. Any insurance company violating any provision of this section shall be fined not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars for each offense.
(1949 Rev., S. 7488; 1958 Rev., S. 31-215; 1961, P.A. 491, S. 74; P.A. 81-469, S. 2, 8; P.A. 90-116, S. 10; P.A. 91- 339, S. 35, 55.)
History: 1961 act entirely replaced previous provisions; P.A. 81-469 required any insurance company insuring the state's liability under this chapter to report such fact as it would for any other policyholder; P.A. 90-116 allowed for reports from agents of companies and for reports other than in writing; P.A. 91-339 changed "board of commissioners" to "chairman of the workers' compensation commission" and "one week" to "fifteen days".
See 113 C. 128, 504; 127 C. 706.
Cited. 28 CS 5.


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September 4, 2012 WIC Update
SUBJECT 1: Revised Breastfeeding Policies
SUBJECT 2: ER# 1.01550 Training Local WIC Providers Policy Revised
SUBJECT 3: Changes to Shop N Save and Flavorite Juices in 64 oz Bottle
SUBJECT 4: New Logo/Slogan for Missouri WIC
SUBJECT 5: Funding for the Missouri WIC Conference
Revised Breastfeeding Policies: The Breastfeeding Coordinator Job Description ER# 6.0500 and Supportive Breastfeeding Environment Policy ER# 6.05050 have been revised. The new policies are attached with the revisions highlighted in yellow. If you have any questions, please contact your district nutritionist or Kathy Mertzlufft, WIC Breastfeeding Coordinator, at firstname.lastname@example.com or by phone at 573-526-4792. (THREE ATTACHMENTS)
ER# 1.01550 Training Local WIC Providers Policy Revised: The Training Local WIC Providers policy (ER# 1.01550) has been revised and includes two summary charts depicting required time frames for completion of the trainings. The "Required Modules and Webinar WIC Trainings" summary chart includes timelines for completing Breastfeeding Promotion and Support, Data Security as well as other required modules and webinars. The "Face-to-Face Training Summary" chart specifies timelines for completing face-to-face Grow and Glow training, MOWINS training, Paraprofessional/Professional training and other required face-to-face trainings or continuing education. If you have questions about the policy or training summary charts, please contact the Technical Assistance staff assigned to your LWP. (THREE ATTACHMENTS)
Changes to Shop N Save and Flavorite Juices in 64 oz Bottle: The Essential Everyday juice labels will be replacing both the Shop N Save and Flavorite juices in WIC retailers in the coming weeks. During the transition period, participants are allowed to purchase either brand of WIC approved juices in 64 oz bottle. Please share the attached poster with participants. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Takako Tagami at firstname.lastname@example.com. (ONE ATTACHMENT)
New Logo/Slogan for Missouri WIC: It's time to be creative! Previously in the June 11, 2012 WIC Updates, the State WIC Office asked that you begin thinking about a new logo and/or slogan that could be used to promote the Missouri WIC program. We are now ready for your ideas, images, and suggestions. We will use the new logo/slogan on all WIC publications, including Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards and e-Learning documents. Attached you will find additional guidance for submissions. Please review this document prior to sending your suggestions. The document also shows the current WIC logos. E-mail your best slogans and/or images representing Missouri WIC to Susan Guerrant at email@example.com by Friday, September 28, 2012. If you are submitting an image or picture please send it as an attachment in the e-mail. Multiple submissions are welcome! We would like to receive as many ideas as possible. Information regarding the selection of a new logo/slogan for Missouri WIC will be shared in a future WIC Update. Thank you in advance for your time, efforts, and suggestions.
If you have questions, please contact Susan Guerrant at firstname.lastname@example.com or by phone at 573-526-1368. (ONE ATTACHMENT)
Funding for the Missouri 2012 WIC Conference held October 22-24 in Jefferson City: This is a reminder that DHSS will pay registration for a pre-determined number of staff members from Local WIC Agencies based on caseload size. LWPs must still register each staff member attending, regardless of who is paying. If you wish to send more staff than allowed by your caseload (see chart below), you may use regular WIC funds and bill the cost of registration.
Below is a chart to show how many LWP staff the State agency will reimburse the local agency to send to the Conference.
# Participants/Month WIC Staff Peer Counselor Under 749 2 1 750 to 1,999 3 1 2,000 to 4,000 4 1 Above 4,000 5 2
ER# 6 0500 BF Coordinator Job Description
ER# 6 05050 Supportive Breastfeeding Environment
Breastfeeding Roles
ER 1.01550 - Training Local WIC Providers
Required Modules and Webinars Training
Face-to-Face Training Summary
Juice Label Changes - Essencial Everyday
MO WIC Logo Guidance


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Natural comfort
Finding death's middle ground
In the mountain town where I live, we often talk about the best way to die. On the trail or around the campfire, or late at night inside the house as the snow piles under the eaves, the gist is this: My friends want to die naturally. Leave me for the cougars, or let the grizzlies take me. Hypothermia is popular. Just hunker under a tree with a bottle of vodka on a winter night when the stars flicker close. Burning is not high on the list -- too painful -- but to be left outside, sooner or later, to feed the foxes or mulch the mushrooms, well, this is the dream.
And it is no joke. One friend keeps a scrap of paper folded in her pocket on hikes. Do not revive me, it reads. Others leave similar notes on their desks. Let nature be the boss, they say.
In theory, it sounds good. In reality, of course, it gets tricky.
Our neighbor, Wally, a crotchety bachelor in his 70s who has smoked for over 50 years, has been coughing for months, but he refuses to leave home to go see a doctor. Instead, he fabricates theories for why he feels ill -- mercury in his fillings, toxicity in peanut butter -- theories as good, I suppose, as any explanation save perhaps the roll-your-own cigarette that hangs like a fixture from his bottom lip. It hardly matters. The problem isn't just what the problem is. The problem lies in what the solution may entail.
Where will Wally go? What will Wally do? Without the firewood he cuts, the tulips he tends, his home, his neighbors, his routines, Wally will surely get sicker. We are all watching, and it is excruciating. Every so often someone loses it and pleads with him. There might be an easy answer, they say. You might find some relief. For God's sake, they cry, go see a doctor!
These are people, all of them, who have said at some point, in some way: Leave me to the grizzlies. But the truth is that so-called "natural" death -- whatever that means -- is a whole lot easier to consider for ourselves than for those we love.
Early this spring, out of a population of 90 in town, five of us traveled to care for ailing parents. We who'd abandoned the rat race, gone back to the land and stayed to tell the tale, we who'd rejected pension plans, commutes and cubicles in favor of long ridge walks and ramshackle outhouses, now flew back, right into the mix, to Boca Raton and Kansas City and Pasadena, to spend long days under fluorescent lights, filling prescriptions, feeding, fluffing pillows, speaking softly, sitting by the bedside of mom or dad. And then sitting some more. We were glad to do it, passionate, even, about doing it, because we could feel it in our bones: There's something natural about giving comfort.
After all, we've known people who've drowned in mountain streams, who've fallen down steep switchbacks with a string of pack horses, who've flipped over cables into deep gorges while doing trail construction, but we'd never in a million years wish these deaths on our parents or our children or our friends or even dear crotchety Wally because, frankly, we cannot wish it on ourselves, we who are left behind. Not again. Not ever.
In March, I camped in the parking lot of the cancer hospital where my mother was having yet another surgery. It was neither the first time, nor the worst time, for either of us. For days following the operation, Mom had been nauseous with sharp gut-twisting pain, despite the fact that she hadn't taken so much as a sip of water in two weeks. The doctors tried more morphine. No improvement. They tried tough love, urging her out of bed, sick or not, to shuffle around the halls clutching the IV pole. She got out of bed, tried to do what they told her: No change.
At last, a technician arrived with a tube. Once it was in place, up her nose and down her throat, my mother was immediately, well, flooded with relief. Green bile rested in the tube. A half-finished crossword puzzle sat in my lap. There was no place on earth I'd rather have been.
Truth is, there is middle ground between the hungry griz and the flashing lights of the ICU. Hospice workers have known this forever. Those of us who have staked our lives in the wilds take longer to catch on. We thought we were Robinson Jeffers, who said he would rather kill a man than a hawk. (Although Jeffers never specified which man.) It is humbling to discover that, in the end, we're all Dylan Thomas, pleading with those we love to rage, rage against the dying of the light.
When I returned home in April, to the green needly woods, the glacier-fed river running low, robins pecking at the ground, I seeped, grateful, into that other comfort, nature narrowly defined. One morning out jogging alone, I glimpsed the quick blond flash of a cougar tail, disappearing into the woods. If it happens that way, I told myself, so be it. But I won't lobby for it, not anymore.
When I die, I'd just as soon die surrounded by those I love. And while I live, I'd just as soon live like my fellow springtime travelers, all those the familiar faces bleary-eyed in the elevators of the cancer hospital, those who face the gentle night with agonized patience and those brave enough to usher them through, rather than champion one quick cold night in the forest. I'll offer comfort. And, when the time comes, I'll take it.


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Politicians should watch 'Satyakam': Dharmendra
Kolkata, March 30 (IANS) Lamenting the dearth of good story writers in Bollywood, veteran actor Dharmendra, best known for his performance in the National Award winner "Satyakam", Saturday here said that every politician should watch the Hrishikesh Mukherjee directed 1969 classic.
"I think telling the truth has stopped today. In 'Satyakam' I told the truth and it was a very good story. I think every politician should see the film.
"Good films are being made but characters like those in 'Satyakam' and 'Bandini' are no longer there in our country," Dharmendendra said at a media conference at the PVR Cinemas, Avani Riverside Mall in Howrah Saturday.
Best known for films like "Sholay" and 'Satyakam', the actor was in Kolkata promoting his forthcoming film, Sangeeth Sivan's comedy drama "Yamla Pagla Deewana 2" (YPD) – a sequel to the original.
"Story-writers are not penning such stories and screenplays are also not like that of earlier days. I would be grateful to you people if you can get me some good writer like that and which suits today's people," said Dharmendra.
YPD2 slated to release June 7, stars Dharmendra with his sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol in the lead. Giving them company on-screen are leading ladies Neha Sharma and debutant Kristina Akheeva.
Agreeing with his father, Sunny Deol, critically-acclaimed for films like "Arjun" and "Ghayal" said" "We do not have those kind of directors and there are just a handful of them.
"Obviously Indian cinema is a reflection of the country so whatever's is happening around is basically what is seen in the cinema. We want to entertain and we can only give what people want and that's what's happening.
"So if people desire for something good and if there are writers out there who want to get deep-rooted into the country obviously we would make those films and I would love to them," he added.


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Education Reform for the Digital Era
Is digital learning education's latest fad or its future? What fundamental changes to the ways we fund, staff, and govern American schools are necessary to fulfill the technology's potential? Will policy tweaks suffice or do we need a total system overhaul—and a big change in the reform priorities that can bring this about? Who will resist—and do their objections have merit? Fordham is bringing together experts on all aspects of education policy—from governance to finance to human capital—to examine how policymakers can make digital learning a transformative tool to improve American education...and weigh the dangers that lie ahead.
The panel featured the governance expertise of the Hoover Institution's John Chubb, insights into teaching's future from Bryan Hassel of Public Impact, analysis of the costs of online learning from the Parthenon Group's Eleanor Laurans, and the cautionary perspective of Emory University's Mark Bauerlein.


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2008-08-06 / Opinion
Public Commentary
Free US from foreign oil? Yes we can!
Dear Editor: Yes, we can drill our way to energy independence for the next 50 years. I am 100 percent in favor of drilling for oil, as this product is the life blood of our economy. Forest Avenue is now being repaved with oil products and that job needs to be done now. We also need oil and gas now so we can drive our cars to work and truckers can bring us the food we eat.
You must be an online subscriber to view this story.


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LAS VEGAS--AT&T is bulking up its 4G LTE lineup with five new Google Android smartphones and one Google Android tablet. All will operate over the company's upgraded network, the company said at a press event here today.
The new devices will be available in the first part of 2012, the company said.
SamsungThe Galaxy Note is a 5.3-inch device with an HD Super AMOLED screen (1,280x800) that's supposed to offer sharp and clear images both indoors and outside. The Galaxy Note also features the S Pen technology, which allows users to input text via a pen. This allows users to sketch drawings, jot notes, or write e-mails and texts in their own handwriting. The Samsung Galaxy Note will be available in the coming weeks, AT&T said. But it hasn't released pricing information on it yet.
The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD has a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED screen, as well as a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. It's about 9.27 millimeters thick and will be available in coming months, AT&T said.
The Samsung Exhilarate, which is specifically designed to meet environmental and sustainability standards, is constructed from 80 percent recycled post-consumer materials and features eco-modes and tools such as an eco-calendar and calculator. The Exhilarate also has a 4-inch touch screen with Super AMOLED display; front- and rear-facing cameras; voice recognition; and access to AT&T U-verse Live TV. The Samsung Exhilarate is geared to budget customers and will be offered for less than $50 with a contract. It should be available in the coming months, according to AT&T.
PantechThe Pantech Element is the first LTE Android tablet that will retail for $300 with a two-year contract. It will be available starting January 22. This tablet is waterproof. It runs on Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) and has an 8-inch display, front- and rear-facing cameras, and a rich Web experience with full HTML and PC-like tabbed browsing.
The Pantech Burst is a budget-friendly LTE device that will retail for less than $50. For a limited time, customers who buy both the Pantech Element tablet and the budget-friendly Burst smartphone with an AT&T contract can get the tablet for $249.99 and the Burst smartphone for free. The Burst will be available on January 22 at AT&T company-owned stores and online. The Burst has a 4-inch Super AMOLED display. It will be available in two colors, titanium or ruby red.
Sony (formerly known as Sony Ericsson)The Xperia ion is a device exclusive to AT&T that will be available in the second quarter of 2012. The device operates on Android 2.3. It has a 4.6-inch 3 HD display, a 12-megapixel camera with Sony Exmor R for mobile, and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor for fast browsing.
The Xperia ion is designed for watching video and listening to music. Sony that users will be able to access Sony's Music Unlimited, a global catalog of more than 12 million unique songs. And the Video Unlimited offer will have the latest Hollywood blockbusters and TV shows from all major studios. Xperia ion is also PlayStation Certified.
reading•AT&T introduces six new 4G LTE Android devices at CES
Jan 4•Failed CES trends and products (photos)
Jan 13•CNET UK at CES 2012
Oct 15•Dell's first ultrabook laptop, the XPS 13
Oct 15•Toshiba 14-inch ultrabook prototype
•See All


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Tue, 25 May 2010
Val Staples, Emiliano Santalucia, "Pixel Dan" Eardley, and Eamon O'Donoghue are back to discuss He-Man and She-Ra.
This week they discuss the MOTUC action-figure sell-outs on MattyCollector. The group weighs and debates both the pros and cons while discussing possible solutions.
Then they pick back up with the discussion of the MOTUC bios, this week focusing on Beast Man and Skeletor.
So pull up your chair and fill up your plate! It's time to chow down on a tasty serving of fandom here on He-Man.org's Roast Gooble Dinner!
Runtime: 1 hour, 28 minutes, 03 seconds
Direct download: Roast-Gooble-Dinner_Episode_002.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 6:15pm EDT