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Volcanoes on SP (index) > Cordillera Occidental (Ecuador) > Corazón > Climber's Log
Corazón Climber's Log
[ Sign the Climber's Log ]
|Boriss Andean
|Route Climbed: South Ridge.
Date Climbed: Feb 26, 2010
|Wow, I haven't climbed this mountain since 2001. It's not a popular mountain due to its typical bad weather.
Climbed with Franz (HOL), Justin (ENG), Jonnathan (ENG) and Jaime (ECU).
We started our climb/hike at 3,700 m at 5:45 am. Climbed and scrambled by a long steep ridge that ended up at the true summit.
Got to the top (4,791 m/ 15,718 ft) 3 hours later:it snowed a lot during the approaching but it lasted only 1 hour.
It cleared up a bit on the way down and we were able to see Illinizas and Cotopaxi in the east, as well as Tungurahua erupting in the distance.
Very enjoyable.
|Posted Feb 26, 2010 6:31 pm
Date Climbed: Oct 25, 2008
|It's was a cold day. For me it was a long trail, but I did!
|Posted Jan 19, 2009 7:03 am
|Almost the summit
Date Climbed: Jun 5, 2008
|Took a bus from Quito to Machachi, another bus to Alausi, and then started the hike. Weather started out beautiful but clouds had rolled in as we approached the summit. Stopped about 100 metres short of the top, when altitude and tiredness took their toll.
|Posted Sep 10, 2008 6:02 pm
|Nasty Weather
|Too much rain to make it enjoyable- plus I wasn't prepared enough and got soaked to the bone. Oops!
|Posted Aug 21, 2008 11:00 am
|Ruta Normal
Date Climbed: Jul 23, 2008
|Yet another beautiful hike in Ecuador. Cloudy and windy, and some fun scrambling.
|Posted Jul 31, 2008 5:47 pm
Date Climbed: Jan 24, 2007
|A pleasant dayhike. We hired a car to take us partway up the road and then we walked back down to town. The route wasn't totally obvious in the fog, but not too hard to figure out either.
|Posted Apr 6, 2008 11:33 am
|Beautiful landscape
Date Climbed: Jan 15, 2008
|A very beautiful area full of cool plants. A long hike.
|Posted Jan 21, 2008 10:18 pm
Date Climbed: Jan 7, 2008
|Wonderful soft grassy approach up to a rocky class 3 SW ridgeline. 3700' elevation gain in 5hrs. The high altitude makes this excellent for acclimatizing not to mention good views when not cloudy. Heavy rains late in the day made it difficult to drive down muddy road. La Llovisna hacienda makes a convienient base camp.
|Posted Jan 16, 2008 3:57 pm
|Normal Route
Date Climbed: Dec 29, 2007
|My second acclimatization hike of the trip and second summit. We cut some of the switchbacks going up to save time. lots of false summits on the way to the true top, covered in clouds.
|Posted Jan 16, 2008 1:06 am
|Boriss Andean
|Route Climbed: Normal Route.
Date Climbed: Aug 20, 2001
|Martin (Austria) and I started early in the morning from Aloasi train station with a light day backpack ea. and 2/4 liter water bottles for both.
The hike (the jog) to the summit was great!. Made it in 1:35 hours.
Nice views of Cotopaxi, Illinizas, Rumiñahui, Atacazo and Antisana.
|Posted Sep 20, 2007 2:15 am
|Fun Climb!
Date Climbed: Jan 24, 2005
|Great acclimatization climb. A fun mix of rolling green hills with pretty flowers to rock scrambling. Had to run off of it due to a lightning storm approaching - but added to the 'electricity' of getting higher than Whitney for the first time.
Great climb in a beautiful area with views of Cotopaxi(our next objective) and the Illiniza's...
|Posted Aug 11, 2007 12:08 pm
|Fun Acclimazation climb
|Summited Corazon twice-
Firs time hiked up from the town in the valley (the one across from Machachi) and camped. Beautiful weather.. the second day.
The second trip we took a car and did summited in a day. It had just before we drove up and we almost got stuck in a enormous mud puddle taking up about 15' of the road, but ended up making it. This time the weather wasn't so great at the top, but we still had fun.
|Posted Jul 6, 2007 4:36 pm
|Jessica L
Date Climbed: Nov 28, 2006
|This was scheduled last minute after climbing the Iliniza's since I had a day to spare. I wanted a day hike that wouldn't wear me out prior to Cotopaxi. Very sunny early in the day and I returned back with a nice pink face!
|Posted Apr 15, 2007 12:44 am
|standard route
Date Climbed: Dec 26, 2006
|Staying at Papa Gayo and hired a jeep to 10,900 ft. Many trails and easy to get lost. Turned around 1000 ft below the summit 2 days ago because some German girls with us were getting cold, but summitted today.
|Posted Dec 26, 2006 11:46 pm
|Route Climbed: Ruta Normal Date Climbed: December 30, 2005
|Started walking at 7:30am from an elevation of 3160 meters (10,367 ft)....not too far from Hosteria La Estacion. Summited at 12:40pm. Stayed 10 minutes at the summit taking the cloudy, summit photo and eating a snack. A thunderstorm developed around 2:00pm while descending. Back to where we started at 3:15pm (~ 7 hrs 45 min roundtrip). Then, onto Hosteria La Estacion for a hot shower and a delicious dinner.
|Posted Jan 13, 2006 3:13 pm
|Route Climbed: standard Date Climbed: 7 October 2000
|Took the bus from Quito early in the morning to Machachi and hired a truck to take us to the gate a mile or so from the train station for a $1. We hiked up through farmlands to a kind of plateau area and scrambled up to the summit. We made it back to Quito by 5pm.
|Posted Dec 25, 2005 8:54 pm
|Date Climbed: February 2003
|Managed to get to 200 m below summit, but we weren't acclimatized, and the wether wasn't to good either. Still, a memorable hike.
|Posted Oct 17, 2004 6:29 am
|Route Climbed: Filo una hora Date Climbed: 22 June 2004
Date Climbed: Jun 22, 2004
|Went along with 2 friends on their acclimatization climb. Turned out to be a pretty stout hike but the weather was cooperative if a little windy and the views were great.
First of many times.
|Posted Jun 23, 2004 10:37 am


text:
Selective at the plate, Pena and Scott heating up
By Greg Zeck / MLB.com
Rays manager Joe Maddon said the difference lately has been being more selective of the pitches both players swing at.
"Guys are always looking for different mechanical solutions to their problems, and the primary solution to the problem is to swing at strikes and take balls," Maddon said. "It's that simple. When you're expanding your strike zone, you try to cover too much. It's impossible."
Scott was able to raise his average to .227 on the year after Friday while Pena sits at .198 after being as low as .188 on Sept. 1.
Maddon said the recent turnaround is a result of them not worrying about stats and focusing on helping the team win.
"You should be really directed towards team thoughts right now where you might stop swinging at bad pitches, you might not be pressing to get a hit to help," Maddon said. "You're just pressing to get on base and move the conga line around.
"Your thinking should shift a little bit. Even though you've been thinking in a team sense all year, it should be exaggerated more right now that it's all about team. At this point, that number is gonna be pretty much what it is, so let's just do something to help the team win tonight," Maddon added.
Upton gets shout out from Sanders after nice moves
ST. PETERSBURG -- As he approached home plate after hitting a three-run walk-off homer against the Red Sox to win 7-4 on Thursday, B.J. Upton did a little dance.
It was reminiscent of the dances Deion Sanders would do, and the NFL star known as "Primetime" saw Upton's moves, and reached out to tell him he appreciated it, even saying that he would have included it in his top plays.
"It's cool to know that he saw it and send me out a tweet about it," Upton said.
Upton said he hadn't discussed any potential dances with teammates beforehand and that it was a spur of the moment decision, letting it happen naturally.
"I don't know, man, just kind of happened," Upton said. "I couldn't figure out anything else to do. Just had some fun with it and I guess I decided to go 'Prime Time.'"
The two are tired in more ways than one. Upton said he was a fan of Sanders growing up, thanks in large part to Sanders playing at Upton's favorite college, Florida State.
"He was the man, football field and baseball field, he was the man," Upton said. "Even his music videos and the crazy suits he wore. I grew up watching him."
Upton, of course, wears No.2 on his jersey, the same number Sanders had while he was playing for the Seminoles.
He said he still has to work on his moves before he can truly emulate Sanders.
"Could be polished up a little bit," Upton said of his dance. "He did it a lot of times, so he's probably got it mastered. I didn't time my steps like I wanted to. I had some guys in the way."
Fuld feels good after working out injured hamstring
ST. PETERSBURG -- Rays outfielder Sam Fuld, who is out with a right hamstring strain, took a step towards returning to the team Saturday.
The 30-year-old ran 10 bursts of about 120 feet before Saturday's matchup with the Blue Jays and said he felt fine.
"I didn't want to push it too hard, but everything went smoothly," Fuld said. "I'd say I went about 55 to 60 percent."
The injury originally occurred Sept. 16 when Fuld tried to beat out a grounder in the fifth inning of a 6-4 loss to the Yankees. As he crossed first base, he grabbed the back of his leg. An MRI later revealed a moderate strain.
Prior to his current injury, Fuld said he had never had a hamstring injury.
Fuld took batting practice in the cages Saturday and said he would continue to do so. Moving forward, he plans to run again Sunday, take Monday off and resume his testing Tuesday, practicing his running out of the batter's box.
He missed extended time earlier in the year because of left wrist surgery and has played in only 39 games for the Rays this season, batting .273 with seven steals.
Fuld is confident he will be back before the end of the season.
Boucher puts own spin on first pitch
ST. PETERSBURG -- Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Guy Boucher was on hand to throw out the first pitch Friday, and he threw a strike.
Granted, it was of a different variety.
The hockey coach took a stick and hit the ball off the mound right down the middle into the glove of Stephen Vogt, who was equipped with his own stick and glove to receive it.
"We talked before the game, and I said, 'Come on, why don't you just use a hockey stick?'" Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "He said, 'No, I gotta throw it.' And I said, no you don't. If you pull this off, it'll be on ESPN and whatever it is up in Canada too. I'm certain that had to get some play."
It did actually make SportsCenter's Top 10 plays, coming in at No. 2.
"I told you so," Maddon said after he learned that it made the list.
The Rays originally hosted Boucher and members of the Lightning to celebrate the hockey team's 20th year in the NHL.
Maddon said that if he was required to return the favor in the winter at a Lightning game, he'd be at a loss of creativity.
"There's no way to top what he did yesterday," Maddon said. "That was outstanding."
Extra bases
Catcher Jose Molina was in the lineup for the fourth straight game Saturday, the first time a Rays catcher had played four consecutive games this season. Rays manager Joe Maddon said the move was based on the matchup against righty Brandon Morrow.
The Rays made a rotation change, pushing righty Alex Cobb's start back to Wednesday, giving him eight days of rest between starts. Maddon said Cobb was not hurt and that he wanted to have Jeremy Hellickson and David Price, who will start Sunday and Tuesday, pitching on their normal five days of rest.
Greg Zeck is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
After Bell Canada started throttling P2P traffic during evening hourse, even for its resellers, several protest groups have launched and the issue has escalated to the floor of the House of Commons.
Read More
Legal P2P users are the most minority. Thus 99% of users don't really care.
It's a sad state of affairs that the current political regime stands as nothing more than a puppet of the US commercial/political system. Long gone are the days when public outcry would elicit an intervention on our behalf by our government.
Historically ISP's acted as buffers between fair use and the likes of the MPAA and RIAA, but now that the shoe is on the other foot they use the self same tactics espoused by the big industry. When they(the ISP's) realize that they have done nothing to improve infrastructure yet make ridiculous claims of service that they cannot back up, they resort to throttling to avoid a class-action suit.
I disagree with Bell with their claims that the resellers have done nothing in regards to their own buildout of infrastructure, that was never their goal. They simply lease the bandwidth from Bell. These small ISP's do not have the resources to put fibre in the ground the way a corporation like Bell does. They exist to insulate people from the BIG COMPANY mentality of the likes of Bell and Rogers, with the expectation that the service they receive will be free of the bottle-necks like throttling.
It's sad that these companies have such a stranglehold on the market. There is very little incentive for them to build out their infrastructure as we are "hog-tied" as far as options go. Here in Alberta I have exactly two options, Shaw or Telus.
While no one is perfect, to Shaw's credit they have stood up a number of times against big industry and for the most part have provided me with adequate service over the years. I just hope they don't jump on the Bell/Rogers bandwagon although I have suspicions that they may have already been doing so and just haven't been caught yet.
I don't use P2P at all but this throttling case is one of the reasons i'm not with Bell... even though i'm a Bell employee.
It is not acceptable.
Rogers keeps upping their *download* speeds, and lowering the caps on their total bandwidth user per month.
I don't use Torrents at all and its hard for me to really be upset, but I don't like the precedence thats being set.
Forcing competition away is going to suck. Small DSL providers are often really good alternative providers. Anyone who has had to deal with Bell's service has tasted how awful it is. The small guys need to rely on them as well, but take away the small guys and consumeres have no real choice. Its a duopoly, like it or not, and the internet is today what the phone was when Bell was charging 50 cents a minute to call across Canada.
When I started using Cable internet, I had more upload speed that I do today (it was Shaw before rogers in Ontario). And it was only $40 a month if you had a cable subscription. There were no caps on the amount of data you used, but the download speeds were slightly slower.
Now they're faster, but $55.00/month. this is totally non-competitive since their network and user base has grown a zillion times over since I hopped on board back in 2000. As your network scales, so does your user base. I don't think it makes sense that the need to charge more should happen, since line speeds are getting faster, NOC equipment is going down in price or at least able to handle higher loads with less cost.
Honstely as consumers, I don't feel there's anything we could do if we wanted to.
Jim Prentice is horrible. His behavior flies in the face of the type of country I want to live in. He sees better suited to play the part of henchman number 5 in a dictatorship than an MP is a democratic county.
Earlier this year when he was trying to push through the Canadian equivalent of the DCAA I went to see him to voice my concern, as he is my MP. His response was basically: What business of your's what I do? He would not even show anyone the bill before he introduced it into the Commons. If you are not familiar with Canadian politics, once a bill is introduced it is basically too late to change it. Especially if you do what they were planning to do and limit the time that it can spend going to committee. Jim Prentice then had the nerve to lie and say that is how it is always done. Hey, how about releasing a draft of the bill so the people you are supposed to be representing can read it. Or maybe he meant that is how it is always done when we are trying to push a bad piece of legislation through against the will of the Canadian people.
Good thing that rally at his place back in december at least temporarily convinced him to not introduce the bill. But I fear he is only biding his time, waiting for people to be distracted so that he can introduce it.
If only Jim Prentice was not running in Calgary. This city blindly votes for the PCs no matter what. It lets a rotten core of politicians coast through to victory.
The Council of Canadians is taking action, send your letter to the Industry Minister Jim Prentice and let him know what you think about net neutrality !
Did you have to?
Who actually believes this crap? Does even Bell? It's one thing to make such a move on an unknown practical outcome, but to do so after the country that is very next to you has done the same thing with catastrophic results is something else. I think there's a word for that...oh, yes, it's "stupid". We all know they just want to eliminate competition.
Thanks captain sell-out. We already know what happens when corporations with endless resources flips the bird to their own customers, 99% of which are apathetic and ignorant of the fact.
Which is pretty sad, since will be far too late by the time said users realize they've been screwed because they were ignorant before. Dare I mention a boiling frog or post the "When they Came" poem?
What I don't understand is... why wait for the Conservatives to do anything? They're a minority government as it is, so they wouldn't be able to effectively block something if the other parties got their act together. Which, admittedly, is a pretty big if, but still....
If the government doesn't do anything, and the CRTC doesn't budge, eventually Rogers and Bell will HAVE to change or listen to customers. Now that this issue is all over the mainstream press in Canada, it's a lot of bad press for Rogers and Bell. The CBC is also doing an upcoming show on this issue. Sooner or later, this bad press is going to force some action over at Bell and Rogers.
I'm just happy to see the issue is finally out in the open.
Yeah, when I wrote my MP the letter I got back was basically an assurance that the Conservative party would forge ahead without addressing my concerns in any way.
Remember folks, you don't need stamps to write your MP!
Lets reprimand everyone because some people abuse a service! What happens when the next big Napster hits? Ban/Severely degrade that too? You're argument is awful. I know, lets get rid of guns too! People commit crimes with them!
I don't understand why a DSL provide has to throttle bandwidth. They are killing one of their best marketing points to fight cable providers.
Having said that, its their network, they can choose to do what they want with it.
Doh! There goes 50 cents...
Because, like every ISP, they oversell their bandwidth and over-claim the networks abilities.
Woah, hold it right there. No, they cannot to with the network whatever they choose, because it's not their network as you believe. Infrastructure that ISPs build out is heavily subsidized by governments. Some ISPs in Canada were previously crown corporations (MTS -- now MTS/Allstream -- for example), so some might have been almost entirely subsidized.
They exist only because the government gave them huge chunks of our money, therefore they need to do what we say, not what they "choose".
Then you have a special responsibility. Those of us in the rest of the country hate him as much as you do, but we're not in his riding. Cabinet ministers that stab their constituents in the back like this need to know that we'll campaign against THEM, not just their party, but specifically THEM, in their ridings, in the next election. Whatever the results of the next election are and whoever the next prime minister is, we need him and his ilk to know that THEY won't be back in the next government.
He needs to know that an angry citizen's movement is going to rise up against him in his back yard and call him to account for what he's doing.
Alright gang,
Isn't Network Neutrality the notion of not discriminating traffic based on where the traffic is coming from and where it is going to?
I thought this did not include "throttling" different protocols in different ways? (i.e. VoIP vs BitTorrent)
-- Matt
No, it's about both.
Your ISP shouldn't be able to sign an agreement with MSN and then stall connections to Google. Your ISP shouldn't be able to wiggle Vonage packets while prioritizing the traffic for their own phone-over-cable service. That's just wrong.
Your ISP shouldn't be able to let youtube videos through unhindered while stalling bittorrent traffic - throttling should be protocol neutral and should be based on providing fair access to limited bandwidth among subscribers. If I'm using Bittorrent and my neighbor is watching youtube, and our combined bandwidth requirements exceed the bandwidth of our local leg of the network, we should both be throttled to the same fractional bandwidth of the network's capacity - I as the bittorrent user shouldn't suffer unduly.
It was done here in Parkdale Toronto recently to a liberal incumbent at the municipal level. Check out the votes for the last decade or so. You'll see the numbers you need. Rally up anyone who would side against him and get organized. You can make his political life hell. Often a few thousand votes is all you need. Seems to me the youth segment would be particularly sympathetic. Since a lot of them don't vote you'd have significant ratio improvement potential in just that demographic alone. Hit the universities and colleges hard.
10 dedicated people in your riding could destroy him.
The Bittorrent user will be a)using more bandwidth at any given point and b)using that bandwidth for 24 hours, while the Youtube user will only be downloading in spurts, just like normal web browsing traffic, only using more bandwidth per spurt. If you cut bandwidth in half for both users, you've done little to the Bittorrent user. He's got to wait another 2 days for that TV series. The Youtube user, on the other hand, will be more affected that losing the same percentage of bandwidth.
Also look at it this way. Assume there are 16 people on a given network. Person A starts up Bittorrent and the other 15 surf websites. Their traffic, combined, exceeds the bandwidth allocated to the network. Should the other 15 have to suffer slower web surfing speeds, just so person A can download his stolen music? Or should we punish person A? What if usage stats show that everytime person A connects with Bittorrent, that the local network is overwhelmed and requires throttling. Can we preemptively throttle Bittorrent on his local network?
In principle I completely agree with you but from a practical point of view I am conflicted.
The internet is not a natural resource - it is a network of cables that Bell have bought and paid for and put into the ground. You can do the same (provided that you have enough cash - or is very good with a shovel) and then you can decide what to send in your own cables.
The net neutrality debate is not as clear cut as is may sound like at first.
let's be perfectly honest, the canadian people subsidized almost 90% of Bell's infrastructure. They were a forced monopoly for many years and in many ways are still a monopoloy running as a monopoly. They have some competition in the home delivery of services however they have a monopoly in the business market.
Well, he pretty much is henchman number 5 in a dictatorship right now; a living example of doing a job you're good at!
The worst part is that our politicians seem to be just as clueless about technology issues as their American counterparts (the tubes are going to get clogged!), and this current government seems to go out of its way to make industry happy (*cough* oil sands *cough*). Until the Opposition goes to the Wizard and gets some courage, however, it looks like we may be stuck with this pack of fools in government for a while.
Umm.... no as your bittorrent connection uses perhaps 30%-100% more Router resources on the network than the youtube. Making something protocol neutral is silly.. it should be network resource comparisons we make here. a 50Kbps youtube video and a 50Kbps Bittorrent connection do not use the same amount of resources. Bittorrent uses perhaps 3 times as much (maybe more) room on the router as its making perhaps 20-50 connections to get that speed.
Net Neutrality Proponents are quite honestly not going to win this even if the CRTC does look into it. Throttling is perfectly acceptable when the number of connections a Bittorrent user makes is compared to other users. Bandwidth is and should be only part of the consideration.
I should point out when talking about the amount of router resources I'm talking about both Bittorrents greater use of Connections and the fact that its much more CPU intensive. The fact the BT drops and gathers new connections also adds to its hogging.
Also - while you may only be downloading at the same speed as a Youtube connection you have much more overhead on your connection trying to find new and faster peers.
Could we get some links to reports or studies to support this, please?
It seems to me there are some pretty blanket generalizations (potentially stereotypes) here. While I'm not saying at all that p2p software does not innately take more resources from the Internet connection, it seems as though the whole "p2p users are 24/7 music/movie pirates" is a bit of a limited view to take. As has been established many times, not all p2p uses are illegal, and thus may actually not be sustaining a connection for constant or lengthy periods of time.
Add to the fact that there are some people that will always find ways to use their entire amount of resources simply because they can (even if p2p were denied to them), I don't see why addressing the symptom in one area will in any way alleviate the problem. All it does is encourage a shift entirely into a different area.
Throttling p2p services seems to me to be a very reactionary stance for any ISP of any size. They are only encouraging the problem to take up a new form. Why not actually show some proactive intelligence and find creative ways of addressing the real problem (which I admit I have none to offer)?
Give me my pipe, and be honest about the speed and capacity. If you can't support X users at Y speed, then don't sell that to people and then yank it away when you can't actually provide it.
Name legal uses of Bittorrent that need encryption.
In Canada?
Downloading music.
I thought Skype used a type of Bittorrent? I'd prefer my phone conversations to be encrypted.
I didn't say there was any piracy, just that the torrent would be running for 24 hours, which is often true. I believe MattRoberts has the truth of it here. It doesn't really matter what's being transfered over Bittorrent, the protocol itself performs some very network-unfriendly actions to download files. Downloading at 50kb/s from Youtube is alot easier on the network than downloading 50kb/s from Bittorrent. You could be downloading a WoW patch on Bittorrent and watching the latest episode of popular TV on Youtube, it's the Bittorrent download that needs to be dealt with.
False. Routers do not track individual connections (only DPI might), and routing a bunch of packets to many places takes the same amount of router work as routing a bunch of packets to the same place. You're thinking of a firewall or a NAT, which are on the user end of connections, not part of the internet itself. Or maybe you're thinking of virtual circuit networks, of which the internet is not one (telephone networks are, though).
Notice that these are commercial-grade routers. They are made to route, and they are built with the capabilities to do exactly that.
Uploading is illegal in Canada. You upload while you download when you use Bittorrent. Therefore its not legal use.
False; or at least very poorly reasoned. The amount of time BitTorrent will be running is generally directly proportionate to the size downloaded, as most users don't seed more than to 1.0 share ratio. If I used my full upload bandwidth (slow DSL here), it would take me a bit less than two hours of uploading at 48 KBps (384 Kbps) to finish an hour-long TV episode. This 24/7 claim is based on the assumption of virtually unlimited downloading. Most people who use BitTorrent do not use it that way, and people who do could be throttled individually (which is an entirely protocol-agnostic solution).
And as I just explained, MattRoberts is wrong.
Point me to a successfully litigated case in Canada that proves this is true (in a home user scenario). I bet you $10 you can't, because there aren't any. People copying information off of your computer are making their own private copies. It's like how libraries can't get fined for having photocopiers in them.
If that is the case then you don't need to encrypt your files. My argument is LEGAL use that require ENCRYPTION.
Not quite. There is increased overhead in terms of handshaking/nack/ack and throttling the tcp connection when you use many connections for a single stream of data versus a single connection for a single stream of data. There is alot more talk going across the wires in BT traffic.
Overall here in Ontario the throttling is more of a mosquito'esque nuisance than anything else. Bandwidth is simply throttled (there are no RST's thrown about, connections aren't dropped), and it only happens during the evening hours, and stops at midnight. You always get decent speeds over night. Which is in effect how I would prefer my internet connection to be managed. I want interactivity when I'm at home, not some background process eating through my connection speed.
Ah, I was wondering if somebody would dare argue that (although I was expecting it to be MattRoberts). Handshaking requires 3 packets, and I can't recall exactly what termination requires, but let's call it 3 packets. The size of blocks in BT is variable, so let's assume a medium size of 512 KB. Even if a new connection was made for each block, that's about 355 packets per block. Thus the handshaking and teardown requires 1.7% more packets. Of course that number is misleading, as those overhead packets are much smaller than data packets; add to that the other (very conservative) assumptions that we used and the actual network impact in the typical case is much lower than that.
Conclusion: "alot more talk going across the wires" is false, and you're really grasping at straws, now.
You're missing the point. The problem isn't that the bittorrent user is ruining it for the youtube generation, the problem is that the ISP played a fast one on EVERYONE and over sold it's network. Whether the bt content is legal or not or if youtube is real-time or not is beside the point here. The ISP doesn't give a rat's ass about the bt content, it just wants to charge more customers and provide the least amount of service to them. Since every single user pays for their own individual speed and bandwidth caps, they should expect to make full use of it and for whatever purpose they so choose. If the ISP provided the bandwidth it promised, everyone could run bittorrent and no one would experience any slow down. The ISPs need to wake up and take note that people use the internet for more then just simple things like email and http and that more and more high-load traffic applications will be going mainstream. Today it's bt, but tomorrow it'll be something else. The bottom line is, we the customers must demand that we receive what we pay for, end of story!
How about, it's nobody else's business but my own and the parties I deal with?
I could be torrenting MS Word documents about my family's genealogy and don't want anyone other than the people I peer with to see them.
Why does there have to be a specific, special reason to use encryption?
As I've said in other threads, I don't have a problem with overselling in and of itself; that's just making efficient use of the available resources. What I have a big problem with is greedy ISPs (Comcast being an excellent example) that have the mentality of "Oh, there's no need to upgrade the network! We'll just keep increasing the overselling rates and prices, and pocket all the profits!" Overselling ratios have to be maintained at a level that's realistic for the amount of demand. If the demand is killing your entire system, that's an indication that you've oversold it much too much (e.g. Comcast).
in reference to the bold.
I am person A. I pay Look (one of the isps paying for the use of the infrastructure that as someone pointed out, the taxpayers paid for.)for the ability to have un-throttled unlimited bandwidth. Thats what I pay for. And then I use bittorrent to distribute my LEGAL video content, that I've created, to a client in montreal. Or to my friend currently working in Honduras. But Im unable to do so because Bell, (not even my isp) decides that I shouldn't be able to. So thats a very good question.. should we punish me.. person A, who has done nothing wrong? Am I not affected more than the other guy who cant clear out his spam folder?
Why is it that Bell has the ability to force Look into breaking their contract with me?
edit to expand: the problem is that bell claims their infrastructure has the ability to accommodate all 16 users. All 16 users are within their rights to use the amount of bandwidth they use. Yet, bell throttles them because they cant actually provide the service they claim to be able to. This situation doesn't require throttling, it requires a better infrastructure, more specifically, the infrastructure that Bell says they have.


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It's been the same story all season for the Philadelphia Union: Individual mistakes have cost them a large majority of their losses and have hindered them in many of their draws.
In a 3-1 loss at FC Dallas on Sunday, they experienced yet another chapter of this story.
WATCH: Full match highlights
Having played well for the opening 20 minutes at Pizza Hut Park, the Union were able to take an early lead thanks to a scrappy Alejandro Moreno goal. It all came undone in the 24th minute, however, as stand-in keeper Brad Knighton took down Brek Shea in the area and was shown red. Dallas converted the penalty kick and had the match permanently swing in their favor.
"Really, just out of nothing, we make a mistake in the back," Moreno said. "Brad drops the ball and then the penalty kick happens—and now, not only is it a penalty kick, but we're a man down, so it was going to make it difficult for us."
Working diligently to score his first goal for the Union, Moreno lamented how the lead he attained was soon relinquished.
"We battled pretty hard to close out the first half and end in a 1-1 draw and try to make some changes and try to sort ourselves out defensively," Moreno said. "We did that for the first 15 or 20 minutes of the second half, and then we had a break down and we got punished. In the end, we come out of here with nothing after putting a lot of work on the field."
Union Manager Peter Nowak, however, was upset with the momentum-shifting penalty call.
"First of all, of course, [Shea] needs to get the ball," Nowak said of Knighton's foul. "There's no question about that. But, from there, the ball bounced off the board, Brek Shea goes down and the red card is a bit too much for my standards. Then it's tough to play that many minutes a man down in this kind of weather conditions."
Fortunately for Nowak, Moreno and the rest of the Union, they won't have much time to think about the unfortunate events of Sunday's game as they are back to PPL Park on Wednesday to host MLS Cup champions Real Salt Lake.
"We've just got to continue to work," Moreno said. "We get an opportunity on Wednesday in front of our fans to try to get a positive result and hopefully we can get this thing moving forward and in the right direction.
"It's another opportunity for us to continue to grow as a team, but our growth is dependent on our work and our sacrifice and our commitment as a team and hopefully we can do that on Wednesday."


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text:
U.S. Prison, Jail Population Reaches 2.3 Million Inmates
WASHINGTON — The number of inmates housed in U.S. prisons and jails reached a record high of almost 2.3 million during 2007, according to the Department of Justice.
Data from the report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics backs up a survey of the prison population released earlier this year by Pew Charitable Trusts (see Correctional News May/June 2008).
In the 12-month period ending June 2007, the U.S. prison and jail population increased by almost 47,000 inmates, or 2.1 percent, to 2.29 million inmates, according to an annual survey by the BJS.
At mid-year 2007, an estimated 762 individuals per 100,000 residents were held in prison or jail — up from 684 individuals per 100,000 residents in December 2000.
During the first six months of 2007, the number of inmates held under state and federal jurisdiction increased by more than 24,900 inmates, or 1.6 percent, to nearly 1.6 million. More than 87 percent of prison inmates are under state jurisdiction.
The number of inmates under state jurisdiction increased by 1.4 percent in 2007 compared to 2 percent in 2006. The number of federal inmates increased by 3.1 percent in 2007 compared to 1.8 percent in 2006.
The number of state and federal inmates housed in private detention facilities increased by more than 6,100 inmates, or 5.4 percent to more than 118,000 inmates during 2007. The number of state inmates in private facilities increased by 3.3 percent, while the number of federal inmates housed in private facilities increased by 12.1 percent.
U.S. jails processed approximately 13 million admissions during 2007 compared to 11.4 million in 1999. Local jails housed more than 780,000 inmates at mid-year 2007, which marked an increase of more than 14,000 inmates since mid-year 2006.
The rate of growth in the U.S. jail population declined from 2.5 percent in 2006 to 1.9 percent in 2007 — the smallest annual rate of growth in the jail population since 2001 and the second smallest since 1981, the survey states.
The total rated capacity of local jails increased to more than 813,000 beds at mid-year 2007. The increase from an estimated capacity of more than 677,000 beds in 2000 represents an average annual expansion rate of 2.6 percent, according to the BJS.
Although the inmate population and rated capacity of jails increased at an equal rate of 1.9 percent, in absolute terms, the increase in the number of beds — more than 15,500 beds — outstripped the increase in the number of inmates — more than 14,500, according to the BJS.
At mid-year 2007, U.S. jails were operating at 96 percent of total rated capacity, up from 90 percent in 2001.
Minorities continue to be incarcerated at disproportionate rates to whites, according to the report. Black males, who represent less than 10 percent of the total population, constituted more than 35 percent of all inmates held in prison or jail, according to the BJS.
Halfway through 2007, approximately 4 percent of all black males in the United States were incarcerated, compared to 1.7 percent of Hispanic males and less than 1 percent of white males in the general population.


text:
When Bad Video Games Attack!
Few of us readily admit to the crap we find ourselves staring at come 9:00 on a Thursday night, largely because we're too ashamed to reveal our shallowness to our friends and cohorts, despite the fact that they themselves were probably watching the same exact thing.
Is there any greater evidence of TV's guilty pleasures than Fox's World's Scariest Whatever series? The title alone gets the blood moving. Hey, these ain't just Scary Overweight Babies, they're the World's Scariest Overweight Babies! That's, like, historic, right? Watching this is actually educational, like watching a documentary about the World's Last Living Bald Eagle! This stuff could come in handy one day, if by chance that day I'm on Jeopardy and the category is World's Something Something! I'll take that one for 1000 Alex, because I've been watching Fox!
Now it's one thing for this stuff to succeed on TV, where all they really do is cut together a few clips and add some voice-over by the World's Scariest Retired Sheriff, John Brunell. Whammo - instant ratings. It's another thing entirely to actually turn this show into a video game and charge people money for it, which is precisely what Fox and Activision have done with the aptly titled World's Scariest Police Chases.
I say aptly titled not because it's consistent with the series, but because there is indeed something very scary about the game - namely, the part where you play it. Too bad it's unintentional.
World's Scariest Police Chases lets you enjoy the thrills and spills of life as a cop in the rough and tumble city. Criminals run amuck doing all sorts of nasty business to automobiles, putting the lives of innocent bystanders at risk. Your job is to apprehend the evil doers by either shooting their car to pieces, ramming their car to pieces, or chasing their car to, uh, pieces. The problem is that none of it is as dramatic as it sounds.
The game follows in the footsteps of the excellent Driver by allowing you to drive through a real city. It's not a real real city like LA or Las Vegas, though I swear at one point I drove past a sign pointing to Newark, so maybe it's supposed to be New York. Who knows.
There are a few modes of play, including a Free Ride mode which allows you to drive around the city looking for criminals, who happen to occupy about 1 in every 5 cars. World's Scariest City! The main mode is Pursuit mode, which lets you take on 20 disjointed missions. There is no story at all.
WSPC also bears a similarity to Driver in its control, sort of a cross between real-world physics and arcade action. You can drive a variety of vehicles, each with slightly different handling characteristics. It's not particularly robust, but it's at least halfway decent.
Decent, however, doesn't extend to the rest of the game. Despite its promise of providing high speed thrills, several huge flaws give this game a flat tire.
For one thing, you can only play as the cops, which leads to monotonous gameplay. Chase this guy. Chase that guy. Then, if so inclined, chase another guy. I guess it's the name of the game, but it would have been way better if at some point YOU were actually chased.
The perpetual chasing wouldn't be so bad if the cop cars were made out of something more solid than papier-mache. In order to stop a criminal, you have to either disable it by shooting at it or ramming it. There's also the option to just chase it until a blue meter fills up and the perpetrator stops driving, but where's the fun in that? Unfortunately, in many missions you cannot use your guns - it's just not upstanding and the department will instantly halt the mission should you try to pop some caps. This makes ramming the next option, but the only way to damage another vehicle is to smash into it. The weird part is that a criminal car will not take damage on its own, no matter what. You, however, will take damage from anything else you touch - a tree, another car, a park bench - these all cause damage to you, but not the criminal.
It's infuriating. On one mission I watched a criminal ram headfirst into a telephone pole going top speed, only to back up and return to the getaway. His damage meter did not increase. A few seconds later I sideswiped a parked car and lost about a fifth of my health. AAARRRGGG.
I should also add that I knew the aforementioned criminal would hit the telephone pole to begin with because the missions are scripted. There's basically no AI to speak of, making the chases boring and redundant.
The graphics are pretty cheap, with plenty of pop-up, bland textures and a subpar framerate. This might be the end of the PSX's days, but you'd think developers would have figured out how to squeeze every inch of power out of the thing by now. Don't believe these screenshots. It's amazing what a little shrinking can do to a picture.
The game is almost saved by the hysterical voice-over of Retired Sheriff John Brunnel. His intense voice and cheeseball lines give the game a certain tongue-in-cheek quality. Unfortunately, the in-game sound effects are awful, particularly the engine noise. It sounds like an Intellivision game. I made better motor sounds when I was 4 years old and playing with Matchbox cars.
World's Scariest Police Chases may not be the World's Worst Game, but it's still a waste of time on Thursday night. Man, why couldn't they have made When Animals Attack instead?


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The Row Spring 2013 | Runway
The Row Spring 2013
The Row Spring 2013
In pale hues that gave way to crimson and navy, the Olsens offered up a gorgeous take on refined minimalism for Spring 2013. Silk was the fabric choice, and it came gently tailored and romantically layered on languid silhouettes that felt slouchy and elegant all at once. The duo said that they were inspired by American folk, 18th-century Japanese artist Ito Jakuchu, and the English countryside, and even though the interpretation here was ever-so subtle, somehow it worked.
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6.1110 Death of qualified elector prior to opening of polls.Cite as [A.S.C.A. § 6.1110 ]
Whenever, prior to the counting of absentee ballots, it is apparent to the Chief Election Officer or polling place officials that any qualified elector who has marked and forwarded an absentee ballot has died prior to the opening of the polls on election day, the ballot of the qualified elector shall be disposed of in the manner provided in 6.1108 for questionable ballots. The casting of these ballots shall not invalidate the election.History: 1977, PL 15-42 § 1; 2002, PL 27-31.


text: NEW YORK --In another sign of recovery from Superstorm Sandy, Coney Island's amusement park reopened to visitors on Sunday. And just like the famed Cyclone rollercoaster, it's been a wild ride to get everything up and running. Just five months ago, the amusement park was buried in sand. The electrical systems of iconic rides were destroyed. Sandy flooded the electrical equipment of Deno's Wonder Wheel, at a cost of about $1 million. But from the Jersey Shore to Coney Island, legendary beachside amusement parks are beating the odds and reopening for the season on schedule. "I think the message is that we're resilient. We're resilient New Yorkers and Sandy isn't going to keep us down", said Johanna Zaki of the Alliance for Coney Island. It took almost five months of hard work and millions of dollars, but soon the wooden planks of the famous Cyclone will rumble, and the smell of Nathan's Famous hot dogs will fill the air, signs of the start of summer on Coney Island, but a celebration of so much more. "It's our way of saying New York made it through Sandy, now let's have a good time," said Dennis Vourderis, whose family has owned rides on Coney Island for decades. And what would a day on Coney Island be without a hot dog eating contest? On Sunday, a qualifying match was held for the big contest on July 4th. And while some New Yorkers prayed in churches, the folks on Coney Island had their amusement rides blessed for the season on Sunday. Valerio Ferrari, president of the company that operates Luna Park, says the beachfront community has been "to hell and back." On Sunday morning, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz helped open the attractions with the 29th annual blessing of the rides. The Cyclone Rollercoaster got an "egg cream christening."


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Spending cuts seem here to stay
WASHINGTON -- The spending cuts are here to stay if you believe the public posturing Sunday.
The Senate's Republican leader Mitch McConnell called them modest. House Speaker John Boehner isn't sure the cuts will hurt the economy. The White House's top economic adviser, Gene Sperling, said the pain isn't that bad right now.
So after months of dire warnings, Washington didn't implode, government didn't shut down and the $85 billion budget trigger didn't spell doom. And no one has yet crafted a politically viable way to roll back those cuts.
"This modest reduction of 2.4 percent in spending over the next six months is a little more than the average American experienced just two months ago, when their own pay went down when the payroll tax holiday expired," McConnell said.
"I don't know whether it's going to hurt the economy or not," Boehner said. "I don't think anyone quite understands how the sequester is really going to work."
And Sperling, making the rounds on the Sunday news shows, added: "On Day One, it will not be as harmful as it will be over time."
Both parties cast blame on the other for the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts but gave little guidance on what to expect in the coming weeks. Republicans and Democrats pledged to retroactively undo the cuts but signaled no hints as to how that process would start to take shape. Republicans insisted there would be no new taxes and Democrats refused to talk about any bargain without them.
"That's not going to work," said Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. "If we're going to increase revenue again, it's got to go to the debt with real entitlement reform and real tax reform when you actually lower rates. ... I'm not going to agree to any more tax increases that are going to go to increase more government."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said any tax increases were unacceptable.
"I'm not going to do any more small deals. I'm not going to raise taxes to fix sequestration. We don't need to raise taxes to fund the government," Graham said.
All of this comes ahead of a new, March 27 deadline that could spell a government shutdown and a debt-ceiling clash coming in May.
Boehner said his chamber would move this week to pass a measure to keep government open through Sept. 30. McConnell said a government shutdown was unlikely to come from his side of Capitol Hill. The White House said it would dodge the shutdown and roll back the cuts, which hit domestic and defense spending in equal share.
"We will still be committed to trying to find Republicans and Democrats that will work on a bipartisan compromise to get rid of the sequester," Sperling said.
Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans last week put forward alternatives that would have avoided the cuts, but each side voted down the others' proposals. The House Democrats proposed an alternative but the House Republicans did not let them vote on it.
House Republicans twice passed alternatives last year.
Obama has phoned lawmakers but it isn't clear to what end; the White House refused Sunday to release the names of lawmakers Obama phoned. Boehner and McConnell said they had a productive meeting with Obama on Friday, but it didn't yield a deal.
"Well, no one can think that that's been a success for the president," said Mitt Romney, Obama's unsuccessful rival in November's election. "He didn't think the sequester would happen. It is happening."
Obama and the Republicans have been fighting over federal spending since the opposition party regained control of the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterm elections. The budget cuts were designed in 2011 to be so ruthless that both sides would be forced to find a better deal, but they haven't despite two years to find a compromise.
The $85 billion in cuts apply to the remainder of the 2013 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. But without a deal they will continue slashing government spending by about $1 trillion more over a 10-year period.
McConnell spoke to CNN's "State of the Union." Boehner was interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press." Sperling appeared on ABC's "This Week," NBC and CNN. Ayotte appeared on ABC. Graham spoke with CBS' "Face the Nation." Romney was a guest on "Fox News Sunday."
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us. We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.


text:
What a difference a week makes, eh? Last week, all the buzz was about the now forgotten and insignificant Dry Island fiasco (only jerks use the Woodward and Bernstein '-gate'). But it's August now and while it's cooling off outside, things are heating up around the league. Most significantly, Shea Weber and the Nashville Predators need a mediator and Ryan Kesler has gone under the knife. Join me after the jump for news, commentary on Weber and links
How is this a deal that can't get done? Weber is a top defensive stud on a defensive minded team. He's the closest the team has had to an elite player since Peter Forsberg. With 23 million in cap space, and the cap floor more than 7 million away, why the hold up? Is David Poile worried that Weber will become their most overpaid defenseman (trick question, we all know that's Lebda)? Apparently, Weber wants 8.5 million on a one year deal and the Predators are offering half that much. Clearly both sides are being ridiculous, but surely these guys don't need a marriage councilor to come to terms on a 1 year, 7 million dollar pact. Regardless, an Arbitrator will eventually issue a similar edict, and Poile will be forced to accept, and Weber will be free as a bird next year. This whole situation is just another example of poor asset management, and another example of how star players (or at least their agents) have franchises over a barrel in the salary cap world.
In other news, Ryan Kesler is going under the knife. Hip surgery will see him sidelined till about November. While that is great news for the 29 other franchises in the league, you've got to believe the ultimate beneficiary of this sad tidings is none other than Vancouver Canuck Cody Hodgson. The Toronto, Ontario native – a former 10th overall pick – has talent and vision to burn and is the natural choice to replace Kesler's offense. However severe back injuries and questions about conditioning have deterred his ascension in the pro ranks. And for the first month of the upcoming season, he's going to get every opportunity to disprove Alain Vingeault all his critics. If Hodgson can produce, then the 'Nucks are going to have the best kind of problem when Kesler is healthy again.
Back to the blue and white, there's three thoughts weighing on me.
- When will Luke Schenn sign? I'm tired of waiting around to find out how much richer he is than me.
- Why do people keep talking about Drury to Toronto? Burke re-signed Bozak and Boyce and then brought in Connolly, Lombardi and Dupuis. The team is at 50 contracts with Schenn unsigned. Drury had 1 goal in 30 games last season. The guy has missed time on three separate occasions due to concussions. It's a no right now, and if Lombardi can play, it's a no forever. Bear in mind that I said Brent would be back and Boyce and Crabb would end up elsewhere.
- The Leafs opening night D (as of right now) should be Phaneuf, Schenn, Franson, Aulie, Liles and Gunnarsson. But for Aulie, this entire squad almost seems a lock for 20 points apiece, with Phaneuf, Liles and Franson good bets to exceed 35 points apiece. Smooth moves, Burkie.
Leafs Links:
World Juniors news! Only 4 months away! My bet is that McKegg makes the team but Percy is left off. Anyone else concerned that Brad Ross didn't get invited?
Hockey Player AND Musician? Matt Lashoff must get laid like Mothra's egg.
Vintage Tucker doing what he did best.
VLM stirring the pot
NHL Links:
Apparently Evgeni Nabokov likes playing hockey enough to wear orange. If any of this is legit, The Islanders just got a whole lot harder to beat.
Well, I guess if they can find ice time, anyway.
More from Damien Cox on Shea Weber's arbitration.
Mac T is back coaching with the Canucks farm team. Alain Vigneault should start looking over his shoulder. Maybe Ron Wilson will have some words of comfort for him


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The Senate and House, with a nod from the Administration, are nearing agreement on a ten-year farm bill that will pile an extra $49 billion in commodity support subsidies on top of the $70 billion authorized in current law.
The bill completes Congress's costly retreat from the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act, which was supposed to phase out a Depression-era entitlement that distorts markets, burdens taxpayers, and harms the environment. Its march through Congress --- despite resurgent deficits and pressing new priorities --- should be a warning to other would-be entitlement reformers who are ready to pass out near-term benefit favors in exchange for the promise of long-term cost savings.
A Textbook Case
The farm bill perpetuates a welter of subsidies for major crops like wheat, corn, rice, and cotton. It extends special deals for dairy, honey, sugar, and wool producers. It even creates an entirely new price support program for peanuts, an initiative that Representative Terry Everett says "strengthens national security.â€
Virtually every economist agrees that the system is not just costly but perverse --- a textbook case of an entitlement that survives because it is politically attractive, not because it is good policy. *
The system is arbitrary. A minority of farmers growing favored crops receive the lion's share of the subsidies, while the majority of farmers --- roughly three-fifths --- receive nothing at all. The system distributes benefits without regard to need. The average farm household, earning $61,307 in 2000, is better off than the average U.S. household. And the richest farmers receive the biggest subsidies. In 1999, the 7 percent of farms with sales over $250,000 received 45 percent of all benefits.
The system hurts small farmers --- those it is ostensibly designed to help --- by subsidizing agribusiness, encouraging overproduction, and driving down commodity prices. Even those subsidies that do go to small farmers are soon capitalized into the price of their land --- and so into the size of the rent or mortgage they must pay, leaving them little better off than before.
But that isn't all. The overall farm aid system hurts the general public ---not just through higher taxes, but, in the case of products subject to tariffs and quotas, through higher prices at the grocery store. All of this undermines America's global credibility as a champion of free trade. It also harms the environment by encouraging farmers to over plough and over plant.
A Moratorium
The 1996 Freedom to Farm Act offered farmers a deal. Government agreed to abolish onerous restrictions on farm production, which it employed to keep the total cost of farm aid in check. In exchange, farmers agreed to give up commodity price supports. To sweeten the deal --- and cushion the loss of benefits --- the Act provided for special "market transition†payments that were scheduled to decline over seven years.
At the time, some were skeptical about a deal in which all of the pain was back-ended. And indeed, when grain prices fell just as the transition payments began declining, Congress rushed in with four consecutive "emergency†aid packages that kept the benefits flowing even faster than before. The current farm bill ends the farce. It again regularizes the subsidies --- without, however, reinstating the supply controls. Henceforth, it will be both feet on the accelerator.
The fate of Freedom to Farm should be a warning to those eager to strike the next grand bargain on entitlement reform, whether it's Medicare prescription drugs in exchange for long-term cost control or Social Security benefit "guarantees†for older workers in exchange for personal accounts for younger workers. Such deals are always renegotiated--and never to the benefit of the taxpayer. It's time to call a moratorium on grand bargains that front-end the gain and back-end the pain.
* For a more extended discussion of farm aid, see our earlier alert, "Farming the Government" (December 9, 1999).
FACING FACTS AUTHORS: Neil Howe and Richard Jackson CONCORD COALITION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Robert Bixby


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First there are the four horsemen, then the seven seals, and finally, the Nadya Suleman-Jon Gosselin romance.
Yes, the Apocalypse may be upon us after the octo-mom recently told RadarOnline that "she thinks Jon Gosselin is quite the catch."
"I kind of have a crush on Jon Gosselin," Suleman told RadarOnline. "I think he's hot."
Despite the risk of your head exploding, stop and think for a moment about a possible Gosselin/Suleman romance. Her fourteen kids plus his eight kids plus all those Ed Hardy T-shirts -- it would make for one whirlwind love affair.
But for the sake of our sanity, let's just hope those two never get together.
In other Octo-news, the Beverly Hills doctor whose fertility treatments expanded Suleman's brood has been given the boot by an organization of his peers.
A spokesman for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine told The Associated Press that the group expelled Dr. Michael Kamrava for "repeatedly" violating the group's standards, not just for his work with Suleman. While the move is undoubtedly embarrassing, it doesn't stop Kamrava from practicing medicine.
Guess who told RadarOnline she felt bad for the doctor, but not "wholly responsible" for the decision, of course?


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Photographer's Note
Pont des Arts
My photo
When I was in Paris I try to be at this bridge at sunset,enjoying the charming atmosphere, with music and picnics, being the traditional a good election of cheese
During the day its view is very nice with the padlocks shinning at the sun and also music, picnics and people attaching locks, looking for their old ones, taken photos
It was almost 10 in the evening when leaving it, I turned back and saw this sunset with people silhouettes still on the bridge
Love and the bridge
Paris is the latest in a string of tourist sites to be struck by the love lock madness, whose origins are unclear
In the world
In Pécs, southern Hungary, lovers have been clamping padlocks to a fence in a street linking the mosque in the city's main square and its medieval cathedral since the 1980s as a sign of commitment.
In Florence, Italy, love padlocks have been affixed to the railing at the center of the Ponte Vecchio
Lock-struck sweethearts also favor Mount Huang, China, where it is customary to '"lock your soul" together and then throw the key over the edge of the cliff into the misty valleys below
In Russia, newlyweds have placed so many padlocks on the Luzhkov bridge in downtown Moscow that authorities have installed a tree-like iron bar structures for them to hang locks on
History of The Pont des Arts
This structure goes back to 1804 when Napoleon, then the First Consul, wanted Paris to have a metal bridge. However, it was built later and was less audacious than Colebrockdale Bridge in England, the first of its kind.In fact it was a pedestrian footbridge, originally with a one-penny toll, built by the engineers Louis-Alexandre de Cessart and Jacques Lacroix-Dillon. The elegance of its architecture and the great delicacy of the steel sections make it a structure of rare lightness, elevated in relation to the piers.
The name Pont des Arts (Arts Bridge) comes from the former name of the Palais du Louvre (Louvre Palace), or Palais des Arts (Arts Palace) during the First Empire, which it linked to the Collège des Quatre-Nations (College of Four Nations), which is today the Institute.
It was a real hanging garden with bushes, flowers and benches for walkers.
Although it was rebuilt during the Second Empire, the original structure of the footbridge was too light and its nine arches obstructed river traffic.
After being damaged several times by barges, it was closed in 1970 for safety reasons.
Ten years later, when the reconstruction project by the architect, Louis Arretche, was being formulated, certain historians and navigation services pleaded for the structure not to be rebuilt since it would have spoil the views of the Louvre.
The new footbridge, finished in 1985 on seven steel arches supporting a wooden decking that is 11 m wide and has only seven arches instead of nine.
The original structure that was demolished in 1981 and dated from 1804 was made of nine cast iron arches, of which the two Left Bank arches had been replaced by a single puddle steel arch when the Quai Conti (Conti Quay) was extended.
bukitgolfb301, mohammad_H, kordinator, worldcitizen, jlbrthnn, danos, ourania, aliabazari, adramad, s_lush, josepmarin, ikeharel, Cricri has marked this note useful
Critiques | Translate
Didi (61221) 2012-10-09 16:16
Bonjour Maria
C'est presque l'heure bleue; un contre-jour intéressant où on distingue les milliers de cadenas fixés.
J'ai même vu un antivol de motocyclette accroché :)
Je pense ici qu'il aurait fallu se positionner en 3/4 pour avoir une perspective latérale du pont, ceci aurait diminué sur la photo les zones sombres de la structure de ce pont.
bukitgolfb301 (47653) 2012-10-09 16:27
Hi HOLA dear Maria
So wonderful purple color world you captaured / creatd and conveyed to us! Great framework and composition too. Thank you for your sharing with fines work and have a good day!
Takero from Tokyo
mohammad_H (10174) 2012-10-09 23:22
Beautiful view of the clouds and raging climax of this beautiful horizon with very nice colors,
Skyline reflected in water beautiful color photos added
The superb light management with a view
Good sharpness and beautiful colors
Have a nice day
yquem46 (38752) 2012-10-09 23:29
Hola Maria
belle photo du pont des arts au coucher du soleil
J'aime les silhouettes noires qui se détachent bien sur ce beau ciel aux couleurs rosées
Bien fait et très plaisant
Bonne journée, amicalement
kordinator (15459) 2012-10-10 1:23
Dear Maria
Spectacular btidges silhouettes and lovely pink tones of thesky and of the water.
Lovely place with nice presence of peoples.
Excellent depth and perspective picture.
Sharpness and clarity are of high quality.
Perfect point of view and framing.
Kind regards
lousat (104697) 2012-10-10 1:26
Hi Maria,great choice of point fof view to create this beautiful and romantic backlight,i like this pink sky whit the thunderstorm coming in background,perfect details and good exposure too.Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano
cornejo (52234) 2012-10-10 5:36
Hola Maria, muy buena e interesante foto de este puente a contraluz en este atardecer parisino, muy buen e interesante trabajo bien realizado, mis felicitaciones amiga mia, gracias por compartir.
Buen dia y feliz semana.
Un cordial saludo.
fabbs99 (17179) 2012-10-10 10:20
Hi Maria
Great image of the bridge with the water reflecting the evening sunlight.Excellent composition with some lovely colors coupled with nice light management and the tinted presentation.Well done.TFS
Best Regards
worldcitizen (10314) 2012-10-10 16:34
Hello Maria,
This is a beautiful photo, combining Paris scenery, lovely silhouettes, and a wonderful purple sky. The unique color makes the river very colorful, too. I like the effect all of the small locks make on the bridge. The tiny silhouettes look like a collection of small dots from your POV.
abmdsudi (65539) 2012-10-11 3:24
Hi Maria
Thanks for sharing and the 'love lock madness' I have never heard before honestly. This is splendid picture catches immediately the attention. Superbly composed,
everything here works fine with the dotted locks, placement of the silhouettes and gorgeous pinkish hues and the squiggley reflections further add the effect depicting a really relaxing mood of the evening. You have seen the wonderful photo opportunity there and timely transforms this beautifully full of content and interest. Great work, Congrats
Warm regards
jlbrthnn (76039) 2012-10-11 7:11
Hola Maria,
El puente, muy famoso en París, se fotografía bajo una luz casi irreal, y muy hermosa. La vista es original. La atmósfera está bien descrita. Buena calidad. Bravo.
Buen día.
danos (106377) 2012-10-11 7:16
Hola Maria,
dreamily the snapshot with the people on the bridge to enjoy the colour hues of the sky as the singularity of the place.The pinkish reflections on the river waters as the dark silhouttes of the people make the image so attractive.
ourania (51103) 2012-10-11 10:47
Hola Maria,
I love this purple light that bathes eeverything and affects all the colours in the picture making the atmosphere unbearably romantic. The bridge and the people on it(although not very romantic at this moment) are silhouetted superbly against the passionate purple glow. The deep view under the bridge is very clear, interesting and lovely. Your lighting is very apt and the colous harmonious and delightful. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a great day,
jemaflor (110096) 2012-10-11 13:48
Hi Maria,
Superbes teintes avec ces reflets sur l'eau, beau contraste avec les ombres, bon résultat.
kato (11630) 2012-10-11 20:56
Hello Maria,
You're capturing well this moody scene by a good angle and excellent tone/clarity, so it's impressive to see river Seine and the bridge in sunset. It's romantic the river and sky dyed to thin red, and the bridge with silhouette. And, the people on the bridge draws out a good atmosphere in this image.
Kind regards,
aliabazari (16438) 2012-10-12 11:27
Hi Maria's
Good record of pleasing landscape with beautiful sunset. Exposure and depth of the well performed.
Thank you for a beautiful record.
Regards, Ali
adramad (53540) 2012-10-12 15:49
Hola Maria.
Una composicion mágica y encantadora, el contraluz del puente con los formidables colores del cielo es una preciosidad, todas esas personas que se hayan en el, dan un bonito toque vital a la imagen, ideal la amplia perspectiva que podemos contemplar atraves de su arco.
Un imagen ideal, que nos transmite la ensoñacion de esta magica ciudad.
Disfrtua de un bonito fin de semana.
Un abrazo.
s_lush (16602) 2012-10-13 9:01
Hello Maria,
You have captured this romantic place at the time of the day, when wonderful sunset light makes a really romantic atmosphere around. Very good point of view, beautiful colors, colorful sky, interesting architectural details and perfect quality despite the dim light!
Best regards,
Nicou (162536) 2012-10-19 6:06
je veux te dire que j'adore ton nom c'est splendide.
superbe cpatage de ce pont avec la vue grandisoe cpatage avec les personnage et ce ciel rosé superbe.
Bravo et amitié
josepmarin (58689) 2012-10-23 3:03
Hola María,
podemos ver los miles de candados en la baranda del puente, gracias al eficaz contraluz.
Me gusta la superposición de puentes en tu composición, la perspectiva del río, el cielo nublado y el magnífico efecto creado por las tonalidades púrpura de la puesta de sol en la imagen.
La foto tiene un fuerte carácter y es muy atractiva.
Bello trabajo, con una espléndida información en la nota.
Un abrazo,
batalay (41257) 2012-12-04 22:54
Hello Dear Maria,
I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to submit photos or two per month, nor have I had chance to see what has been posted. This is a unique way of capturing the practice of attaching padlocks to the bridge and throwing the keys into the water emblematic of a bond's permanency. You've capture the silhouettes of countless padlocks seen from the reverse side in the City of Love, the City of light. Both are present here.
Warm regards,
claudeD (43504) 2012-12-31 5:31
Hello Maria,
wonderful picture from Paris with a perfect composition and amazing colors. I shot full of atmosphere. Very well done.TFS.
I wish all the best for you and your family.
With regards from Luxembourg
jcpix (14024) 2013-07-16 18:59
Hi Maria,
You have many fine pictures to choose from, but with my current focus on Paris I was instantly drawn to this one! :) A lovely moment captured, in every sense of the term...you've really gathered a romantic vibe,and although not necessarily in regards to people...but to the lighting, color and sensibilities of this incredible city! I can feel the atmosphere in this shot, the shades of sunset are soft and inviting to the senses. And what's with the locks, this idea has spread like crazy!?? :) Beautiful image along the Seine, thanks for the view. Have a great day ahead.
All the best,
ikeharel (86598) 2013-11-20 2:14
A fantastic silhouette of the bridge padlocks and people, onto the purple tones of sunset. How romantic the moment, Maria.
Good point to add the view under the bridge and along the river view till the next bridge.
Nice atken, buen dia.
carlo62 (63195) 2014-04-07 13:09
Ciao Maria
ho fatto un giro nella tua galleria, ci sono molte foto belle e di tanti paesi, manca l'Italia, cosa aspetti a venire a vedere le nostre bellezze?
Nel frattempo mi guardo questa foto, con questi colori rosa che si abbinano molto bene all'atmosfera romantica che hai realizzato.
Cricri (135618) 2014-05-12 11:59
Hola Maria
Un joli contre jour du pont de l'amour, c'est original cette idée des canevas! j'aime la douceur du ciel rose et bleu, les reflets rosées ajoute du charme, très jolie présentation de Paris
Désolée j'ai oubliée de répondre a ta question: non je ne connait pas le Musée Branly a Paris! A paris je connais le moulin rouge, Montmartre et sa Basilique, le théâtre le petit Balcon,( je ne sais pas s'il excite toujours, car il y a longtemps que je suis allée à Paris, puis visite des champs Elysée, bien sur :-) le café "le Touquet" que j'ai trouvée charmant, en plus je me suis assise a la terrasse, bonjour la note :-) c'était un bar plutôt pour les stars, je l'ai su après....
Photo Information
- Copyright: Maria Ocampos (nikkitta) (17070)
- Genre: Places
- Medium: Color
- Date Taken: 2012-07-19
- Categories: Nature
- Exposure: f/3.2, 1/30 seconds
- More Photo Info: view
- Photo Version: Original Version
- Date Submitted: 2012-10-09 15:07
- To abmdsudi: Is very known for people in love (1)
by nikkitta, last updated 2012-10-11 01:30
- To jlbrthnn: Vrai lumiere (1)
by nikkitta, last updated 2012-10-11 01:37
- To ourania: plastic bags for trash (2)
by nikkitta, last updated 2012-10-12 06:28


text:
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text:
The Medium Buckle Tote in Two-tone Grainy Leather
€1,495.00 €1,495.00
- Deftly crafted in Italy, The Buckle Tote is defined by its distinctive buckle detailing in homage to the trench coat. Made from durable leather, it has a spacious main compartment lined in our iconic check, and multiple pockets to stow everyday essentials. The design is complete with contrast-coloured top handles and a detachable check shoulder strap.
- 30 x 17.5 x 27.5cm/11.8 x 6.9 x 10.8in
- Outer: 100% calf leather
- Trim: 100% cotton
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- One interior zip pocket, two interior slip pockets
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- Engraved Burberry lettering at buckle
- Embossed Burberry lettering at front
- Polished metal hardware
- Made in Italy


text:
The Week In Music: The TWIM Top 10
As 2010 draws to an end, it's time to look back and reminisce on all the fun and surprising news this last year in music has brought. From the Beatles' long-awaited arrival at iTunes to Kings Of Leon's Jared Followill's onstage avian mishap, we're bringing you the Top 10 stories from The Week In Music in 2010.
1. The Beatles: Fab Four And ITunes Come Together
The Beatles made a big splash on Nov. 16 with their long-anticipated arrival at iTunes. In their first week of release, the Fab Four inhabited more than 25 percent of the iTunes top 200 song chart, and accounted for 17 of iTunes' 100 top-selling albums. Reactions were literally mixed in terms of what the Beatles' digital debut meant, evidenced by Billboard.biz's "Five Reasons Why The Beatles' Arrival On iTunes Still Matters" report and the Los Angeles Times' contrasting "Five Reasons It's Not All That Exciting" report. Regardless of what side you're on — and as they say in "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" — life goes on brah.
2. Kings Of Leon: Poohed Off Stage
Kings Of Leon may have legions of fans and three GRAMMY Awards, but they could have used somebody to help them out at their St. Louis concert on July 23. After just three songs, bassist Jared Followill was on the receiving end of a present, dropped off in his mouth courtesy of a pigeon flying overhead. The Kings exited the stage immediately, after which a venue spokesman told the crowd the show would not continue due to fears for the band's safety. Regarding the doo-doo incident, drummer/brother Nathan Followill tweeted: "So sorry St. Louis. We had to bail….Too unsanitary to continue." Thankfully concertgoers were given a full refund. What did we learn from this? Birds now rank behind pyro on the concert danger list.
3. Prince: The Internet's Dead
It may be time to cancel your Internet service, unload the laptop and MP3 player, and even do away with the number system entirely. According to Prince, technological Armageddon is upon us. "The Internet's completely over," his purple majesty said in July. "The Internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers, and that can't be good for you." Kenny G responded to the artist formerly known as a symbol's declaration with a countering viewpoint, saying if the Internet is dead "then I must be dead, too, 'cause I use it all the time. Maybe I've got a sixth sense, and I only see dead people. I don't know." We don't think the jury's out on this one yet.
4. John Legend: The GRAMMY Do-Over
GRAMMY Awards are truly prized hardware, but they certainly aren't toys for kids. John Legend learned this lesson the hard way when his nephew broke one of his six GRAMMY Awards during a trip to Uncle John's apartment in August. Legend tweeted about the incident, including a photo of the fractured statue. While some of his followers suggested disciplinary action for the guilty culprit, Legend calmly replied: "It was truly an accident. I'm just gonna have to nephew-proof my apt. a little better." While a new nephew-proof GRAMMY design is pending, on Aug. 19 The Recording Academy presented Legend with a fresh GRAMMY.
5. President Barack Obama: The Presidential ITunes Playlist
President Barack Obama was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone in October. Aside from discussing politics, the two-time GRAMMY winner also talked music in the issue's feature. "My iPod now has about 2,000 songs, and it is a source of great pleasure to me," said Obama. "There's still a lot of Stevie Wonder, a lot of Bob Dylan, a lot of Rolling Stones, a lot of R&B, a lot of Miles Davis and John Coltrane." Showing even more diversity, Obama cited a growing interest for rap. "My rap palate has greatly improved. Jay-Z used to be sort of what predominated, but now I've got a little Nas and a little Lil Wayne…but I would not claim to be an expert." Finally, the president dropped some words to remember for anyone, regardless of political affiliation. "Music is still a great source of joy and occasional solace in the midst of what can be some difficult days," said Obama.
6. The Imperial Stars: Traffic Jam
In Caltrans/music news, the Imperial Stars — a Southern California outfit of "hard core hip-hop heads" — wreaked a bit of freeway havoc on Oct. 12. The band blocked all but one lane on Interstate 101 in Hollywood, Calif., for what appeared to be a performance on top of a large truck advertising the band. Unfortunately, the California Highway Patrol was not amused by the stunt and arrested the band members and had the truck towed, all while traffic had extended into the San Fernando Valley. As for the Stars? "Imperial Stars OUT OF JAIL we will be having dinner in hollywood tonight. Who wants to join us??? Stay tuned for location...," the band tweeted the day after. It would seem this elaborate scheme was an effort to promote the band's latest video for the aptly titled "Traffic Jam 101." Pretty savvy for a bunch of hip-hop heads, but while the video has received more than 158,000 views to date, one viewer offered the Stars a bit of A&R advice: "WTF? They should have sent a demo team out to the 101 rather than a tow truck."
7. Katy Perry: Fireworks On "Sesame Street"
Katy Perry is one California gurl that ran a little too hot for Bert and Ernie, Grover, Big Bird, Snuffleupagus, and the gang over at "Sesame Street." In September the show issued a statement saying it would not air a taped segment featuring Perry and everyone's favorite tickle buddy, Elmo, due to "feedback" they received. It appears Perry's wardrobe choice during her skit with Elmo and a performance of "Hot 'N Cold" was deemed too revealing for the kids. A representative for Perry said the singer/songwriter enjoyed her time on the show. Elmo could not be reached for comment but did exclaim, "That tickles!" Meanwhile, the clip in question is available to view on YouTube.
8. 50 Cent: Dropping Beats And Pounds
In June this was the latest skinny on rapper 50 Cent. Literally. The normally well-muscled rapper — a former GRAMMY Best New Artist nominee and GRAMMY winner last year with Eminem and Dr. Dre in the Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group category — shed about 50 pounds (or roughly a pound per Cent) to play a dying cancer patient in the film Things Fall Apart (gird yourself for the shocking skinny fiddy photos). Losing the weight is nothing new to the Get Rich Or Die Tryin' rapper. In 2000, after being shot in the jaw, he dropped to 157 pounds on a liquid diet. Fiddy modeled his weight loss after actors Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, Christian Bale, and Renée Zellweger, all of whom have dropped bulk for movie roles.
9. Jon Bon Jovi: A Good Name From The White House
Jon Bon Jovi may have been shot down in a blaze of glory by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but he's in good with the White House. On Dec. 14 President Barack Obama announced the establishment of the White House Council for Community Solutions. Bon Jovi was the sole music artist appointed to the council, which will advise the president on effective ways to mobilize citizens, nonprofits, businesses, and government to work to solve specific community needs. "These impressive men and women have dedicated their lives and careers to civic engagement and social innovation," said Obama. "I commend them for their outstanding contributions to their communities, and I am confident that they will serve the American people well in their new roles on the White House Council for Community Solutions." In addition to his day job as a musician, Bon Jovi is chairman of the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the lives of those in need. Under his leadership, the foundation has provided affordable housing to hundreds of low-income individuals and families. Now that's giving Bon Jovi a good name.
10. John Mayer: Twitter Was No Wonderland
There is no such thing as a verified John Mayer Twitter account following the GRAMMY winner's unceremonious exit from the social networking site on Sept. 13. What gives? According to a Rolling Stone report, Mayer ceased all Twitter activity due to a planned return to the studio. Maybe he found himself writing 140-character lyrics. Or perhaps Mayer's waiting on Twitter to change?
Ke$ha's "TiK ToK" was the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 song of the year while Susan Boyle's I Dreamed A Dream was the top Billboard 200 album of the year.
What was your favorite TWIM moment? Comment below.
For the latest GRAMMY news, visit us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.


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19th September 2013
Costa del Sol
Bonsai Museum in Marbella
Marbella isn't just a city of glamour and luxury. If you find yourself in Marbella, apart from shopping and enjoying beach, you might like to visit the Bonsai Museum, which displays a wonderful collection of beautiful trees and forests, many of them copies coveted for their fame and centenary existence. It is rightly named as one of the finest collections in Europe and also the best of the world's wild olive trees. Several of these trees come from the Torcal de Antequera. The story highlights the interest of specimens as important as the chinese "Hackberry" who was in the same […]


text: On 3/20/07, Tim Wilcox <twilcox at terrasoftsolutions.com> wrote: > It seems to me a good starting point is to divide a problem, say a CFD, into > larger sections at the MPI layer and then a smaller division of the subset on > the individual Cell processor. This poses the issue of message passing > between disparate SPUs. Any input on the characteristics of how this may > work and perform? Hi Tim, Have you read A Synchronous Mode MPI Implementation on the Cell BE™ Architecture http://www.cs.fsu.edu/research/reports/TR-061215.pdf or MPI microtask for programming the Cell Broadband Engine™ processor http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/451/ohara.html I don't see any code available to download for those. Cell SDK 2.1 includes the Accelerator Library and Framework (ALF), and the documentation looks good. I don't think it handles messages between SPUs, but it does help out with things like double buffering. I don't think that Sequoia http://sequoia.stanford.edu transfers data between SPUs either. Dr. Dobbs has an article on optimizing Breadth First Search on the Cell. The authors describe how they implement an all-to-all exchange amongst the SPUs. http://www.ddj.com/dept/64bit/197801624?pgno=4 -- Andrew Shewmaker


text:
Unlike Adobe, Microsoft seem to be understanding that HTML5 is the only true cross-platform solution:
When Microsoft first showed off Internet Explorer 9, its most HTML 5 compliant version of IE to date, in March of this year, questions began to arise about the company's commitment to Silverlight. Officials insisted that the two would coexist and that Silverlight would be Microsoft's cross-platform development platform for mobile, Web and PC platforms for a number of years to come, as HTML 5 was far from becoming an accepted standard.
But in the past few months, Microsoft's backing of HTML 5 has gotten more aggressive. Microsoft is pushing HTML 5 as the way developers can make their Web sites look more like apps.
This is a smart move by Microsoft: they can continue to develop Silverlight as a development platform for Windows Phone, whilst encouraging developers to create cross-platform applications with HTMl5 – best of both worlds, and it won't cost them anything.


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This is a very early stage of a RPG game I am making. I have learned SO much from doing, I am going to make a totally new one, but using the same rules/features. The code is very messy, and if you want to see the code for it, just tell me and I'll post it here. I don't think I'm going to advance this game any further, but I will start immediately on the new one with a color map, and a nice layout, and better code. But anyways, here is my first attempt at an RPG game. I'm actually quite satisfied considering I did this right after completing tic tac toe.
EDIT: Please read the readme for how to play. And, if you cannot
beat a certain monster, or find what to do next, ask me.
There are 54 rooms total. You have to find the keys. And
you have to kill the monster in the rooms with keys to be
able to get them.


text:
Finally…Some Runs And A Win
Odds were good that the Phillies would have to bust out of this major slump at some point. Today against the Marlins, they finally scored for the first time since the 9th inning against the Red Sox on Sunday…5 days ago. In the 4th inning against the Fish, a Ryan Howard single followed by a Raul Ibanez triple ended the drought. Whew!
Of course, 3 strike-outs followed the Ibanez RBI, leaving him stranded on 3rd, making fans wonder if the one run was a fluke. But the offense kept creeping back to life, scoring one run each in the 5th and 7th innings. Chase Utley manufactured a run by walking, then stealing 2nd base, allowing him to score on another Howard single. Utley later grounded out to score a runner from 3rd base.
Manager Charlie Manuel moved the line-up around a bit, giving Jayson Werth and Placido Polanco the day off. Ross Gload and Greg Dobbs filled in; Gload went 1 for 4 and Dobbs was hitless. Polanco is still having elbow issues after being hit with a pitch at the start of the season. Hopefully, a little rest will get him back into the lineup.
As for starter Kyle Kendrick, he pitched very well. His fielding, however, was not great and cost him the only 2 runs he allowed. With 2 outs and 2 men on in the 3rd, Hanley Ramirez hit an easy ground ball to Kendrick who drilled the ball into the ground trying to throw to first. Just as it looked like he was out of the inning, 2 runs crossed the plate on the error.
Both runs were unearned and Kendrick wound up going 6 innings without additional incident. Overall, it was a quality start. Chad Durbin and Danys Baez got through the next two innings fairly easily. Jose Contreras came in for the 9th and got into trouble, allowing back-to-back singles with one out. He struck out Cody Ross next and then Ronnie Paulino popped up to end the game.
So, with a little help, Kendrick beats the Fish and Contreras collected the save. And the Phillies finally put an end to the 5-game losing streak. Can I get one more big SIGH of relief….whew! Game 2 in Miami is tomorrow at 7:10pm with Roy Halladay on the mound.
And do not forget to keep VOTING for your Phillies All-Stars! Vote up to 25 times per day, per email address.
Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography
*Read more about the Phillies at my other home page, Phightin' Phils Phorum in the My Team Rivals network*