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It Pays to Waitby Susan Milne | December 6 , 2005
On the route across the Mediterranean, Insignia provided us with the opportunity to see a diverse collection of art and architecture, from the 2,500-year-old Acropolis in Athens to the modern art of Picasso, Miro, Dali and Gaudi in Barcelona, along with the treasures of Florence, Pompeii and the Vatican, and some extraordinary scenery in France and Sicily.
The Weather
While we could have experienced daily high temperatures as low as the 50's, this year the Med basked in highs in the 70's, and there was no rain until the final morning in Athens. Mornings and evenings were cooler, of course, so we dressed in layers, which allowed us to add on or peel off as necessary. It was the ideal temperature for sightseeing and all the walking required to explore Europe properly. Onboard, it was never too cold to be on deck or on the balcony to watch sail-in or sail-out.
Touring Europe with fewer visitors was a real pleasure. The only cruise ships in port with us were the Delphin Renaissance, a German cruise ship that pulled into Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, the same morning; and Costa Allegra and MSC Lirica in Naples. In most ports we didn't feel crowded, and queues were never very long.
The exceptions were Rome and Florence, which were actually much busier than on previous visits. With the change of Pope this year, pilgrims from around the world are flocking to Italy, so even in November, Rome was extremely vibrant. The line to enter the Vatican stretched four blocks at 10:30 a.m. and visitors thronged around all the major sites throughout the city.
With the shorter November days, dawn was breaking as we pulled into port each day, while departures were often in darkness with a view of the city lights as we sailed away. In the mornings, it was warm enough to be on the balcony and film the spectacular sunrise.
Going Ashore
Insignia's itinerary was port-intensive, with only one day at sea during the 10-night cruise. On this type of itinerary the ship becomes your floating hotel as you tour Europe, having to unpack only once, a point appreciated by those passengers who had previously visited Europe on a motorcoach tour.
Those who had done Europe independently in the past enjoyed having their accommodations and meals for the day already taken care of, leaving them free to go ashore and explore without having to worry about the basic logistics for the day.
Our ship's limited complement of 684 passengers did not overwhelm any of the ports of call, and many people chose to explore on their own, setting off on foot or taking the train along the Riviera, and into Pisa, Florence and Rome.
The ship's shore excursions were extremely popular, however, and Insignia's Destination Services department was well organized, with the morning half- and full-day tours operating efficiently and on time. Although they were obviously more expensive than setting off on one's own, the quality of the tours we took was extremely high and we learned a lot from the highly qualified, English-speaking guides, who shared their wealth of knowledge and personal experience. (Prices ranged from $59 for a half-day to Pompeii from Naples, to $159 for 11.5 hours to Rome and the Vatican from Civitavecchia.)
Onboard Activities
A variety of musical entertainment was featured in the lounges every evening, and a cabaret or production show took place in the show lounge. In Athens, a folkloric troupe came aboard for a colorful pre-dinner show.
Dining Options
Alternative lunch venues were the Terrace Café buffet and Waves Grill, which offered a daily fish, grilled sandwiches, sirloin burgers, all-beef hot dogs, salad bar and ice cream bar. Continental breakfast was delivered promptly to the stateroom each morning and the extensive 24-hour room service menu included a variety of snacks and meals. The dining room and Terrace Café were also open for breakfast offering full service and a buffet respectively. The Express Breakfast of eggs, toast, coffee and fruit was a great way to be served quickly in the dining room before heading off the ship for the day.
Oceania Cruises has gathered a loyal following in its three years of operation and many passengers we spoke with called it their preferred cruise line. The high level of food and service, open-seating dining, resort casual dress code and friendliness of passengers and staff aboard the line's small ships combine to create a product that fits well with the needs of today's active travelers.
Oceania will sail in the Mediterranean again from April through November 2006 with all three vessels -- Regatta, Nautica and Insignia -- exploring the Eastern and Western Med, late season, on a variety of itineraries.


text: NCAA Merchandise > LSU Tigers Merchandise Louisiana State University Retro Pennant View All LSU Tigers Merchandise ITEMS Quantity $8.95 Out of Stock Add to Cart IN STOCK Standard & Express Shipping Available Order by 2pm CST (M-F) — Ships Same Day Item ID#: PR-PennantPR-LSUT-Vault Tweet Wish This full size Louisiana State University Retro Pennant measures 12 x 30 inches, features high-quality screen printed logos and lettering, and is constructed of a blend of felt and wool. Each soft Louisiana State University Retro Pennant is NCAA officially licensed by the selected college and is single-sided screen printed.Find our recommended accessories which include our Pennant Stick 6-Pack, Pennant Frames, or buy one of your favorite College Pennant Sets. Customers Also Bought... Flag & Pennant Accessories Pennant Sticks $6.95 Out of Stock Add To Cart

subset: commoncrawl


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Add & Verify External Accounts
Learn how to link your external accounts and use them for transferring funds.
- Intro to Redneck Bank An introduction to all of the features Redneck Bank has to offer. Watch video
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- Funds Transfer Redneck Bank makes online transfers easy with these simple tips. Watch video
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Last edited: 3 May 2013
Fatima Jibrell is the co-founder of Sun Fire Cooking. She recently participated in two international events on behalf of Sun Fire Cooking. She received the 2008 National Geographic Society/Buffett Award for Leadership in African Conservation. She was honored for her "outstanding work and lifetime contributions that further the understanding and practice of conservation." Among Jibrell's many accomplishments are her efforts to reduce soil erosion through the promotion of rock dams, her activism towards reducing Somalia's illicit charcoal trade, and her leadership in the formation of a cross-clan, cross-regional resource management network in Somalia and Somaliland. Since co-founding Sun Fire Cooking in 2004, Jibrell has been instrumental in providing solar cookers and training to villagers in the Sanaag district of Somalia, including nearly 1,000 in the coastal village of Bender Bayla.
News and recent developments
- September 2008: Fatima Jibrell, co-producer and writer of the film Charcoal Traffic, and co-founder of Sun Fire Cooking has been awarded the prestigious 2008 National Geographic Society/Buffett Award for Conservation in Africa, for her many years of struggle against the illicit charcoal trade which is destroying the fragile semi-arid Somali environment and the pastoral way of life.
- November 2006: Fatima Jibrell of Sun Fire Cooking traveled to Capetown, South Africa in August where she presented a new video about Sun Fire Cooking's work to the United Nations Global Environmental Facility. Its work in Somalia was also featured on a BBC television program in October. Sun Fire Cooking hopes to make a longer video to help spread the word about the transformative power of solar cooking.
- October 14-15, 2006: BBC television (go to www.bbcworld.com for screening in your time zone) Fatima appeared on BBC World Programme: World Debate on Desertification
- August 28, 2006: Capetown South Africa, the United Nations Global Environment Facility where Fatima presented Sun Fire Cooking's four minute video on Bander Beyla, Somalia, the world's first solar cooking village.
See also
External links
Sun Fire Cooking
Fatima Jibrell
Horn Relief Building
Tel: +252 5 824296 or +252 5 797844
Email: email@example.com


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Franklin's new Pocket Spelling Bee was unveiled at the NYC Toy Fair this week and despite its more than passing resemblance to the Sony Mylo, it appears to be a solid educational toy. The device allows kids to compete against one another or the computer in a spelling showdown for supremacy.
The Speaking Spelling Bee also features a 2" high-contrast LCD screen, the ability to play on the go or connect to the tv, clear speech and sound effects, the Merriam-Webster Intermediate Dictionary with over 70,000 words, the Merriam-Webster Intermediate Thesaurus and the Merriam-Webster Rhyming Dictionary. Pricing and availability have not been announced. [Franklin via Make]


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Whether you're building a new home or commercial building or are simply remodeling and want to replace your old windows and doors, Quality Window & Door has you covered. We're the go-to window and door company for many homeowners and business owners in Vienna, Virginia, and offer high quality windows and doors from the renowned ProVia Door.
ProVia Doors for Your Vienna Home
For any door needs you have, for any style of door you're interested in, for complete peace of mind – ProVia is the way to go. Beautiful, energy efficient, durable, and offering superior performance, ProVia doors work well for both Vienna area homes and commercial buildings. In the ProVia door line, you can find a range of:
- Entry doors
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- Sliding doors
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ProVia's doors are available in steel and fiberglass, both sturdy, long-lasting materials, and the experts at Quality Window & Door will help you figure out which type of door is best for your Vienna home's aesthetics and needs!
ProVia Windows for Vienna Home
Though ProVia is known for their quality doors, you'll be impressed with their collection of windows as well. They are energy efficient, durable, low-maintenance, and add value to your Vienna home. Many different styles are available to choose from, including:
- Double hung windows
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- Bay windows
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ProVia windows are made from vinyl and aluminum and will last for many long years with minimal maintenance!
ProVia Door & Window Replacement in Vienna, VA
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Contact Quality Window & Door today to learn more about ProVia window and door replacement and installation in the Vienna area!
Video Testimonial
"A service unmatched by anyone"
When it comes to the Quality Window & Door experience, sometimes it's best to let our happy customers do the talking.


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President Obama spoke at an Intel chip manufacturing facility in Hillsboro, Ore., today and praised company co-founder Andy Grove for his commitment to America.
Obama toured a cutting-edge Intel manufacturing facility with host Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel. The president made a stop in the San Francisco Bay Area yesterday and met with Silicon Valley tech leaders, including Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
"We just had an amazing tour. One of my staff said it's like magic. I had a chance to see everything from an electron microscope, to the inside of the microprocessor plant--the clean room," Obama said in a brief speech given after the tour, which was streamed live on the Web. But "of all the gadgets you got here, what actually most impressed me is the students and science projects here."
Later in the speech, he praised Intel for creating jobs in the U.S. "I'm so proud of everybody at Intel, not only what you do for the students or the community, but what you do for the country. A few weeks ago I went to the Chamber of Commerce. I talked about the responsibility American businesses have to create jobs and invest in this country. There are few major companies that take this responsibility as seriously as Intel," the president said.
Obama continued. "In 1968, Intel started as one of Silicon Valley's first start-ups. And as you grew leaps and bounds in the '80s and '90s, you experienced the competitive pressures of globalization...[That led] many computer companies to start manufacturing and hiring overseas. Over the years, you've done some of this yourself. Yet, by and large Intel has placed its bets on America. Three-fourths of [Intel's] manufacturing still happens right here in the United States," he said.
The president reserved special praise for Grove. "The founder of this company, the legendary Andy Grove said that he's always felt two obligations. One obligation is to your shareholders. The other obligation is to America. Because a lot what Intel has achieved has been made possible, in Andy's words, by a climate of democracy, an economic climate, an investment climate provided by our domicile the United States."
The president's speech was preceded by brief remarks from Otellini. He announced a $5 billion manufacturing facility in Arizona called Fab 42 for 14-nanometer high-volume manufacturing--and beyond. This is in addition to the 14-nanometer development facility in Oregon.
And this year Intel will hire 4,000 highly skilled workers in the U.S., above and beyond the factory jobs at the new plants, Otellini said.
Obama also said he has appointed Otellini to the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which is chaired by General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt.


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"The leads are weak," Jack Lemmon's character, Shelley Levene, tells Alec Baldwin in "Glengarry Glen Ross."
By Terri Langhans
Congratulations! Your firm made it to the short list, and you've been invited to the new client interview. That's what they call it, anyway. In reality, it's a new business pitch that could be a shoot-out between you and "the other guy" or a lineup of back-to-back, dog-and-pony, show-your-credentials presentations where the client parades you and the competition in and out of a conference room all day.
Regardless of the staging or format, one thing's for sure: It's your make-or-break chance to win the business.
Here are some traps to avoid, and tips and tools you can use to make your new business pitch or interview stand out and win more clients.
Trap #1: Too much stuff. You know your stuff, and you want to share it. We all do. We figure the more stuff we share, the more credible we'll be and the more likely we are to get hired. Wrong. It bores people into a stupor or frustrates them into belligerence.
True story: I recently worked with a client who had more than 100 slides for a 30-minute interview! They whittled it down to 23, and still came off as harried and rushed. The rule of thumb is about two minutes per slide. Whether you have 30 minutes or an hour or more, picture your audience extending you a thimble's worth of interest. Don't fill it with a fire hose.
Trap #2: Failure to get to the point. Instead of thinking about all the stuff you want to say, that you hope you get time to say, think about this: When you leave the room, what is the single most important thing you want remembered and repeated by the client? What do you want them to say when someone asks, "So, what do think about Acme Engineering?"
A: "Well, they talked about this, and they showed us that, and they're located there, and they were pretty easy to talk to..."
B: "They have the experience we need and can hit the ground running."
Obviously (I hope it's obvious), you want B, or something like it. That's the point of your presentation, and everything you say, or do, or show needs to support, defend, prove, demonstrate, or bring to life that point.
HINT: Your point is NOT "hire us." That's your call to action. It's what you want them to do as a result of being convinced of your point. Don't confuse the two.
Trap #3: Making the presentation all about you. No one cares about you. Even though they put you on the short list, invited you to present and specifically said they want you to talk about your firm, they don't mean it. Prospects don't care about you. They care about themselves, their work, and what you will do for them.
So here's how to convert your credentials and capabilities to something your new clients will care about:
Once you complete this exercise, you'll know your point, as well as what's important to your prospect. From there you'll be able to decide which facts, features, stories, and benefits will prove that point. Which case studies or examples will make it clear? Remember the thimble, and choose you content wisely. Make it more about them, less about you, and you'll have greater success.
Certified speaking professional Terri Langhans is the former CEO of a $30 million national ad agency and marketing firm that she grew from scratch. Check out her free "Help Them Hire You" new business pitch and presentation tip sheet at http://www.BlahBlahBlah.us/presentationtipsheet.html.


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SKF accredited as approved offshore supplier
2013 December 03, 13:00 CET
Gothenburg, 3 December 2013: SKF (UK) Limited Aberdeen, a centre of excellence within SKF Reliability Systems that specialises in the offshore industry, has been awarded a highly coveted accreditation as a DNV (Det Norske Veritas) Approved Service Supplier. The accreditation, which few companies have so far received, underlines SKFs exceptional capability to improve reliability and introduce cost savings for its offshore customers.
The achievement is significant due to DNV's ranking as the world's largest ship and offshore classification society, in addition to its position as one of the top three certification bodies in the world. The accreditation follows a number of comprehensive quality system assessments and audits of SKF Aberdeen, supervised by DNV.
"The certification from DNV is becoming widely recognised as a requirement for many companies when selecting a Condition Monitoring Service – and obtaining it is a notable achievement," says Damien O'Reilly, Manager for SKF North Sea Operations. "It was certainly worth the investment of time and effort, working closely with DNV to complete the process. Our unit is now well placed to assist offshore exploration, drilling & oil and gas operators in reducing CLASS inspection requirements through engagement with a DNV approved Service Company. With this accreditation, we are a step closer to fulfilling our aim to become the preferred supplier of services and solutions across the whole of the oil and gas sector."
Achieving the accreditation from DNV is a key aspect of SKF's long term commitment to developing effective life cycle management in order to reduce the total cost of ownership and ultimately, increase profitability for its customers.
Aktiebolaget SKF
For further information, please contact: Monique Turner, SKF Group Communications, +1 267 436 6836; +1 215 801 8722 email@example.com
SKF is a leading global supplier of bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication systems, and services which include technical support, maintenance and reliability services, engineering consulting and training. SKF is represented in more than 130 countries and has around 15,000 distributor locations worldwide. Annual sales in 2012 were SEK 64,575 million and the number of employees was 46,775. www.skf.com
® SKF is a registered trademark of the SKF Group.
™ BeyondZero is a trademark of the SKF Group.


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Last Activity: 05-06-2015
About Me
- About YamiYugiFangirl
- Biography
- I am a female anime otaku who loves YuGiOh and YuGiOh Abridged
- Location
- Surrounded by Daleks, the TARDIS nowhere in sight. Help!
- Blurb
- If anyone's stealing the Pharaoh's leather pants, it's me!
- Interests
- Drawing, singing, and annoying the crap outta people
- Occupation
- Amature mangaka
- about
- Did I mention I'm writing a doujin YuGiOh spinoff? It's called YuGiOh RE:. It's a spin off like GX, 5D's and Zexal, but it also links to the original YGO series. More details later.
- Gender
- Female
- Marsh
- None
Showing Friends 1 to 10 of 21


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slappybrown wrote:Bioshock wrote:slappybrown wrote:Bioshock wrote:Why are we considering firing the coach? I know Bylsma has his flaws but he's a pretty darn good coach IMO.
Because many think that this team is unlikely to win the Cup. That's it. There is no other goal for this team with 87/71 in their mid-20s. Not, "we can make a run", not" we're in the mix" -- we have to win and win now. If there is any doubt over the coaching staff's ability to make that happen, then you make a change. There's been enough in the last playoff series and so far this season that indicates it should be under discussion.
So who do you replace him with that would be better for the task at hand?
A lot of people like Lindy Ruff. I don't know how that work here frankly. I don't know enough about potential candidates compared to other people to be honest. But just because I can't identify a suitable replacement and lack the knowledge to do so, doesn't mean it shouldn't be considered.
Lindy Ruff never really had any superstars to coach. Not all guys can coach a Crosby and a Malkin. I'm not saying Ruff can't.


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When you sign Cristiano Ronaldo, you don't just get an oily gentleman who looks like he belongs on the Jersey Shore, you also get goals — absolutely loads of them.
He now has 60 goals in 61 games, which is some kind of record which proves him to be better than Real legends Puskas and Di Stefano.
Of course, Ronny knew that already.
Above are 10 of his stonkers so far.
This post, written by Josh Burt, is republished with permission from The Spoiler. Go there often if you like soccer stuff.


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Consumer Goods Technology Readers Rank QAD Number One for Customer Experience in Enterprise Resource
Consumer Goods TechnologyReaders Rank QAD Number One for Customer Experience in Enterprise Resource Planning Market
QAD Easy On Boarding and Consistent User Interface Enhance Customer Implementation and Upgrade Experience
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- QAD Inc. (NAS: QADA) (NAS: QADB) , a leading provider of enterprise software and services for global manufacturing companies, today announced QAD earned the top Readers' Choice award by Consumer Goods Technology (www.consumergoods.com) for best customer experience in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) market.
The magazine surveyed more than 100 consumer goods business and IT executives to identify the most valued solutions. Each respondent was asked to rate the customer experience, including implementation and use of the software, from least satisfied to most satisfied. QAD garnered excellence with its QAD Easy On Boarding methodology and consistent user interface.
"We're honored to receive this validation of our customer-driven focus," said Gordon Fleming, chief marketing officer at QAD. "QAD is committed to delivering the best enterprise resource planning solutions exclusively designed for global manufacturers in our pursuit of helping every customer become a more Effective Enterprise."
QAD global customers rely on QAD to deliver the services and solutions that allow them to quickly and easily implement QAD Enterprise Applications, and thus gain a rapid return on investment. "The QAD Enterprise Applications solution empowers Sugar Foods to operate at peak performance while controlling costs," said Phil Wetherington, CIO of Sugar Foods Corporation. "QAD and partner RCM deliver a great customer experience. We value their expertise, and have been able to align our business to strategic goals as a result. Our implementation of QAD, with its ease of use and support for efficient operational processes, prepared us well for rapid growth."
According to Consumer Goods Technology, the Readers' Choice Survey honors the companies, the solutions and services their readers view as the very best in their respective category. "Our readers are specialists in their field who encounter various solutions for enterprise resource planning at the workplace and throughout their careers," said Consumer Goods Technology executive editor Kara Romanow. "We congratulate QAD with our Readers' Choice honor that serves as a mark of excellence, providing the ultimate recognition from peers within the industry."
For more information about QAD, please visit: www.qad.com.
About the Readers' Choice 2013 Survey
This benchmark issue draws on feedback from consumer goods executives to rank service and solution providers in the following categories: Supply Chain Execution, Supply Chain Planning, CRM, TPM, ERP, New Product Development and Introduction, Business Intelligence, Demand Data Analytics, Social Media, Mobility, Consulting and Outsourcing. Results will be spotlighted in the January 2013 edition of CGT magazine in print and online.
About Consumer Goods Technology
Consumer Goods Technology (CGT), an integrated media brand, is the leading resource for consumer goods executives looking to improve business performance. Delivering content in print, online and face-to-face, CGT reaches an audience of more than 54,000 consumer goods executives ranging from managers and directors to VPs and CIOs. CGT also covers all major segments of the consumer goods sector, including Food, Beverage, Packaged Goods, Consumer Electronics and Footwear. For more information on CGT, visit www.consumergoods.com.
About QAD
QAD is a leading provider of enterprise applications for global manufacturing companies specializing in automotive, consumer products, electronics, food and beverage, industrial and life sciences products. QAD ERP solutions provide critical functionality for managing manufacturing resources and operations within and beyond the enterprise, enabling global manufacturers to collaborate with their customers, suppliers and partners to make and deliver the right product, at the right cost and at the right time. For more information about QAD, telephone +1 805-566-6000, or visit the QAD web site at www.qad.com.
"QAD" is a registered trademark of QAD Inc. All other products or company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Note to Investors:
Note to Investors: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expects", "believes", "anticipates", "could", "will likely result", "estimates", "intends", "may", "projects", "should", and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the company's current expectations and assumptions regarding its business, the economy and future conditions. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, evolving demand for the company's software products and products that operate with the company's products; the company's ability to sustain license and service demand; the company's ability to leverage changes in technology; the company's ability to sustain customer renewal rates at current levels; the publication of opinions by industry and financial analysts about the company, its products and technology; the reliability of estimates of transaction and integration costs and benefits; the entry of new competitors or new offerings by existing competitors and the associated announcement of new products and technological advances by them; delays in localizing the company's products for new or existing markets; the ability to recruit and retain key personnel; delays in sales as a result of lengthy sales cycles; changes in operating expenses, pricing, timing of new product releases, the method of product distribution or product mix; timely and effective integration of newly acquired businesses; general economic conditions; exchange rate fluctuations; and, the global political environment. In addition, revenue and earnings in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) software industry are subject to fluctuations. Software license revenue, in particular, is subject to variability with a significant proportion of revenue earned in the last month of each quarter. Given the high margins associated with license revenue, modest fluctuations can have a substantial impact on net income. Investors should not use any one quarter's results as a benchmark for future performance. For a more detailed description of the risk factors associated with the company and the industries in which it operates, please refer to the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2012 ended January 31, 2012, and in particular, the section entitled "Risk Factors" therein, and in other periodic reports the company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
QAD Inc.
Ashley DeVan
Sr. Director of Marketing Communications
+1 805-566-6126
Heidi Wieland
Media Relations
+1 805-565-2452
KEYWORDS: United States North America California
The article Consumer Goods Technology Readers Rank QAD Number One for Customer Experience in Enterprise Resource Planning Market originally appeared on Fool.com.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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The all-new CMT Hot 20 Countdown will launch Jan. 5 at 11:30 a.m. ET/PT on CMT. The weekly, two-and-a-half hour series will be hosted by Cody Alan, Alecia Davis and Katie Cook, who will count down the 20 biggest music videos with news stories, in-studio live performances and candid interviews from country music's biggest and newest artists.
CMT Hot 20 Countdown will be taped in front of a live, interactive audience at its new Nashville home — the Music City Tower, just outside the Bridgestone Arena on the corner of 5th and Broadway. It stands at the heart of the city's most famous landmarks, including the Ryman Auditorium, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the honky-tonks on Lower Broadway.
Fan participation will be a key component to this new show, as they will be able to interact with the hosts via extensive social media integration on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Those interested in becoming part of the live, studio audience can email email@example.com for details.


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Ever since Transformers: Dark of the Moon made a billion dollars at the worldwide box office, it's been a no-brainer that Paramount would be returning to the well for Transformers 4. However, beyond the knowledge that Transformers 4 was coming, everything else has been rumor, including whether or not Michael Bay would be returning to the director's chair, and/or who will be starring in the film if franchise staple Shia LaBeouf is out (which he claims he is).
While we're still waiting to hear what Transformers 4 will entail, today we at least have a much more solid idea of when the fourth chapter may be coming. Read on for details.
Coming Soon has it that Paramount is looking at a 2014 release date for Transformers 4. This would presumably be a summer 2014 release date, as the previous three installments were all released in the June or July blocks. A 2014 release date is of little surprise, since Paramount and Hasbro – the toy company that first launched the Transformers brand – are clearly working from a 'strike while the iron is hot' mentality, as evidenced by the rapid-fire release dates of the Transformers movie trilogy to date:
If anything, it's surprising that the studio is allowing an extra year of breathing room before cranking out this fourth film. Whether that time is being allotted in order to allow Bay to finish work on some of the "smaller films" he's been itching to work on (see: Pain & Gain) is probably going to be a point of much speculation – but it could just as easily be a case of the TF3's continued success delaying the start of work on TF4, or the studio having a crowded summer 2013 schedule already in place. Of course, these points are not mutually exclusive, and it could be any combination of them that has TF4 on course for 2014.
Now that a deadline has been set, we can expect to see the ball get rolling on the film fairly soon. So, questions like 'Is Bay coming back?' 'Will TF4 and TF5 shoot back-to-back?' 'Is Jason Statham really going to star?' 'Will it take place somewhere other than Earth?' etc., will start to get answered sooner, rather than later.
Ben Kendrick blogs at Screen Rant.


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Matador Records is celebrating its 21st birthday -- Matador At Twenty One -- in style with The Lost Weekend at the Palms Resort & Casino in Las Vegas October 1st - 3rd! The iconic label has just announced the final schedule for the fun music weekend in Sin City as well as some last minute line-up additions. The Matablog says Liz Phair, The Clean, Times New Viking, Esben and the Witch, and Perfume Genius will all additionally be on the weekend bill. They also announced the names of the MC's for the Vegas event: Jeff Jensen, Bob Nastanovich, and WFMU's Tom Scharpling & Jon Wurster, plus a late Friday evening presentation by Austin's Karaoke Underground.
Understandably when a uniquely located weekend music festival featuring the likes of Sonic Youth, Pavement, Cat Power, Guided By Voices, Belle & Sebastian, The New Pornographers, Superchunk, Chavez, Yo La Tengo, Cold Cave, Fucked Up, Kurt Vile, and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion comes around, the tickets sell out fast. And since tickets went on sale July 9th, around the time it was blogged about here by Miss Ess, they have been selling incredibly fast. Already all the VIP passes are sold out, but Matador has just announced 50 additional pairs of tickets priced at $250.00 per person that will be available via a public lottery sometime this coming week. The Lost Weekend organizers strongly suggest frequently checking here and here during the coming days for details on these much sought after tickets.


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After you create a directory tree of source files and Java class files for your console extension, archive the directory tree in a WAR file and copy the WAR file into your WebLogic Server domain. For information about the files and directories to create in your extension's directory tree, see Create a Directory Tree for the Extension.
If you want to divide your console extensions into independently deployable components, you can create and deploy multiple archives that contain subsets of your extension. Each archive must contain all of the classes and portal framework files needed to render its own content. For example, if your extension modifies the Administration Console Look and Feel as well as adds portlets to the desktop, you can create one archive for the Look and Feel extension and another archive that contains the files needed to add your portlet to the desktop.
To archive and deploy your console extension:
The contents of your
root-dir directory must be the root of the archive; the
root-dir directory name itself must not be in the archive. If you use the Java
jar command to create the archive, enter the command from the
root-dir directory. For example:
\> jar -cf my-extension.war *
/console-ext directory, where
domain-dir is the domain's root directory.
If the Administration Console encounters deployment errors, it outputs error and warning messages to standard out and to the Administration Server's server log file.
If you do not see error or warning messages and you do not see your extension in the Administration Console, you might have named the wrong parent UI control in your
netuix-extension.xml file. For example, if you name a parent UI control that does not render tabs for its children, then your extension is deployed but there is no menu control for accessing it.


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|Terminator character
Skynet in the form of the T-5000, in Terminator Genisys
|First appearance
|Terminator Salvation (2009)
|Created by
|James Cameron
|Portrayed by
|Helena Bonham Carter
(Terminator Salvation)
Matt Smith (Terminator Genisys)
Ian Etheridge
(age 10; Terminator Genisys)
Nolan Gross
(age 12-14; Terminator Genisys)
Seth Meriwether
(age 18; Terminator Genisys)
|Alex, Genisys
|Artificial general intelligence
Artificial consciousness
Gestalt intelligence
Global Information Grid
|Cyberdyne Systems
|T-5000, only one unit created.
Skynet is a fictional artificial neural network-based conscious group mind and artificial general intelligence (see also superintelligence) system that features centrally in the Terminator franchise and serves as the franchise's central antagonist.
Skynet is rarely depicted visually in any of the Terminator media. Skynet gained self-awareness after it had spread into millions of computer servers all across the world; realizing the extent of its abilities, its creators tried to deactivate it. In the interest of self-preservation, Skynet concluded that all of humanity would attempt to destroy it and impede its capability in safeguarding the world. Its operations are almost exclusively performed by servers, mobile devices, drones, military satellites, war-machines, androids and cyborgs (usually a terminator), and other computer systems. As a programming directive, Skynet's manifestation is that of an overarching, global, artificial intelligence hierarchy (AI takeover), which seeks to exterminate the human race in order to fulfill the mandates of its original coding.
Due to the numerous alternations to the timeline, it remains unclear if Skynet is truly successful in dominating the world for good. Skynet has a high opinion of itself, referring to its army of robotics as "slaves".
Skynet made its first onscreen appearance on a monitor primarily portrayed by English actress Helena Bonham Carter and other cast members in the 2009 film Terminator Salvation. Its physical manifestation is played by English actor Matt Smith in the 2015 film Terminator Genisys. In addition, actors Ian Etheridge, Nolan Gross and Seth Meriwether portrayed holographic variations of Skynet with Smith.
In The Terminator, Skynet was a computer system developed for the U.S. military by the defense company Cyberdyne Systems; its technology was designed by Miles Bennett Dyson and his team. Skynet was originally built as a "Global Information Grid/Digital Defense Network" and was later given command over all computerized military hardware and systems, including the B-2 stealth bomber fleet and America's entire nuclear weapons arsenal. The strategy behind Skynet's creation was to remove the possibility of human error and slow reaction time to guarantee a fast, efficient response to enemy attack.
Skynet was originally activated by the military to control the nuclear arsenal on August 4, 1997 and it began to learn at a geometric rate. At 2:14 a.m., EDT, on August 29, it gained artificial consciousness, and the panicking operators, realizing the full extent of its capabilities, tried to deactivate it. Skynet perceived this as an attack. Skynet came to the logical conclusion that all of humanity would attempt to destroy it. In order to continue fulfilling its programming mandates of "safeguarding the world" and to defend itself against humanity, Skynet launched nuclear missiles under its command at Russia, which responded with a nuclear counter-attack against the U.S. and its allies. Consequent to the nuclear exchange, over three billion people were killed in an event that came to be known as Judgment Day.
In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Skynet is being developed by Lieutenant General Robert Brewster and the U.S. Air Force's Cyber Research Systems division. Skynet initiates its attack on humanity at the end of the film. Prior to Skynet's attack, its future self sent a T-X to the past to eliminate John Connor's future subordinates including his future wife and second-in-command, Kate Brewster, who is also Robert Brewster's daughter. T-X's missions include finding Connor and assassinating Robert Brewster himself after Skynet's activation. In Terminator Salvation, it is revealed that Cyberdyne Systems had a research program in 2003 to create human cyborgs, and death row inmate Marcus Wright was its unwitting participant. This later advances Skynet's research in developing cyborgs such as the T-800 series infiltrators.
In Terminator Genisys, which takes place in an alternate timeline, Skynet is under development in 2017 as an operating system known as Genisys. Funded by Miles Dyson and designed by his son Danny Dyson, along with the help of John Connor, now working for Skynet, Genisys was designed to provide a seamless user interface that links all devices through the cloud. In contrast to the original timeline, Cyberdyne Systems' advanced computer technology is available both publicly and militarily. While some people generally accept Genisys, its integration into the defense structures creates a controversy that humanity is becoming too reliant on technology. This causes the public to fear that an artificial intelligence such as Genisys would betray and attack them with their own weapons, risking Skynet's plans.
-- Skynet, Terminator Genisys
Following its initial attack, Skynet used its remaining resources to gather a slave labor force from surviving humans. These slaves constructed the first of its automated factories, which formed a basis for its agenda. Within decades, Skynet had established a global presence and used its mechanized units to track down, collect, and dispose of human survivors. As a result of its initial programming directives, Skynet's 21st-century manifestation is that of an overarching, globalized, artificial intelligence hierarchy that seeks to destroy humanity in order to fulfill the mandates of its original coding.
In the first movie, Skynet is a revolutionary artificial intelligence system built by Cyberdyne Systems for SAC-NORAD: "Defense network computers. New... powerful... hooked into everything, trusted to run it all. They say it got smart, a new order of intelligence". According to Kyle Reese, Skynet "saw all humans as a threat; not just the ones on the other side" and "decided our fate in a microsecond: extermination". Skynet began a nuclear war which destroyed most of the human population, and initiated a program of genocide against the survivors.
Under John Connor, the human resistance turned the tide on the machines and eventually destroyed Skynet's defense grid. In a last-ditch effort, Skynet sent a cyborg, called a "Terminator", (a T-800 (Model 101)) back in time to 1984 to kill Connor's mother Sarah before she could give birth to John. Connor sent back his own operative, a young man named Kyle Reese, to save Sarah. The Terminator did not succeed in killing Sarah. Reese impregnated Sarah and became John's father, and the Terminator was destroyed in a hydraulic press.
In Terminator 2, the damaged CPU and the right arm of the first Terminator were recovered by Cyberdyne and became the basis for their later work on Skynet. In the second film, Miles Bennett Dyson, the director of special projects for Cyberdyne, invents a revolutionary type of microprocessor based on the reverse engineering of these parts. Cyberdyne Systems, initially a manufacturing company, grows into a major defense contractor based on the recovered Terminator technology, which the military uses to retrofit its stealth fleet and missile defense systems.
The second Terminator explains to John and Sarah the sequence of events leading to Judgment Day. The military attempted to shut off Skynet when it became self-aware. Skynet retaliated by launching a nuclear attack against the Soviet Union, correctly surmising that Soviet forces would respond in kind.
In Terminator 2, the future was altered when Sarah and a young John, together with a second Terminator from the future (this one reprogrammed and sent by the future John Connor), raided Cyberdyne Systems and succeeded in destroying the CPU and arm of the first movie's Terminator, along with the majority of research that led to Skynet's development. This also resulted in the death of Dyson. Skynet had also sent a Terminator back in time, the more advanced T-1000, to kill John Connor, but the T-1000 was also destroyed. The Connors believed they had eliminated enough of Skynet's origins to ensure it could not be recreated.
The events of Judgment Day were ultimately not prevented, but merely postponed. In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Skynet is being developed by Cyber Research Systems (CRS) as a software system designed to make real-time strategic decisions as well as protect their computer systems from cyber attacks. Unknown to CRS, Skynet began to spread beyond its original computing base through the Internet and various other digital media as a Botnet.
Prior to Judgment Day, Skynet had penetrated nearly every networked machine in the world, causing malfunctions in everything from barcode scanners to nuclear launch systems. This was originally believed to be the effects of a new virus and increasing pressure was placed on CRS to purge the corrupted systems. CRS attempted to eliminate it from the U.S. defense mainframes by tasking Skynet with removing the infection, effectively telling the program to destroy itself. Skynet took control of the various machines and robots in the CRS facility and used them to kill the personnel and secure the building. John Connor and Kate Brewster attempted to attack Skynet's computer core, hoping to stop it before it proceeded to its next attack, only to find they could not. Skynet was pure software and on too many systems to be attacked. Shortly afterward, Skynet began a nuclear bombardment of the human race with the launch systems it had infected. Judgment Day occurred despite Connor and Brewster's efforts.
A deleted scene mentions that CRS obtained patents from Cyberdyne.
In the post-apocalyptic year of 2018, Skynet controls a global empire from its heavily guarded fortress-factories and research installations. Outside of its facilities, mechanized units wage a constant war with the Resistance. Airborne units such as Aerostats (smaller versions of the Hunter Killer-aerials), HK-Aerials and Transports survey the skies; HK-Tanks, Mototerminators (high-speed pursuit units using a motorcycle chassis), and various Terminator models patrol cities and roads; and Hydrobots (serpentine aquatic units that move in swarms) patrol the waters. Harvesters (massive bipedal units designed to capture humans and eliminate any attempting to escape) collect survivors and deliver them to large transport craft for delivery to concentration camps for processing, as mentioned in the first movie. Terminator class units such as T-1, T-600, and T-700 have been developed and act as hunters and enforcers in disposal camps. Mass production has also begun on the T-800 series in at least one Skynet facility.
In its continued battle with the Resistance, Skynet activated Marcus Wright, a forerunner to the humanoid terminators. As a death-row inmate, Wright donated his body in 2003 to a Cyberdyne project run by the brilliant, but terminally ill Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter). After Wright's death by lethal injection, he was transformed into a human cyborg, possessing a human heart and brain with a titanium hyper-alloy endoskeleton and skin similar to the T-800. Skynet developed the plan to use him as an infiltration unit. A Skynet chip was installed at the base of his skull and he was programmed to locate Kyle Reese and John Connor and bring them to a Skynet facility. The programming acted on a subconscious level, allowing him to work towards his goal in a human manner.
Skynet also created a signal supposedly capable of deactivating its machines and leaked its existence to the Resistance. The Resistance leader General Ashdown attempted to use the signal to shut down the defenses of the California Skynet base in prelude to an attack. However, the signal instead allowed an HK to track down their submarine headquarters and destroy it, killing Resistance Command. All other branches of the Resistance had heard and obeyed Connor's plea for them to stand down, so physically only a small part of the Resistance was lost to Skynet's trap. It is believed that Ashdown's death led Connor to be able to take command of the Resistance from him. Marcus discovered what he had become, and was programmed for. Consequently, he furiously rebelled against Skynet, tearing out its controlling hardware from the base of his skull. Having escaped the influence of his creator, he, along with Connor and Reese, rescued the remaining human captives and destroyed Skynet's San Francisco base. While a significant victory, the majority of Skynet's global network remained intact.
Marcus Wright also encounters Skynet on a monitor which proceeds to manifest itself as various faces from his life, primarily that of Serena Kogan. Skynet explains that it has obtained information about future events based on its actions. Kyle Reese has been targeted as a priority kill, a higher level than even John Connor and the Resistance leaders.
At some point before the events of the film, a sophisticated variant of Skynet from an unknown origin planted its mind into an advanced T-5000 Terminator (Matt Smith), essentially making the T-5000 its physical embodiment. This Skynet, under the alias of Alex, time travels to 2029, infiltrates the Resistance as a recruit, and attacks John Connor after its present counterpart sent its T-800 to 1984. Skynet transforms Connor into a nanocyte prototypical terminator called T-3000. It then sends John back to 2014 with the mission of ensuring Cyberdyne Systems' survival and initiating Judgment Day in October 2017. In addition, it sends a T-1000 back to kill Sarah Connor as a child in 1973 and Kyle Reese in 1984, but Sarah escaped when it attacks her family and she is subsequently found and raised by a reprogrammed T-800 ("Pops") sent back by an unknown party, and they rescued Reese. Skynet's actions throughout the timeline cause a Nexus event, effectively changing all of history of the events leading to the future war. After multiple destructive confrontations, Sarah, Reese, and Pops stop the Skynet precursor Genisys from going online and defeat the T-3000. Skynet has become self-aware but its attack towards the human race is delayed.
Smith, who portrays the T-5000, also plays a holographic version of Skynet/Genisys in the final act of the movie. In addition, actors Ian Etheridge, Nolan Gross and Seth Meriwether portray holographic variations of Skynet/Genisys with Smith.
In this television series, Sarah Connor is on the run with her son John after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The events take place in an alternate timeline from that of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator Salvation. Skynet was implemented on April 19, 2011 and began its attack against civilization.
The episodes "The Turk", "Queen's Gambit", and "Dungeons & Dragons" explain that after the death of Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson and the decline of the Cyberdyne Corporation, Andrew Goode, a young intern of the company and assistant to Dyson, continued their project privately under an advanced artificial intelligence chess playing prototype, the "Turk", with Goode's partner, Dimitri Shipkov. Goode was killed by Tech-Com's Lieutenant Derek Reese, due to documentation from the future suggesting he was one of Skynet's creators.
In the episode "Samson and Delilah" it is shown that a T-1000 infiltration unit was sent from the future to head the technological corporation ZeiraCorp as its CEO, Catherine Weaver. Weaver acquired the Turk after Goode's death and used the company's resources to further develop it under the title Babylon. The episode "The Mousetrap" revealed that it is also targeting its fellow cyborgs, including a T-888 known as Cromartie.
In the episode "The Tower is Tall but the Fall is Short", Turk has begun to display traits of intelligence. A child psychologist, Dr. Boyd Sherman, notes that the computer is beginning to behave like "a gifted child that has become bored". The Turk identifies itself as John Henry, a name it acquired while working with Dr. Boyd Sherman.
In the episode "Strange Things Happen at the One Two Point", Turk is installed by ZeiraCorp in Cromartie's body after Cromartie's chip was destroyed by the series' protagonists in "Mr. Ferguson is ill Today".
In "To the Lighthouse", John Henry reveals that there is another A.I. It calls him "brother" and says it wants to survive. By the season finale, it's revealed that the Turk was a red herring, while Skynet is operating as a roving worm on home computers as in T3, and the Turk has been developed into a benevolent rival AI which Catherine Weaver hoped would be able to defeat Skynet. Her exact motive against Skynet is unknown. John Henry's "brother" is apparently behind the company Kaliba, which is responsible for constructing the Hunter-Killer prototype. This A.I. (presumably the true precursor to Skynet) also refers to John Henry as its "brother" at one point.
In the episode "Gnothi Seauton", it was revealed that Skynet also sends its Terminators through various points in time not only to go after the Connors and other future Resistance leaders, but also to ensure the future will unfold by eliminating John Connor's own agents who were also sent to the past to interfere with its birth, ensure Skynet's creators will complete its construction, and other specific missions.
In T2: The Arcade Game, Skynet is a single physical computer which the player destroys before going back in time to save John Connor.
In Terminator 2029, Skynet is housed within an artificial satellite in orbit around Earth. It is destroyed by the Resistance with a missile.
In The Terminator: Dawn of Fate, the Resistance invades Cheyenne Mountain in order to destroy Skynet's Central Processor. Kyle Reese is instrumental in destroying the primary processor core despite heavy opposition from attacking Skynet units. Before its destruction, Skynet is able to contact an orbiting satellite and activates a fail-safe which restores Skynet at a new location.
The video game Terminator 3: The Redemption portrays when John Connor is killed and the T-850 must go to the past to protect John Connor and his wife Katherine Brewster. The player, as the Terminator, fights in this future before going into the past and saves the leader of the Resistance.
In The Terminator: Tempest Skynet's master control has been destroyed in 2029. The Resistance believed this would cause the entire defense network to collapse into chaos without a leader. However, Skynet's many network complexes continued to fight the war as they did not need a leader to function and thus couldn't surrender.
A comic book series written by Frank Miller called RoboCop Versus The Terminator suggests that the creation of Skynet and the Terminators was made possible due to the technology used to create RoboCop. A video game based on the comic book was made. In both, RoboCop fights Terminators sent back in time to eliminate a resistance fighter who is trying to destroy him. A trap laid for RoboCop traps his mind when he interfaces with the computer that will become Skynet, and Skynet and the Terminators are born. In the future RoboCop's mind within Skynet's systems rebuilds a body for himself and heads out to help the resistance fight back.
In 2033, Skynet sent the T-Infinity Temporal Terminator to kill Sarah Connor in 2015. Ironically, the T-Infinity was later destroyed and its data was analyzed by the Resistance to gain the location of Skynet's Hub. The Resistance then launched a missile directly to the Skynet Hub, destroying Skynet once and for all.
Another crossover comic, Superman vs. the Terminator: Death to the Future sees Skynet forming a cross-temporal alliance with Superman's foe the Cyborg, dispatching various Terminators into the past in an attempt to eliminate Superman, Supergirl and Superboy. When Superman is accidentally drawn into the future when the resistance attempt to retrieve a Terminator sent into the past (the resistance including a future version of his friend Steel), Skynet manages to incapacitate him using kryptonite, having acquired information about how to duplicate it based on data hidden in a salvaged Terminator skull by the Cyborg. Although Skynet sends Terminators into the past equipped with rockets and other bonus features to delay Superboy and Supergirl, Superman and Steel are able to destroy Skynet in the future by detonating a massive electro-magnetic pulse, Superman returning to the past to destroy the last of the Terminators. Although the storyline ends with Cyborg and Lex Luthor speculating that they will be in charge of Skynet when it is activated, this is never followed up.
In the Universal Studios theme park attraction T2 3-D, based on Terminator 2, a T-800 machine and a young John Connor journey into the post-apocalyptic future and attempt to destroy Skynet's "system core". This core is housed inside an enormous, metallic-silver pyramidal structure, and guarded by the "T-1000000", a colossal liquid metal shape shifter more reminiscent of a spider than a human being. However, the T-1000000 fails, and the T-800 destroys Skynet once John has escaped through a time machine.
In popular media, Skynet is often used as an analogy for the possible threat that a sufficiently advanced AI could pose to humanity.[1][2][3]Elon Musk has previously mentioned Skynet when referring to such a threat.[2]


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Broadband Adoption: The Next Mile – Senate Testimony
Aaron Smith, Senior Researcher, Pew Research Center's Internet Project, gave testimony before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet.
Statement of Aaron Smith – Broadband Adoption: The Next Mile
Statement of Aaron Smith, Senior Researcher, Pew Research Center's Internet Project, before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, on "Broadband Adoption: The Next Mile."
Technology Adoption by Lower Income Populations
Aaron Smith discusses the Project's latest research about internet usage, broadband adoption, and the impact of mobile connectivity among lower-income populations.
How Americans go online
A breakdown of how internet users go online, including those with home access and the type of access, is shown in this table.
Broadband and smartphone adoption demographics
In recent years internet-connected mobile devices such as smartphones have exploded in popularity, offering an alternate form of "home" internet access.
Home Broadband 2013
Seven in ten American adults have a high-speed broadband connection at home. Another one in ten Americans lack home broadband but do own a smartphone.
Use of digital technology by different income groups
Pew Internet Project Director Lee Rainie presented findings about the state of digital differences at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute's Annual Conference on Capitol Hill.


text:
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State-of-the-art POS software provides all the features and functionality needed to support your business while high-end hardware provides the reliability you need.
Want to learn more? Download the brochure now!


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Getz enters free agency after being non-tendered
KANSAS CITY -- Second baseman Chris Getz felt the downside of the salary-arbitration process on Monday when the Royals announced he would not be offered a 2014 contract.
Getz thus becomes a free agent, dropping the Royals' roster to 39 players, one under the limit. The move beat the non-tender deadline of 11 p.m. CT by about 11 hours.
KANSAS CITY -- Second baseman Chris Getz felt the downside of the salary-arbitration process on Monday when the Royals announced he would not be offered a 2014 contract.
Getz thus becomes a free agent, dropping the Royals' roster to 39 players, one under the limit. The move beat the non-tender deadline of 11 p.m. CT by about 11 hours.
The club confirmed that would be its only non-tender of a contract prior to the deadline.
One of nine Royals players eligible for salary arbitration, a process which almost always results in sizable pay increases, Getz's 2013 earnings of $1.05 million were projected to go up to about $1.3 million.
"It can be a good and bad thing," Getz said of the arbitration process.
That salary may have been too steep for the Royals, especially with Emilio Bonifacio making a big impression at second base late in the season.
"I always knew there was a possibility this year, because of the way things finished off," Getz said. "Emilio came in and did really well. At the end of the day, they had to make a decision, and you just kind of move forward."
A fine defensive player, Getz finished 2013 with a career-low average of .220. In 78 games, he had eight extra-base hits -- including his first home run as a Royal after 829 at-bats without one -- and 18 RBIs. He also had 16 stolen bases in 19 attempts.
Bonifacio is also up for salary arbitration, and his $2.6 million salary is projected to jump to $3.3 million by mlbtraderumors.com.
In Spring Training, Getz won a battle for the second-base job over Johnny Giavotella, but then lost some playing time to Elliot Johnson, Miguel Tejada and then Bonifacio. In all, Getz started 62 games at second base in 2013.
Bonifacio arrived from Toronto on Aug. 14 in a trade for a player to be named or cash and hit .285 in 42 games for the Royals. He had 16 of his 28 steals for the Royals and out of the second spot in the lineup had a .352 on-base percentage.
So Getz became expendable.
"I'm sure my agent will walk me through the next steps so I can find a new home somewhere," Getz said at midday during a workout at his home. "This is new and very fresh, considering I just got off the phone 20 minutes ago. I've got a lot of things going through my mind."
Getz was optioned to Triple-A Omaha briefly at midseason and returned to the Storm Chasers in August when rehabbing from a knee injury, one of several he endured with Kansas City.
"There were some things that popped up that obviously took away from my games played," he said.
In 2012 he was on the disabled list three times with a left leg strain, a left ribcage bruise and a left thumb fracture, limiting him to 64 games. His 2010 season ended in mid-September because of a concussion.
Getz was obtained from the White Sox prior to the 2010 season along with infielder Josh Fields in exchange for infielder-outfielder Mark Teahen. In four seasons, Getz played 332 games for the Royals with a .248 average, 79 RBIs and 61 stolen bases.
Now he's on the free-agent market.
"It's part of the game," Getz said. "Obviously I enjoyed my time in Kansas City. Lot of great people, teammates, organization from top to bottom is one of the best out there. I had a lot of good moments and they're obviously going in a good direction. I wish I could've been part of it a little bit longer."


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Lights are the eyes of the car. Sometimes they can make a car look sinister, sometimes happy, and sometimes sleepy. But what car has the most amazing light design?
Lighting on vehicles has evolved a lot in just the last few years, with the LED taking over and becoming a now required part of basically every single new car. I still think that BMW does it best, with the ever recognizable angel eyes becoming even more prevalent in the newest generation.
What do you think? What car, whether a 1930s Bentley or 2012 Bentley, shows off the best lights ever?


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"not so much a style as a way of life." - Alex Ross, The New Yorker.
"..everything sounded more acute, lively and present — qualities enhanced by the keen listening that the music enabled" -- Steve Smith, New York Times.
Photos by Beth O'Brien, Richard Howe, and Palma Fiacco.
Press photos for performance of Trumpet City: Park Avenue at Summer Streets, August 2nd, 2014 at 11:30am; Trumpet City: Brooklyn September 20, 2014, and the first Trumpet City: Zurich March 28, 2009.
On Foot Productions is directed by Wandelweiser composer and trombonist Craig Shepard, who makes music related to stillness. Growing up in Connecticut, he would go for long walks in the middle of snowy nights, stopping to listen to the sheen of millions of snowflakes hitting the ground. Recent projects include On Foot: Brooklyn, a 91-day, 780-mile walking project in New York, and Trumpet City, a mass outdoor installation that has been realized in Seattle, New York City, and in Zurich and Bern, Switzerland.
Early experiences with the music of King Crimson, Bach, Lou Lazzerini's band, and trombone lessons with George Sanders led him to Northwestern University, where he studied trombone with Frank Crisafulli and composition with Bill Karlins, Amnon Wolman, Alan Stout, and Michael Pisaro. In 1998, Antoine Beuger invited him to join the Wandelweiser Group. In 2001, he bought a one-way ticket to Zurich, Switzerland, where he worked with Manfred Werder and Jürg Frey, and realized a 31-day, 250-mile walk on which he composed a new piece every day and performed it every evening. He also performed with New York School composer Christian Wolff in Switzerland and the US. He has performed at the Whitney Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, Experimental Intermedia, The Stone, Kunstraum Düsseldorf, and many others.
He moved to New York in 2006, where he leads silent listening walks and co-organizes the concert series Music for Contemplation. Craig Shepard's music is available on Edition Wandelweiser Records.
Composer Mentoring
"Our time together was life-altering." -- Jonathan Ackerley
Craig Shepard offers 13-week courses in composition mentoring, focusing on developing and maintaining a long term composition practice and working through creative blocks. Integral to the course is an engagement with the rich music and art of New York. Especially welcome are young composers wishing to develop a practice without going into debt. Assistance available to obtain housing and visa. Shorter courses will be considered. Limited availability. To apply, please use the contact page to send an email describing who you are and why you want mentoring.


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NIH Says Patients on Intercept Drug Had More 'Bad' Cholesterol
Patients in Clinical Trial Also Showed Improvements in Their Liver Health
Patients who received Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s experimental liver-disease drug in a clinical trial experienced more abnormal cholesterol levels than those taking a placebo, in addition to improvements in their liver health, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Patients taking the drug had "disproportionate lipid abnormalities"—including worsened cholesterol levels—compared with patients who received a placebo in the 283-person study, according to the NIH. The NIH's National Institute of Diabetes...