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The panelists reiterated the relevant discoveries that were new in 2004: growing organs in another location of recipient's own body (whether human or animal) -- while those discoveries weren't about growing a robot from biological cells, that could potentially be a potential future use. Modeling robots after roaches, rats, or other small animals that can pass through narrow spaces -- for example, to lay computer cables. Attaching sensors to a swarm of very small, fast, disposable robots the size of a grain of rice. What the state of artificial intelligence looked like in 2004, years before the significant advances made by neural nets -- not very promising. Our panelists thought that since our brain is wet and analog, we won't be able to simulate it in digital systems. Researchers are inspired to generate power from biological sources, because batteries running out are a common problem with robots, whereas a human body can do a whole lot on just a peanut butter sandwich.
Lifelogging is an emerging trend of recording every, or nearly every moment of your life. A simple example of lifelogging would be wearing a video recorder that would record continuous video and audio of everything you see and do. Ted Chiang used this example to speculate about how lifelogging would change our society. At the end he answered the audience's questions and engaged in a discussion regarding some points, such as: would lifelogging encourage us to craft our lives as stories, and thus become better people? Doesn't forgetting play a big role in getting over a trauma? Doesn't forgetting go a long way towards forgiving? What if your memories are hacked? Who has control over shared memories?
Panelists: Ted Chiang, Louise Marley, Michael A. Stackpole, W. J. Williams, Janine Ellen Young (moderator)
What it was supposed to be about (synopsis from the program book): When do "scientific" worldview elements move a concept out of fantasy? Systematic magic, planetary bodies, rudimentary experimentation, the cusp of alchemy into chemistry...
What it was really about
First, the panelists admitted they didn't really understand the topic of the panel as stated in the program book. They didn't get much mileage out of "scientific worldview elements moving a concept out of fantasy". After addressing the distinction between technology and magic, and Ted Chiang stating why he believes Clarke's famous adage is incorrect, the panelists quickly became mired in the age-old debate of what is science fiction, and what is fantasy. Oh no, not again, you say! Well, this discussion wasn't quite like beating a dead horse. I heard some interesting insights.
A lot of western fantasy writers prefer magic to be systematic, i.e. to have laws, rules, constraints. An arbitrary magic, where everything is possible or impossible, depending on whether it is convenient for the author, they don't find very interesting. But does systematizing magic move it closer to science? Not necessarily.
Traditionally it's thought that it's the presence or absence of scientific / technological elements -- the so-called furniture -- that causes most people to view a certain story as science fiction or fantasy. But actually, the worldview expressed in a story may be more relevant. (Though apparently there are no universal criteria how to determine the genre a particular story belongs to, because some people in the audience disagreed over which genre certain books belonged to.)
Participants: Kage Baker, David Hartwell (Interviewer)
Topic: One of her editors gets our Guest of Honor to talk.
Kage Baker was the oldest girl of seven kids; she started writing at age 9. Some of her earliest memories was changing diapers for smaller kids; when her biological clock started ticking, she decided "been there, done that" and never looked back, never felt like she missed out on anything by not having children.
Participants: Vernor Vinge, John Gibbons (interviewer)
Vernor Vinge talked about how he got started writing science fiction, about numerical parametrization of group minds, about some characters in "Deepness in the Sky", and, of course, his brainchild -- the concept of Singularity, the ways it could happen, and what current research might lead to it.
Slipstream is literature that has fantastic elements that nevertheless can't be characterized as science fiction, fantasy or horror. It is the literature of the fantastic that's left after you remove the defining characteristics of those three genres. The negative space.
Synopsis from ArmadilloCon program book. A plethora of new markets for what we used to call slipstream has blossomed over the past two years, with all sorts of new monikers like "The New Fabulists," "Interstitial Arts," and "Ambient Fiction" -- Conjunctions 39, Sweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales (with a new volume appearing in the fall), Polyphony, Album Zutique, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, and so on. What distinguishes the work appearing in these journals from more conventional SF, fantasy, and mainstream fiction? Has slipstream finally arrived as a genre in its own right?
Panelists: Chris Nakashima-Brown (moderator), Lawrence Person, Mikal Trimm, Rick Klaw
Two of Sharon's closest friends, authors Kay Kenyon and Louise Marley, ask her about her life and her work. How does she manage to find time for writing while having a full time job? How many "trunk books" she wrote until she got published? Why are mothers so terrible in her books? And many other questions.
Following the ArmadilloCon tradition, toastmaster K. D. Wentworth gave a humorous speech. She addressed the audience as a fourth grade schoolteacher, which she actually was for the most of her working life. She chastised SF fandom for forgetting their geeky, eccentric roots and becoming too mainstream. Then she and several other guests performed "The Fan Eye for a Mundane Guy" makeover (modeled after a then-popular television show "Queer Eye for a Straight Guy" on a guy they picked from the audience.
Note: My transcription of this speech is not completely accurate since I had to work off of a poor quality tape recording.
Pictures from ArmadilloCon 2004 can be found in my photo gallery.
Mel White (who has a Ph.D. in information sciences), Rachael Acks (a geologist), Paige Roberts (data scientist), and Sigrid Close (a professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University and ArmadilloCon 2014 science Guest of Honor) at the Women In Science panel
Mel White (who has a Ph.D. in information sciences), Rachael Acks (a geologist), Paige Roberts (data scientist), and Sigrid Close (a professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University and ArmadilloCon 2014 science Guest of Honor) at the Women In Science panel.
Fannish Feud, the pro team, left to right: Thomas (Martin) Wagner (filmmaker and science fiction reviewer), Sigrid Close (a professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University and ArmadilloCon 2014 science Guest of Honor), Ted Chiang (SF/F author and writer Guest of Honor), Stephanie Pui-Mun Law (artist GoH), Jacob Weisman (editor GoH).


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Panoramic view of Cuenca
Tapas in Cuenca © Fundación Turismo de Cuenca. www.turismocuenca.com
Aerial view of Cuenca © Fundación Turismo de Cuenca. www.turismocuenca.com
Here we show you the best places for going out for tapas and for nightlife in the city of Cuenca in the north-east of the region of Castile-La Mancha. Another two attractive ways to enjoy this World Heritage City.
Out for tapas The city has three main areas for tapas. For example, in the historic quarter, the best places are the area around the cathedral and the Plaza Mayor square, as well as the El Castillo quarter where there are numerous terraces with views over the surroundings. Another place –particularly popular with young people– is the pedestrian street of San Francisco. Finally, in the new part of the city, head for the Calle Colón, the area around the railway station and República Argentina avenue. When you order your tapas, we recommend typical recipes from Cuenca such as morteruelo (a type of hot game pâté), ajoarriero (cod and garlic), zarajos (grilled lamb's innards) and the stewed courgette and tomato dish known as pisto manchego.
Nightlife A good idea is to spend the early hours of the evening in the old quarter, with its relaxed and tranquil atmosphere. You could begin with the pleasant dinner followed by a dance in one of the music venues, which play mostly pop music. Then, or if you prefer more up-to-date music, make for of the hippest areas – known as 'La Calle' ('The Street')– in the area around Calle Doctor Galíndez. Finally, a more unconventional vibe can be found around the railway station. Things to remember You can find out all about tapas and nightlife in Cuenca at the tourism web sites of the Castile-La Mancha region and the Cuenca city

subset: commoncrawl


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You are here
Bioscience Collections
The mission of Bioscience Collection is to provide collections of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, insects and mollusks that represent the natural history of New Mexico and southwestern North America (United States and Mexico), and to serve as a safe repository for in-house research specimens. These collections are used for education, research and exhibits. We also have an extensive photographic slide collection of New Mexico plants and birds. The staff consists of one curator, a collection manager and seven dedicated volunteers.
As of 2011, the approximate numbers of catalogued specimens in each of the collections are as follows: Mammals 6,200, Birds 400, Arthropods 6,000, Mollusks 13,500, Reptiles and Amphibians 50, and Plants 3,100.
The majority of biological specimens are voucher specimens resulting from research (mammals and mollusks) conducted by Museum staff. The bird collection consists entirely of salvage specimens. Museum staff and volunteers have collected and developed the plant collection. The insect collection is primarily donated collections from various Museum and non-Museum researchers. The mollusk collection consists of several donated collections and Museum staff research collections. Frozen tissue of mammals, birds and mollusks for genetic study are currently being transfered to the Museum of Southwestern Biology at the University of New Mexico. Once the transfer is complete, frozen tissue will be available for loan again.
There have been approximately 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals and one NMMNH Bulletin published on specimens in the Collection.
Researchers wishing to visit Bioscience Collections should contact Lindsey Frederick, Bioscience Collections Manager at firstname.lastname@example.com or 505-841-2867.


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Buck Crosshaw never shot a man who didn't deserve it, but now he's an outlaw who had to fake his own death and escape to Arizona. But in escaping one evil, Buck is about to face another, for an ancient and wicked force stirs in the hills of this mysterious region.
Freely explore an open world set in Arizona and Oregon full of events, mystery and challenges for you to discover as you become completely immersed in the story and the action. But don't be fooled by this land's beauty - outlaws, vampires & many other unnatural foes lurk in every shadow.
Take on 40 missions with a great variety of tasks for you to overcome. You'll race horses, take out robbers, fend off waves of enemies and more along the way!
In this kill-or-be-killed land, you'll need to unlock all 8 different horses, 19 weapons and a wide selection of clothes, ammo and other items to help you on your adventure.
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Rob Stutzman, a Republican political consultant, has been pointing out on Twitter that for all the Democratic demands that GOP legislators make a deal, the Democrats can't seem to agree on exactly what they're asking Republicans to do.
Fair point. Gov. Brown wants Republican legislators -- he needs at least four, two in the Assembly and two in the state senate -- to agree to put temporary tax increases on the ballot as soon as possible. The Democratic leadership in the state senate, however, doesn't want a vote until next year. And some leading unions want the temporary tax increases -- on sales, income and vehicles -- but don't want to have an election on them at all.
California's constitution, with its supermajorities and other fiscal rules, provides incentives for the minority party to hold out in support tax or other revenue increases. But the Democrats are making it easy for the holdouts right now.


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New campaign ad destroys Gingrich just as he wishes to destroy the US Constitution
Steve Watson
December 13, 2011
Ron Paul has once again hit full throttle and gone on the attack against Newt Gingrich, releasing yet another new ad spot that raises a number of facts Gingrich would prefer the voting public to forget about.
Entitled 'Selling Access', the clip is another two-minute web piece highlighting Gingrich's status as a Washington establishment insider who used his position to reap millions for himself.
"He is the absolute symbol of that corrupt system," a voice over taken from previous news analysis states in the ad. "This guy hasn't got skeletons in his closets, he's got a whole graveyard in there," says another.
Gingrich is heard bragging about earning $60,000 per speech after leaving office and referring to himself as an 'insider'.
"These are all legitimate and important issues to point out to the American people," said Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton.
"If Americans are serious about changing the status quo in Washington, then they must take into account the record of someone who profited from the housing collapse with taxpayers' money, advocated for Obamacare-style individual mandates, and who played the Washington game of getting rich due to influence as well as anyone."
Watch the ad below:
The video is the second Ron Paul ad to focus solely on Gingrich within the last fortnight as he emerged as a front runner in Iowa and New Hampshire.
A previous viral web ad, 'Serial Hypocrisy', criticized Gingrich for many of the same issues:
The Paul campaign's effort to expose Gingrich as an unelectable candidate has not ended there. In a post on Ron Paul's official 2012 campaign website, Jack Hunter writes "Newt Gingrich wants the Constitution to die."
"This is not hyperbole and I'm not kidding." Hunter writes as he points out that in the mid nineties Gingrich penned a foreword to a book called Creating a New Civilization: The Politics of the Third Wave by authors Alvin and Heidi Toffler.
Within the pages of the book the Tofflers make extreme statements, including that they would like to see Jeffersonian democracy die and be replaced:
"Is this "the system" the Tofflers and apparently Gingrich want to "die and be replaced?"" Hunter writes, "Do they want to essentially murder the very basis of American government, law and civilization?"
"Even Mitt Romney at least pretends to support the Constitution. Good Lord, Newt."
Meanwhile, controversial radio host Michael Savage has offered to give Gingrich $1 million dollars to drop out of the race for the GOP nomination, "for the sake of the nation."
"Newt Gingrich is unelectable," Savage wrote on his website.
"If Newt Gingrich really loves this country as much as he says he does, if he really wants what is best for America, he will set his ego aside, call me, and accept my offer. His continued candidacy spells nothing but ruin for conservatives, Republicans, and all true American patriots, One million dollars in exchange for preserving the nation, Newt. I say take the money … and don't run."
Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones' Infowars.net, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.
This article was posted: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 10:43 am


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This song from my favourite Riot Grrrl band begins with a tale of a feminist grown tired and apathetic:
"And I think that I sometimes might have wished for something more than to be a size six / But now my inspiration rests in-between my beauty magazines and my
credit card bills"
"No more! And for the ladies out there, I wish we could write more than the next marketing bid. Culture is what we make it, yes it is / Now is the time to invent."
Le Tigre – Hot Topic
Kathleen Hanna, formerly of Riot Grrrl wonders Bikini Kill, didn't stop the feminist anthems with her new band. In this awesomely catchy song she sings about strong, inspiring women including Gertrude Stein, Aretha Franklin, Joan Jett., Yoko Ono and Billie Jean King amongst many others. It's an inspiring song that packs a punch.


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Starting from the month of September 2017, ORCID information will be included in the articles which will be published in our journal. The authors have to identify their ORCID information in their articles for the articles to be published which are sent to our journal and have gone through a positively reviewer process. You can get ORCID number from https://orcid.org/ address.
From the month of December 2017, the articles which will be sent to the journal have to be uploaded to the system in English. The articles which do not comply with the format will not be taken under review.


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Tech Update
Fine-Tuned Power for Gas-Tungsten-Arc Welding
The V205-T compact power source is intended for
The new Invertec V205-T DC has the same added features as the Invertec V205-T AC/DC, minus ac-GTA welding. The machine supplies 200 A at 40-percent-duty cycle. It also auto-reconnects for single-phase 115/230-V 50/60-hz input, which allows the flexibility to weld in the shop or take it to the field where 230-V power may not be available.
Both machines weigh in at 37 lb., making them easy to carry around the shop.
Lincoln Electric Co.: 216/481-8100; www.lincolnelectric.com
See also: Lincoln Electric Co.
Related Enterprise Zones: Welding


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Kitchen and Bathroom Remodeling & Design
Kitchens Plus is the premier California home kitchen and bathroom remodeling contractor serving San Diego County and surrounding communities.
We have been remodeling homes throughout San Diego since 1987. We have a clear understanding that a home remodel is more than just a construction project; for you, it is an improvement in lifestyle and an investment in your future. That is the reason why we have tailored every aspect of our remodeling service to completely satisfy you. "You imagine, we create... then you enjoy your new lifestyle and reap the financial benefits of your new San Diego kitchen or bathroom."
Our website is designed to provide you with a wealth of information about home remodeling. We have everything from products and services to resources that can help you finance your project and suggestions that will help you "Survive Your Remodel".
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Visit our University Ave. - La Mesa Location
Visit Our Miramar Rd. - San Diego Location


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Although there are electric units, the majority of broilers are gas powered.
Broilers are most often used to cook meat at temperatures ranging from 550 degrees F up to 700 degrees F.
Gas models, which are the most common, have burners every foot and provide Btus ranging from 40,000 to 50,000.
Broilers range in size from a 24-inch countertop unit up to a 72-inch floor model for high-volume applications. These units typically are available in 12-inch increments.
Foodservice operators can choose from over-fired and under-fired units. Over-fired broilers consist of a big drawer, tray or grate that is slid under the heat source. Because these units create more of an enclosed environment than under-fired units, heat is retained to produce hotter temperatures.
Under-fired broilers are more commonly used for greasier foods, such as burgers, that may be more of a problem in an over-fired environment. Units with a high Btu rating offer the same searing effect as over-fired units, but at a higher energy consumption. Built-in salamanders on some models can be used for browning, warming or melting cheese, offering additional flexibility.
The majority of broilers provide radiant heat and include an angled metal or cast iron component to help protect the burner. Although cast iron is more commonly utilized, radiants also are available in a heavier gauge stainless steel.
Ceramic stone and lava rock are other heating elements that are not used as often due to the extensive maintenance required. This type of broiler is more common in open kitchens.
Infrared heated broilers also are available as an option. The burners on these units are located below a glass surface, which offers added protection from grease and food debris.
Broiler grates are available in cast iron, stainless steel with welded construction and carbon steel. Some gas units provide adjustable grates, which can be placed at different distances from the heat source to control temperature settings from different products.
How to Know When to Replace Broilers
Broiler Applications
Maintaining Broilers
Spec Check: Broilers
Energy Efficiency and Broilers


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Here u go guys 🙂
Eps 18
- When Jaekyoung hugged him from behind, Junpyo admit that he likes other girl.
- Jandi after saw Jaekyoung hugged Junpyo acting weird and her hands are shaking for shock and thinking this and that about those two (more…)
Here u go guys 🙂
Eps 18
This episode, mostly bout Junpyo 'new' relationship with Jaekyoung. And how Jandi deals with it, accompanied by Jihoo. This episode explains more details bout Yijoung's side. Following post, may contain spoiler! (more…)
Credits : newsen + imuyachan @ wordpress for English Translation if taken out
Popular drama from KBS2 TV 'Boys Over Flowers' will launch their vol.2 OST.
This time, it will featured the beautiful voice of Kim Hyunjoong of SS501 singing the acoustic version of 'Because I'm Stupid' , which is previously sung by his group SS501. (more…)
Last night, the drama slot was replaced with special BOF talk show, i will post it the soonest the translation finished.
As i mentioned in the previous post, that Eps.17 will still airing Tue, March 3,2009 yet, eps.18 will be airing next week (read : March 9) (more…)
Credits : newsen + imuyachan for English translation if taken out
Gu Hyesun is hospitalized due to her injuries in last time accident, that is why the production team decide to delay the eps.17 & 18 from airing this week Only delaying eps.18 from airing this week, and eps.17 willbe airing on Wed,March 3rd,2009 ! . Tonight's drama slot will be replaced with an F4 talkshow.
Ok, the highlight for this episode are :
1. JP received the gift from JD
2. JP's fiance declared as having an onni n dongsaeng relationship with JD
3. Fiance is asking JD to be her dating coach (ouchhh)
4. JP once meeting her @ school n asked why she's not swimming anymore-she refused to answer
5. JH meet his grandad
6. F2 (yijoung n woobin) launched their plan to make the 2 (JD n JP) together via the FAKE Date of Yijoung n Gaeul have (more…)
This episode shows how Jandi's dealing with her feelings. Thanks to uri great Onni who helped her through her sadness and promised her to help , made me as viewer quite relieved.. Onni putakheyo 🙂 Then, it's also focus to the introduction of Gu Junpyo's fiancee @ his bday party 😦 (more…)


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Items where Department is "Lancaster Environment Centre" and Year is 1979
|Up a level
Johnson, J. H. and Pooley, Colin G. (1979) Postgraduate geography students in the United Kingdom 1972-76. Area, 11. pp. 30-36. ISSN 0004-0894
Pooley, C. G. (1979) Residential differentiation in the nineteenth-century city. In: Space, hierarchy and society: Interdisciplinary studies in social area analysis. British archaeological reports. international series (59). British Archaeological Reports, Oxford. ISBN 086054060X
Pooley, Colin G. (1979) Historical geography at the IBG. Journal of Historical Geography, 5 (4). pp. 431-437. ISSN 0305-7488
Pooley, Colin G. (1979) Residential mobility in the Victorian city. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Se. pp. 258-277. ISSN 1475-5661


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Warm, dry and breezy weather today will give us another day of elevated fire risk. Temperatures will rise to around 70 under sunny skies today.
In addition to the risk of rapidly spreading brush fires, pollen counts are also high today.
As for the Marathon, the weather is perfect for spectators but pretty warm for runners. It was already 60 degrees this morning in Hopkinton and it will quickly get warmer. Most runners, especially those in a Marathon, prefer temperatures in the mid-40s to mid-50s with cloudy skies.
One plus for runners in today's weather: A strong tailwind. Winds will blow mostly from the west today at 10-20 mph - at least that will push runners most of the way to Boston.


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Fly With NASA's Missions, Past and Future main content.
by AMNH on
In January 2012
Emily Rice, a research scientist in the Museum's Department of Astrophysics, and Brian Levine, an astrophysics educator in the Department of Education, hosted an Astronomy Live event highlighting where NASA spacecraft have gone, where they may go in the future, and what they can teach us about our solar system. Rice and Levine answered a few questions about their experiences in the dome and their favorite NASA milestones.
How does the Digital Universe Atlas help you understand the cosmos and relay that information to others?
Emily Rice: When I first started using the Digital Universe, it was mind-blowing. I had been studying astronomy for over 10 years, but as a research scientist, I hadn't realized how I had developed a functional but not necessarily accurate view of the cosmos. I could quote the numbers, but I couldn't immediately describe how that would look. The Digital Universe Atlas takes all that data and translates it into very accurate visualizations that are simply astounding—one glimpse is really worth a thousand words.
Brian Levine: The planetarium is an important tool in our classes and programs as well. It enables us to extend well beyond what our audience can learn by reading and looking at pictures. The scale of the immensity of the universe has always been an important point in my lessons, and by flying around inside this data set, we can see just how big the Earth is in comparison to everything else. Turns out we're really small, but that's just the beginning—the universe is full of interesting things, and the best way to learn about it is to visualize it.
What are your favorite NASA missions of the past, and why?
Levine: I think the Mars rovers are my favorites. When I was in high school, the first rovers were sent up, and that was exciting, even if it didn't do much. But the current rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have outdone every expectation—they've given us more of a feeling of the surface of Mars than we've ever had before.
Rice: My favorite missions are the ones with surprising longevity, like the Voyager missions and also the Mars rovers. They remind us that we have to think long-term when we're planning space missions, because even within the solar system, the distances are vast and communication via radio waves traveling at the speed of light takes much more time than we're used to on Earth. And when we continue to support missions well past their scheduled lifetimes, the results get even more interesting.
Where do you hope NASA will venture next?
Levine: I think Neptune and Uranus deserve another visit—by a robotic spacecraft, of course. For human exploration, I'd love to take a trip to the Moon when I'm older to visit the first permanent settlement on another celestial object. But if we sent someone to Mars, I'd be happy, too.
Rice: I'm very excited about New Horizons, which will reach Pluto in three years—having already been traveling for six! The outer solar system is really uncharted territory that's right in our own backyard, and the mission will help us better understand the objects out there and put together the story of how they formed. And like Brian, I hope NASA explores Neptune and Uranus. These ice giants haven't been visited since the Voyager 2 flybys in the late 1980s, and since then, astronomers have discovered similar planets around other stars. Having a better understanding of our own planets will help us understand their much more distant cousins as well as answer questions about the uniqueness of our solar system.


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Eve of Destruction Battlefield 2 MOD (project discontinued)
Dear visitor, welcome to Eve of Destruction. If this is your first visit here, please read the Help. It explains in detail how this page works. To use all features of this page, you should consider registering. Please use the registration form, to register here or read more information about the registration process. If you are already registered, please login here.
By zukov (Jun 1st 2015, 6:39pm)
By sweetjosi (May 20th 2012, 7:21pm)


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It's easy to forget these days with Nintendo trying so hard to look all adult and stylish, but in the early 1990s, the company was anything but.
Allow this montage of footage from Club Mario (a short "comedy" section of the The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!) serve as a reminder that not only did Nintendo once do a poor job of marketing to young adults, but also that the early 1990s are a time best forgotten.
Except for that Milli Vanilli part. That was great.
[thanks Morris!]


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Super Hang-On
Super Hang-On 3D hits Japanese 3DS store next week
Super Hang-On is the next Sega title to receive the 3DS treatment, following the rather neat Space Harrier 3D. It's out in Japan next week.
Super Hang-On headlines
Nintendo downloads, May 3 - Bird Mania 3D, Super Hang-On, Amoebattle
Nintendo has updated its Virtual Console, eShop and DSiWare offerings this week with Bird Mania 3D on 3DS, Amoebattle and Super Hang-On. More information on each is below.
SEGA to release Vintage Collection 3 on PSN and Virtual Console
SEGA has announced its plans to release a third volume in its Vintage Collection for PSN and Virtual Console during the later part of the year and early 2012.


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World Leader in Pressure Transducer Technology
Abbreviation for analog to ditigal
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The walking begins in one week!
On Dec. 29, CFCA President Bob Hentzen will embark on Walk2gether, an 8,000-mile, 16-month journey through 12 countries in Latin America.
Excitement and anticipation are building as families and CFCA staff in Guatemala prepare to bid Bob and his fellow travelers "Buen Viaje." More than 65 sponsors participating in the mission awareness trip will also be on hand for the launch.
Meanwhile, CFCA staff in Kansas gave Bob an official send-off when he visited the headquarters in late November. Read more here.
Check out the new Walk2gether website, where you can follow Bob on an interactive map, and explore links to his electronic journals and to videos, slideshows and stories about the realities, people and activities in the countries he visits. You can also send messages of support and encouragement that Bob will share with the families of sponsored members and the CFCA staff in the communities he visits.
Walk2gether is a way to help counterbalance the isolation of people living in poverty, and show them that someone cares. The walk will help build community and strengthen the bonds of unity between CFCA's sponsored members, sponsors and staff. It will also symbolize and promote the unity of countries, races, languages, genders and creeds. Visit Walk2gether.org to learn more.


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Bernie DeKoven is a fun guy. In fact, he's an expert in fun.
He's been promoting playfulness as essential for decades. This game designer and fun theorist was involved in the New Games movement of the 70's and served as co-director of the New Games Foundation. Back in 1982 he predicted with remarkable accuracy the advent of game distribution via networking and apps, as well as game motion control similar to Kinect. He's the 2006 winner of the Ifill-Raynolds award from the North American Simulation and Gaming Society and recently gave a keynote at their conference. His appearance at IndieCade just hit YouTube (note the wild patchwork pants he wore).
But a list of his accomplishments isn't all that fun, so let's get to what DeKoven can tell us about making fun happen at school, the workplace, and pretty much everywhere. His perspective is downright liberating.
GeekMom: You've worked in the development of the LEGO game system, as well as designed games for Ideal Toy Company, Children's Television Workshop, Mattel Toys, CBS Software, Automated Simulations, and many others. As a game designer, how do you incorporate playfulness?
Bernie DeKoven: With all the talk about serious games, and the cognitive, social, and physical importance of games, about games for change and games for learning, focusing solely on fun is almost a political statement. The premise: fun is enough. The promise: make something fun enough, and you will have accomplished something meaningful and rewarding.
Another departure? I encourage designers not to make games because they think it will be fun for other people, but to reflect on what's fun for them, as players and makers of games, and then to let that be their guide. Not to make games that are clones of the games they like to play, but rather to make new games that might just be more fun for them to play than the ones they already love. Not to make games according to some theory or set of criteria handed down from above, but to make games that they themselves would enjoy playing.
This also means that I'm encouraging designers of anything, really, to explore as many forms of fun as they can find – not just computer games, not just games, but toys and playgrounds and walks in the woods, flowers and kites, skates and afternoon naps.
And then there's the idea that players are part of the design. Not just the game or artifact, but how the game is played and what its players do to make it and keep it fun. The aesthetics of the design of a game don't fully manifest themselves until the game is played – no matter how beautiful the graphics or sound or technologically advanced the implementation. A game not only needs to be play-tested, but played, not researched, but again and again played, so that the designer can learn how to make the game so elegantly embodied, in materials and rules, that the players create the rest of it – the experience, the fun – adapting it to as many different ways of play, as many different abilities and proclivities, as there are people who want to play.
GM: In your classic book, The Well-Played Game: A Player's Philosophy, you write in the preface that a "unique and profound synthesis" happens whenever a game has been well-played. I understand this to mean something about complete engagement and genuine connection. Can you explain more about well-played games?
BD: The experience of the well-played game reaches its apotheosis in moments known only to professional players who have pretty much everything at stake – whose very reputation, whose very success, whose very salary rests on their performance during the game. It is a moment of transcendence. A moment of self-transcendence, a moment of transcending the need to win, a moment of transcending the barriers that separate them from their team, and their team from the other. It is especially powerful because the barriers are so firmly in place, so deeply entrenched in the very nature of professional sport.
I have spent much of my career exploring how to give access to the experience of the well-played game to other people, regular people, your casual, everyday, non-professional players: kids, parents, people who aren't athletes, people who aren't so able-bodied. And I have discovered, over and over again, that the well-played game is far more accessible than our coaches and referees and sports officials have led us to believe.
It's an experience that's especially accessible when people are playing for fun. Granted, it's less spectacular, but even when nothing is really at stake, not salary or success or even reputation, it's a vivid, powerful, transforming, transcending experience for everyone playing.
It doesn't matter if the game is competitive or cooperative, as long as we're playing for fun. If we're not, if we're playing for some other reason, even if it's just for some silly prize, a bag of candy or a piece of ribbon, or to get to be included on one team or another, that well-played moment gets less accessible, achieving it a bit more challenging, a bit more surprising, and a lot less likely.
If we wish to provide more access to the experience of the well-played game, inclusion is essential. If only some people are good enough to play, for the rest of the people it becomes a spectator sport. As such, the pressure on the players increases. The crowd requires spectacle. And, in focusing on doing the spectacular, the achievement of the well-played game becomes increasingly more elusive.
Inclusion is key. The invitation to the experience of a well-played game requires that everyone who wants to play can play. And, as demonstrated by New Games, inclusion is not dependent on any particular game, and, in fact can transform the underlying assumptions of every game played. Inclusion is achieved most effectively by fostering the development of a play community. At its best, the play community leads to the experience of communitas, which the Wikipedists describe as "an intense community spirit, the feeling of great social equality, solidarity, and togetherness," which fairly accurately describes the well-played game.
GM: Why should we choose what you call a "playful path" when life is so damn serious?
BD: Life is play. It's what we do when we pretend, imagine, create, play around. We create alternatives. We generate variability. Not out of necessity. Out of whim. We proliferate games and stunts and skills no one needs. Not out of the need to adapt, to change. But rather out of the need for fun. And if play is all about adaptive potentiation, and, at least from the perspective of cancer cells and the survival and evolution of our species, and probably every species, variability is what makes the whole thing work – then all of it is play. All of it. Play is in our very blood. Literally. All of it, of life is play. At its most fundamental level. At the smallest and highest expression of its evolution.
GM: So adults need to incorporate play into their busy lives?
BD: The Daily Game. The game that we find ourselves playing from the moment we wake up, to the moment we go to sleep. The game we've been playing since we were old enough to be playful. A slowly changing game. Each day, each turn, each round slightly different, played with always somehow different players, in slightly changing places, for somewhat different reasons. But played, nevertheless, by us, and everyone we play with, every day.
It's you, your very self, playing passenger or driver, person in a crowd, person on an elevator, lover, spouse, parent, boss, salesperson, chief chef, child.
And from time to time, sometimes timeless time, you find yourself losing. Maybe not lost, but losing enough to remind you that, despite your best efforts, sooner or later, you'll lose the game forever.
Sometimes I get religious about the whole thing, sometimes I think of fun and laughter as a spiritual experience. Our lives have become increasingly fragile, our world increasingly harsh. It is a miracle that we can laugh at all. And that's the whole point.
GM: Even in the workplace?
BD: I'm not convinced that efforts to make work fun are destined for success. I think the same thing about efforts to make learning fun, or writing fun, or just about anything else that we want to make fun fun.
Because, now that you ask, most human endeavors are already fun. Because the thing that keeps the best of us as good as we are is the fun we find in doing what we do, whether the thing we are doing is building a house or a game or a community, making plans or music or medicines, fixing the plumbing or a computer network or a school system, writing poems or proposals. Engineers, mathematicians, surgeons, dancers, architects, so many of the truly accomplished many readily confess to how much fun they are having doing whatever it is that they do. Gamification? They don't need no stinkin' gamification. They don't need to keep score, to get trophies. What they need is the opportunity to do the work they do best. Like that guy working in the train car factory – the one I talk about Csikszentmihalyi talking about. It's not the teambuilding, not the motivational lectures, not the causal dress day, not the snacks in the break room. It's the fun that comes from doing the work you are good at. Of doing good work. Of the work you do when you do it well.
GM: What makes fun an essential part of education?
BD: Despite whispers to the contrary, there are times when teaching is fun. Genuinely, undeniably fun. Whenever I present to teachers, these are the times that are the subject of my presentation, because they are key to what makes teaching worthwhile.
The times in which teaching is fun generally have the following characteristics:
- Students are observably engaged in learning-related behaviors (examining things, discussing things, researching, experimenting, thinking, asking questions, comparing notes) of what clearly appears to be of their own volition,
- They seem to be having fun, to be excited, enjoying, you know, themselves, and their intelligence, and their capacities and discoveries,
- The person who is purportedly teaching, occupying the role of teacher, also appears to be having fun, is also excited.
And as long as this continues, the happy engagement in the world and in each other seems to build, until something else happens, like the ringing of a bell.
This is true of teaching anything. And vital for anyone who teaches fun – who teaches others about how to bring more fun to their lives or to other people's lives, or to make work more fun, or healing, or living together, or to create games, or design playgrounds, or restaurants or public spaces.
If you teach fun, your success depends more on the fun you are having than the fun you are teaching about.
GM: Your book Junkyard Sports describes creative ways to play traditional sports. This reminds me of an important developmental stage for children when they prefer to make up their own games (often arguing about the rules and outcome), a stage that's nearly lost in today's more structured childhood. Are structured and pre-made games as intrinsically rewarding as spontaneous play?
BD: I am particularly interested in just one kind of fun – the kind of fun that we experience when we are part of a well-played game.
That kind of fun is, of course, not restricted to games. We can experience it when we are dancing, or making love, or playing with children or pets, even. This is probably what makes it so powerful, and so vivid, when it happens in a sport, where the only stated objective is to win. Where the only tangible reward comes from winning. And still we manage to create moments of profound, often mystical harmony, spontaneity, shared excellence.
This kind of fun, as notable of an achievement as it is in sports, is just as notable, but even more achievable in games – especially in my kind of games – the games I've started calling "infinite" and used to call "pointless" - games whose sole purpose is to make you laugh together. Because in that laughing together we are sharing the wonder of the fun we create, the love we manifest, the mind-body-soul-deep wellness we share, the momentary lowering of the divisions that separate us.
GM: What do you mean when you call the games you invent "pointless?"
BD: For several many years I've been calling the kind of games I've been inventing and teaching "pointless." I liked the humor and the irony of the term. "Pointless," because no one keeps score, or if they do, no one cares about it. The irony is that these games all make a point, a very profound point. The point: there is another way to play – a way that has nothing to do with winning or losing, and everything to do with playing and having fun. The closest anyone else has come to describing that way is James Carse.
The phrase "infinite games" comes from James Carse, author of Finite and Infinite Games. Here's a taste.
A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.
No one can play a game alone. One cannot be human by oneself. There is no selfhood where there is no community. We do not relate to others as the persons we are; we are who we are in relating to others. Simultaneously the others with whom we are in relation are themselves in relation. We cannot relate to anyone who is not also relating to us. Our social existence has, therefore, an inescapably fluid character… this ceaseless change does not mean discontinuity; rather change is itself the very basis of our continuity as persons.
GM: How did you get started in promoting fun?
BD: By the time I finally graduated college, and graduate school, I was pursuing the Playful Path, professionally, even though I never called it that. I taught fifth and sixth grade everything. Reading, math, science, physical education, whatever. It was me and them. So I began making games out of everything. No, I began with the fun of whatever it was that we were supposed to be doing, with the fun of it. We didn't just read, we played reading games. And we played with reading. With the sheer fun of reading, o, I don't know, braille, perhaps. Or Morse code. Or chemical symbols perhaps.
And fun was had. And learning was had. And we definitely weren't had. Except for once. In one class I taught. Sixth grade. And all of a sudden I learned that the kids were going to be subjected to a test that would determine whether they would make the academic track in high school. It was what they call "the little death." No, wait. That's something else. But it did feel like something died because of that test. Like, because of that test, we had to stop working on inventing our own hieroglyphics. And suddenly the whole thing, even teaching, didn't seem like very much fun.
So we, me and my degree, found our way to an experimental, remodeled-factory, magnet elementary school called "The Intensive Learning Center," and the title of Curriculum Development Specialist, with our own parquet-floored, carpeted-risers, theater-in-the-round light and audio booth, within which to develop curriculum for the entire school district, in deed. Me, I had to do something fun. So I had these 45 minute sessions with kids from all over the 5th and 6th floor of a factory building in not-so-upscale Northeast Philadelphia. First grade kids. Fifth grade kids. The lot. And I decided that me and the kids, we'd reinvent theater right then and there. True to my understanding of the playful path, I wanted us to start from scratch, from what we know, from the collective scraps of the lives we can share with each other.
And the kids taught me their theater. And I played with them. And we called it "games." A curriculum is what everyone else called it, fortunately. Finally, the "Interplay Games Catalog." Five volumes. One thousand games. Coded according to an elaborate system, so that if the kids liked a particular game, the teacher could find another they'd probably like as much. And that was it. That was my theater curriculum. And they didn't fire me. In fact, they funded research. And I taught it to teachers. Games. I did these classes with teachers, and all we did was play kids games, and talk about it all, and it became, well, deep fun. Sometimes profoundly moving fun.
GM: What led to "The Games Preserve" on your farm?
BD: Once I learned to see the connections between theater and children's games, I began to understand the wisdom contained in their playful dramas. Once I started sharing this wisdom with adults, it became the thing I liked to do best – more, even, than designing games or reviewing games or writing about games and fun and stuff. I first discovered this when I was leading a workshop for teachers at the Durham Child Development Center in Philadelphia, and rediscovered the joy of this teaching at the Games Preserve and at the Esalen Institute.
What I do, it seems, is play kids games with grown-ups. Depending on how much time we have, we also play theater games, paper and pencil games and board games and party games and games I just make up. After each game, or maybe after every other, I talk a little about the theater of the game – the play and interplay of roles. And then everyone talks about the "drama" of the game, as if the game were really some kind of theater piece – especially about the drama they experienced, personally. Not so much about their own, personal drama, but about about the drama of the game itself, about roles and relationships, about the way of things in gameland.
As we play and talk, play and talk, some kind of healing, playful, loving wisdom starts manifesting itself. Because we are grown-ups playing these games. Because of the growing honesty and openness and depth of sharing we are capable of. Apparently, just the act of playing each game reveals to us a depth, a drama more profound, more personal, a truth more mutual, more freeing.
"I have learned to see children's games as scripts," I write, "for a kind of children's cultural theater. I see them as collective dreams in which certain themes are being toyed with – investigated and manipulated for the sake of sheer catharsis or some future reintegration into a world view. They are reconstructions of relationships – simulations – (myths) – which are guided by individual players, instituted by the groups in which they are played or abstracted by the traditions of generations of children."
For grown-ups, it's even more powerful – playing children's games again, rediscovering, reinterpreting, reapplying their meaning. It leads to an even more expansive kind of theater. Participating in a play community as adults, endowed with empathy and compassion and years of hard-won knowledge, with obligations and responsibilities and actually deeper freedom – we redefine ourselves, and the world.
And what seems to happen when we engage in all these playful conversations is this: we rediscover our ability to play, and to give each other the gift of play. We rediscover our unlimited selves. We reaffirm fun. We remember the playful path and find ourselves and each other once again on it.
The longer we get to do this, the deeper we get to play. An hour. A day. A week-end. A week. This is my gift. This is what I've been doing for more than 40 years. This is what I do. This is what I am still here to do with you.
GM: What are you working on, okay, playing at, these days?
BD: I'm busiest right now going through the final proofs of the re-release of The Well-Played Game, to be published this fall by MIT Press, playing with ideas for my next book exploring what I've come to call the "Playful Path," writing my Deep Fun weblog, finding new packaged games worthy of the Major Fun award, looking for new sports to describe in my Junkyard Sports blog, making presentations about the fun life, learning to be a grandparent, enjoying my wife and life.
GM: How can deep fun affect our lives?
BD: Deep Fun is the kind of fun that is so deeply fun that it changes you. I suppose the deepest kind of fun would be fun that is so deep that it changes you forever. But I'd accept any kind of fun that results in any kind of change for any duration as being deep enough to be called Deep Fun. If it changes how you feel or think about yourself or the people you're with, if it changes how you experience yourself or your child or things, if it makes you feel happier or more loved or loving or more energetic or creative or comfortable in the world – that, you know, is deep. Not just sustainable fun. But transforming, fun-wise.


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A Second Examination of Portland Soy Lattes
Just a tour of the lattes of my life in the past few months…
Soy latte from Coffee Plant, downtown. So reliably good.
This is from Cacao at the Heathman.
This chocolate shop's espresso is from Caffe Vita in Seattle. I ridiculously feel guilty because their beans are from Seattle and not roasted in PDX. From Seattle!! The coffee capital of the US!! I've found lattes from here to be hit or miss, but overall, are a huge step up from the large chains in the area.
Now we move onto the foam fans club:
Another for the sad face pile, Soy Latte from Coffee Time in NW.
I was stoked to try a latte from this coffee shop in NW with a hobbit room in the back, but as I stepped up to order I noticed the beans were Panache. I've never liked their coffee. I sipped at it, but the sentiment remained.
Hemp Latte from K & F BellaSelva Coffee House
I frequent this coffee shop and have a soft spot for their coffee (especially the iced during the summer) and dig that they tout their alternative milk selection on the chalkboard, but I've yet to have a great latte. This is turning pessimistic, oops.
Soy Macchiato from Stumptown, Ace Hotel
This was my first Macchiato in years, I was trying to branch out. It was quite striking, both visually and taste-wise, and soothed my low energy soul that afternoon, but I don't find myself called to another one.
Pumpkin Spice Latte from Peet's Coffee
One for the shocker pile. Autumn hit and I wanted a damn pumpkin latte, because the media told me so. FYI, Starbucks pumpkin lattes are not vegan (as if), but Peet's are. I was astounded that this was so tasty, and pretty! I've had another since, that paled, flavor wise, and I came to my senses and realized I was in Peet's.
One more for the Coffee-Plant-rules-fan club.
It took me a moment to realize there was a freaking swan on my latte.
Thank you, once again, Coffee Plant.
Ironically, as I write this, it has been over a week since my last latte or cup of coffee. I was developing a little habit. Previously a latte would come my way every other week. I'm not shaking, but the first two days without brought on a fierce migraine and were very stressful at work. I used to drink lattes in my early 20s and then went a few years without it, almost entirely, so I know I'm fine without it. It wasn't even a year ago I started up with it again. I'm thinking kombucha could be the new kombucha, which was the new latte. I was on a big, spendy kombucha kick for a while, aka I need a starter!
Anyway, a little caffeinated tea has come my way since and I do intend to dip back into the latte experience as soon as tomorrow, but more exclusively. I had been adventurous on my latte expeditions, and the adventure had disappointments. The final latte before my week off was mediocre, and I didn't finish it. It's not pictured above.
I was also going to some coffee shops around my office where I wouldn't bother spending money on a lousy latte, which means I really shouldn't bother spending money on a coffee there. Seattle's Best, I'm talking to you. I was in love with my one-week-left tradition of a cup of individually ground and brewed Stumptown from Cafe Velo at the Wednesday Farmers Market, but that market has closed til Spring, and I hope their downtown cafe is truly under works!
On the next examination, I plan on lattes from Tiny's, Ristretto, Coffee house Five, Cellar Door, Coffeehouse NW and two I have yet to go to: Extracto and Heart.
If you're looking for more latte art action, check out Drowning in Demitasse (based out of NYC).
The first Examination of Portland Soy Lattes is here.
If you have a favorite Portland soy latte, do tell.


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Two Months
Pam Anderson filed for divorce on Friday from Rick Salomon just after telling the world they f&ck all the time and that she's the happiest she's ever been.
I can't imagine anyone is surprised. Even less shocking – she's also requested spousal support. And she wants him to pay her legal fees. Seriously… is she poor? Is this the only way she can make money? By swindling some douchebag into marrying her and then splitting as soon as possible?
Get ready for more lies, by the way. For sure she'll come out on her website with a personal note to her fans, moaning and groaning about how she was mistreated, and how she is and always will be a good mother to her boys.
Do good mothers get blitzed off their trees? And will that magic loser Criss Angel be her next husband?
He was groping her quite openly last week in Vegas – see attached. Look at that face. Over 40 and she still wants to gangbang. And the Canadian press is constantly giving her a free ride…
Can we trade her?
photos from Splash


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From Bach to Rock … Colorado Symphony Ball will have lots of music; even a number by DaVita's Kent Thiry
The Colorado Symphony Ball is all about music. Perhaps not the music one might expect, though.
For the second year, the gala will have a rock 'n' roll theme — From Bach to Rock — but it won't be a total repeat of 2013, when The Moderators shared the stage with CSO musicians.
This year is billed as a battle of the bands in which The Moderators and the symphony will be joined by the DaVita Blues All Stars.
Which makes sense, considering how the event is being chaired by DaVita's CEO, Kent Thiry, and his wife, Denise O'Leary. And we have it on good authority that Thiry will take a turn at the mic. What he will sing was not revealed, but we have a feeling it will be worth the price of admission.