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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D – Massachusetts) once again brings a rare commodity to the US Senate: common sense.
In her first standalone piece of legislation, Warren wants to require that student loans are offered at the same rate that banks pay (currently 0.75 percent from the Federal Reserve).
In her Senate remarks introducing The Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act, Warren bluntly states her rationale: "If the Federal Reserve can float trillions of dollars to large financial institution, surely they can float the Department of Education the money to fund our students, keep us competitive, and grow our middle class."
Needless to say, Warren has her priorities straight when it comes to investing in the future of America. It is our higher education system – now deteriorating due to austerity measures and rapidly escalating tuition – that built the foundation for US skills and innovation in the private and public sectors.
That is why Warren succinctly stated in her floor speech:
Let's face it: Big banks get a great deal when they borrow money from the Fed. In effect, the American taxpayer is investing in those banks. We should make the same kind of investment in our young people who are trying to get an education. Lend them the money and make them to pay it back, but give our kids a break on the interest they pay. Let's bank on students.
Warren pointed out in her remarks the inequity of priorities when banks pay 1/9th the interest rate to borrow from the US government as compared to students who need loans to pay tuition.
As Talking Points Memo reported:
On July 1, without action from Congress, Stafford loan interest rates for some 7 million students are set to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent….
Warren…would prevent that hike and take the additional step of cutting the rate to 0.75 percent — the same rate that big banks are allowed to borrow at — for one year until Congress can achieve a more permanent fix.
"Our students are being crushed by debt," Warren told TPM in an interview late Wednesday.
Under her legislation, the Federal Reserve would float money to the Department of Education, which would provide federally guaranteed student loans at 0.75 percent for all those who are currently eligible for them — at the same rate it offers banks.
What's astonishing is that the US government makes a profit on student loans, according to Warren: "Some may say that we can't afford this proposal. I would remind them that the federal government currently makes 36 cents in profit on every dollar it lends to students. Add up all of those profits and you'll find that student loans will bring in $34 billion next year."
The toll on students and their future down paying of college debt is crushing many Americans financially: "Today's graduates collectively carry more than $1 trillion in debt – more than all the outstanding credit card debt in the whole country," Warren warned in her Senate speech. "Doubling the interest rate on new student loans will just increase the pressure on our young people."
No, no private enterprise got to where it is on its own. Our system of higher education has been vital to corporations.
But in the name of the wealthy who have built fortunes benefiting from the skilled professional workforce provided by US higher education, the university system is under financial siege due to the austerity drive by the rich and the Chamber of Commerce crowd. Students bear the brunt by borrowing more – as tuition rises -- at double the interest rates for Stafford loans as of this summer.
That's bad for the future of America.
As Warren notes in her catchy slogan: bank on students. They are a much sounder investment in the future of the US than banks too big to fail.
(Graphic: Elixabeth Warren US Senate website)


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Do you think that you may have left a personal item(s) on a METRA bus or at METRA's Transfer Center? If so, please contact our Lost and Found Office. Please be prepared to give a detailed description of the item(s) you may have lost.
If you lose something...
Report it immediately to: Lost & Found at (706) 225-4673 or go to the Transfer Center, located at METRAs Campus. Be prepared to give a detailed description of the item(s) you lost. Lost items are kept 30 days. After 30 days, the item(s) will be donated to charity.
If you find something...
Immediately turn the item you found over to a Bus Operator. You can also take found items to Lost and Found, located at the Transfer Center at METRA Headquarters.
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Middle of Nowhere (2008)
Directed by John StockwellGenres - Comedy | Sub-Genres - Romantic Comedy | Run Time - 95 min. | Countries - United States | MPAA Rating - R
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Synopsis by Jason Buchanan
A seventeen year old screw up enters into a profitable partnership with a serious minded girl whose fiscally irresponsible mother may have just destroyed her chances of becoming a doctor in this romantic comedy starring Anton Yelchin, Eva Amurri, and Susan Sarandon. Dorian (Yelchin) is a rebellious teen from a wealthy background. Tired of bailing their son out of trouble time and again, Dorian's parents have finally decided to ship him off to live with his uncle for the summer. Once there, Dorian lands a job at a local water park and strikes up a friendship with the slightly older Grace (Amurri). The complete opposite of Dorian in everyway imaginable, Grace is a straight-A student who aspires to become a doctor, and who's spent the majority of the past six years looking after her little sister Taylor (Willa Holland) following their father's suicide. Grace's mother Rhonda (Sarandon) is a haggard force of nature who sees herself as a martyr for the sacrifices she's made to keep her family together after an earth-shaking tragedy, though in reality may have just cost Grace a future in medicine by taking out credit cards in the young girl's name and neglecting to make payments. In order to go to college Grace will need financial aid, but with numerous maxed out credit cards to her name that's next to impossible. Upon learning that she'll need to raise $12,000 in twelve weeks in order to cover tuition, Grace prepares to kiss her dreams for the future goodbye. Fate soon intervenes, however, when Dorian informs Grace that he's decided to deal pot in order to become financially independent from his parents. In order to turn a profit Dorian needs to expand his territory, and in order to expand his territory he'll need a car: Enter Grace. Realizing that she'll never make the money she needs working at the water park, Grace agrees to enter into a temporary partnership with Dorian. But while their business endeavor proves wildly profitable at first, things quickly start to unravel for the ambitious pot-dealers when Grace and Taylor discover a secret about their father's suicide, and Dorian summons the courage to tie up some loose ends from his distant past.


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With brother's blessing, HS band member gets honor from Army | Education
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ATLANTA -- This week, a dozen Georgia high schoolers are learning they will be headed to San Antonio this winter to perform in the marching band at the nation's premier high school All-Star football game.
In Alpharetta Tuesday, one such honoree was sure to thank an important influence: his older brother.
Benjamin Horne will be flown down to San Antonio in January to perform at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl; the band members, much like the football players, are picked from among the country's best.
At this event, Benjamin and his family remembered where it all started.
"He has a brother named Jerome, who's seven years older than he is," said Benjamin's father, Jeff Horne.
And when Jerome and Benjamin were growing up, the younger one said, "I was playing every sport under the sun, and the finally I made the decision on baseball."
But as he watched Jerome thrive at the baritone, Benjamin drifted that way as well ... and not only that, he became really good. In the process, Jerome became his guide.
"My brother once said," Benjamin recalls, "'Now you're getting a little bit older; now you can comprehend what I'm telling you.' His presence of what he's done just changed the whole course of what my life has become."
At the end of ninth grade, when Benjamin had to choose between band and baseball, he chose band. Three years later, he followed Jerome's advice again and applied to play at the All-American Bowl.
So when he was named to the All-American Band, and honored in front of his peers, Benjamin thanked his parents, his teachers, and last and most importantly, his older brother.
For more on the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, check out http://www.usarmyallamericanbowl.com.


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The Lebanese government is to send 500 army troops to the south of the country, lifting an obstacle to the reinforcement of the United Nations peacekeeping force in the region recently evacuated by Israel.
The official National Information Agency (ANI) reported late Friday that a joint force of 500 troops and 500 police will be based in the two main towns of the former Israeli-occupied zone, Marjayoun and Bint Jbail, and be responsible to Interior Minister Michel Murr.
Their job would be to perform unspecified "security tasks", ANI said, adding that the details of the deployment would be agreed at a special cabinet meeting next week. It did not say if the troops would patrol right up to the border with Israel.
It will be the first time the military has been deployed in the south since the army split in 1976 as Lebanon crumbled into civil war. The Israeli occupation came two years later.
Lebanon has been under pressure internationally, notably from France, the United States and the United Nations, to send troops to the south, but Prime Minister Salim Hoss has shown reluctance to do so.
French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, who is to visit Israel, Lebanon and Syria this weekend, has made it a condition for boosting France's 250-strong contingent in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is currently verifying Israel's departure from the south.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has also asked for "assurances" to enable UNIFIL to step up its commitment to Lebanon.
The Security Council is to decide in a few weeks whether to renew, and possibly modify the force's mandate, which is due to expire at the end of July.
Beirut has already stationed nearly 1,300 police and gendarmes in the south since the Israelis pulled out on May 24, and Hoss said Friday that they could call on the military for assistance if necessary.
The Lebanese authorities had previously said that they wanted to wait until the UN had officially certified that the Israelis had withdrawn to the agreed international border before deploying the military.
They also said they did not want to act as "Israel's border guards" when Israel has yet to sign a peace agreement with Lebanon and Syria, the power-broker in Beirut.
Vedrine, due in Beirut late Sunday, is expected to indicate if the Lebanese gesture in sending in 500 troops out of a total army of some 47,000 will satisfy Paris.
France's decision on whether or not to increase its UNIFIL contingent -- the figure of 600 extra men has been mentioned -- is considered vital in influencing other countries to contribute to the peacekeeping force.
"Our conditions are logical and unmistakable," Vedrine told the weekly Nouvel Observateur this week.
"Whatever our historical links with Lebanon and our permanent desire for peace in the Middle East, neither the president nor the prime minister are ready to send French troops without a clear mission into a situation which could become uncontrollable."
A question mark still hangs over the Syrian-backed Hizbollah militia, whose guerrilla campaign finally convinced Israel it was not worth staying in Lebanon, and which is now in control of much of the south.
In an interview published Thursday in the Wall Street Journal Hoss said there were no plans to disarm Hizbollah.
"This is not a subject we'd like to broach at this time," he added -- BEIRUT (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)


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Ana Golici
The EFA Studio Program is housed in eight floors of the EFA building located in Midtown Manhattan's Fashion District. The Studio Program maintains artists studios of various size and shape for up to 80 member-artists. One of three programs at EFA, the members of the EFA Studios program are part of a community that includes The Project Space and the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. The Studio Program provides artists the rare opportunity to work in a professional arts community inside Manhattan and in close proximity to the city's primary gallery districts. EFA facilitates interaction with dealers, curators and critics to provide continued development for member-artists. Unique among studio programs in New York City, EFA is one of the few remaining arts organizations still providing long-term workspace in Manhattan.
EFA Studio Program | 323 W 39th St, New York, NY, 10018, United States


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Subscribe To Twilight Marathon Coming To Theaters Ahead Of Breaking Dawn Part 2 Release Updates
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Since the first film released in 2008, Twilight fans have flocked to theaters to see each of the feature adaptations of Stephenie Meyer's vampire novels on the big screen. In anticipation of the release of the final film, Summit has a way for die-hard fans to celebrate all of the films leading up to the release of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2.
Twilight fans across North America - within proximity to a participating theater - will have the opportunity to screen all of the films as part of a The Twilight Saga movie-marathon, which is set to take place November 15, the day before Breaking Dawn Part 2 arrives in theaters. The marathon will lead up to a screening of the final film. Those ticket-holdres who aren't rushing off to the bathroom between films or to refill their popcorn bucket, will get to see the exclusive interstitial content that's set to play between films. And attendees will also get a special event-only lanyard to hold their ticket.
More information - including the locations, screening times and how to purchase tickets - will be released soon.
Some fans may even get to see Breaking Dawn Part 2 a couple hours ahead of everyone else. Summit's announcement included word that some theaters would be showing the movie at 10:00 p.m. on November 15, "to accommodate demand as well as making The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 available to moviegoers of many ages."
Breaking Dawn Part 2 will conclude the story of Bella and Edward, picking up where the first part of the adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's final novel in the series left off. Earlier today, we shared the latest trailer for the film, which you can watch here. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 arrives in theaters November 16. More information, photos and videos can be found in our Blend Film Database.


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dickdoc necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 48 diseños de 9 diseñadores freelance.
Global Infection Protection
As a practicing physician, I've seen my patients develop devastating acquired infections when they were treated at various medical facilities. I recently discovered an environmentally friendly product that kills harmful bacteria and viruses by literally "popping" them on contact. This product is sprayed onto the walls, floors, door handles, computers, telephones, desks, gurneys, etc. and then when microbes make contact, this product empales them, kills them, and thus, prevents their spread to patients. I was so amazed by the multiple applications of this product that I invested in a company that now has the rights to use it in all medical facilities (hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, surgery centers, etc.) throughout the United States. I'm excited to market a product that could potentially help millions of people and prevent MRSA and Influenza viruses (Swine Flu) from invading our healthcare establishments.
All medical facilities such as:
Hospitals (medical and psychiatric)
Ambulatory care centers (physician offices, urgent care centers, outpatient surgery centers)
Long term care facilities (nursing homes, mental health units)
Emergency Medical systems (ambulances)
I'm looking for an innovative design that captures the goals of preventing infections, of helping the environment with a "green" nontoxic product, of helping all generations (young and old and everyone in between), new technology, worldwide applications.
The logo should look good at any size, from small on a business card, to slightly larger on stationary, to very large on a poster at a health fair.
Be creative and work some magic for us.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Available in certain sales regions. Please contact our sales company in your region for availability.
- The best cost performer in its class
- Loaded with "intelligent" functions for efficient operation
- Intelligent multifeed function
- "Auto-color recognition", "auto-size recognition" and "auto-deskew functionality"
- Comes bundled with the "automatic job separation" function armed ScandAll PRO image capture software


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Georgia Tech dismisses 3 players, suspends another
ATLANTA — Georgia Tech has dismissed wide receiver Anthony Autry and defensive linemen Darius Commissiong and Travin Henry and suspended defensive back Lynn Griffin for the first two games of the 2014 season.
Georgia Tech says Tuesday's moves were due to unspecified rules violations.
In March, Georgia Tech announced Autry was suspended for two games for violating the school's conduct policy.
Autry, a sophomore from Roswell, missed the 2013 season with an injury after catching three passes for 117 yards in 2012.
Commissiong is a redshirt freshman. Henry, a sophomore, began his career as a wide receiver before moving to defense this spring.
Griffin, a sophomore, had nine tackles in 12 games in 2013.


text: oh! its come back to haunt me, all the way from windows. well in truth it isnt my computer that is having the promblem, its my uncles. we are in italy for our summer holidays (where my uncle lives) and im trying to install ubuntu for him. the problem seems to me, from the research i have done, to be to do with the x server. my uncle had tried to install ubuntu on his own but he had found the problem that when ubuntu finish loading the screen goes black and the computer stops responding (even to ctrl alt f1). i tried to install ubuntu using a text install and all goes smooth till it comes to booting ubuntu when the loading bar gets to the end the screen blacks out. i have yet to see gnome from this pc. i have also tried to run a mandriva live cd i have and that works fine! but i dont want mandriva, i want ubuntu!! my uncle had his old grafics card about so i tried this out, however my efforts where to no avail. i got the messega that x server failed to load. i tried to reconfigure the xorg with "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg" but i guess i got it wrong because there was no change. i put the newer card back in and it acted as if it still had the other card, i guess this is because i configured the x server wrong. it tells me it cant find a device. the card im using is and asus 9250 and the screen is an acer AL1716s. here in italy i have very limited access to the internet, my uncle hasnt got broadband, so please consider this in your answers. do i need to reconfigure the xserver, or is it another problem? are there some drivers i should download for the asus card? -sam


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All Items : Toys and Games : Games : Pre 1930 item #705355
Sand Ridge Farm
This is an Original Cress Educational Board made in 1925. This version is is oval-shaped, measures 9 1/2" x 13" and has 40 wood tiles. (Earlier versions were round.) One side had letter tiles and the other side has numbers and mathematical symbols (+, -, x, and the division sign). The tiles can be moved around the tracks to form words or math problems. Paper over plywood with metal brackets. Shows wear but still in good condition.
Weight is 1 lb. 8 oz...
Weight is 1 lb. 8 oz...


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Well tonight was the 200th episode of Smallville (can you believe it?). Here's the official description of tonight's episode:
In an attempt to cheer up Clark (Tom Welling), Lois (Erica Durance) convinces him to attend their five-year high school reunion. A visit back to the home of the Crows has Clark remembering old times with Lana (Kristin Kreuk) and Chloe (Allison Mack), while Losi is furious that no one remembers her five days as a student. Brainiac 5.0 (James Marsters) uses his Legion ring to visit from the future and takes Clark through his past, present and future. He shows Clark what really happened the night Jonathan died, Oliver's (Justin Hartley's) current pain and Clark's future at the Daily Planet with Lois and his role as Earth's favorite red and blue superhero.
Upon first glance, this celebratory episode of Smallville is very much three separate entities. An unimpressive clip-show of seasons past, a spectacular glimpse at the franchise's future and a proverbial "get out of jail free" card that allows producers to bypass some tricky plot-points that have been previously established this season. Fortunately, while this 200th episode of Smallville is far from perfect, there are enough wonderful, jaw-dropping moments that any shortcomings (and there are many) this episode had are well worth the price of admission.
Take, for example, the first thirty minutes of this episode. For a season of Smallville that's been so impressive in its storytelling and ability to progress the plot, while continuing to fully supplement the supporting characters' storylines, it's hard to believe that the producers were completely behind the use of a high-school reunion to convey this episode's story-arc. While it's wonderful to take a look back at the fictional Smallville High, I would have rather had more cameos of past characters than the resulting 30-minute clip show that we received.
No doubt, a very disjointed effort at using past clips to illicit a sense of nostalgia. This ends up feeling like nothing more than something that was completely tacked on to the episode at the very last minute - after the producers realized that they were dealing with the 200th episode. In a sense, the sequences with Brianiac 5 were initially so poorly realized that it felt as if the producers had lifted this entire episode from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The notion of showing Clark his past, present and future is completely understandable with this season's particular storylines, but those sequences completely fell flat as I was less focused on what lessons Clark may learn from this ordeal than anxiously awaiting Jacob Marley to show up and lay out the rules to our proverbial Scrooge (Clark).
Fortunately, this extremely extended life lesson with Brainiac 5 was cut short (somewhat) as Clark lunged to save Lois from Smallville High's insect empowered meteor freak, Greg Arkin. As Clark incorrectly moved to save Lois from what he thought would be Arkin's retaliation from, well, squashing him all those years back, our favorite flight-less Kryptonian was transported into his future – and this is when the episode begins to redeem itself.
Just as you think that the same stale reminiscence is going to continue, your eyes are drawn to a nearby edition of The Daily Planet. With the title of "Superman Saves the Day," one doesn't need Dorothy or Toto to let us know that we're not in Kansas anymore. Well, we are still in Kansas, but it's in the future. Everything that occurred following that newspaper reveal was nothing short of wonderful. Not only was it able to touch upon specific elements that fans have been waiting to see from the beginning, but they executed it so perfectly that one couldn't help but contemplate whether Tom Welling as Clark Kent for the Superman movie is less of a fanboy movement and more of a realistic possibility.
From the beginning of Smallville, I have wondered how these characters (Lois and Clark) would be when they actually became the same characters we're used to seeing in films, television and print. While it's true that Durance and Welling are technically those characters, they have yet to take on the specific personalities and classic looks that one connects these two with – until now, that is. Even though "wow" is an extremely weak exclamation of wonder, I can't think of something more fitting the situation.
In those moments, Erica Durance was Lois Lane – the Lois Lane we know and love. Even though her character had only slightly tweaked her everyday outfit, the personality, cadence and line delivery were completely different. As if that were not enough, the real Clark Kent shows up and he was absolutely textbook perfect. The hair, the clothes, the voice, the attitude, the glasses were all perfect. Welling really showed a different side of himself tonight - something that not only has me excited about what's to come as the season continues, but even somewhat has me wishing that the series would continue with those versions of the Lois and Clark characters.
Of course, as most good things must come to an end, so does this glimpse of Clark's life in the future. And, as any good after-school movie has taught us, it takes but a mere 42 minutes to learn even the hardest of life's lessons. With that, Clark has "seen the light" and Darkseid has seemingly lost whatever advantage he once had over Clark and being able to see the doubt in his heart. While it's not exactly the best of conclusion to that specific story element, at least it moved things along. Unfortunately, perhaps the producers were a little heavy-handed with their "aw-shucks" moments in this episode. While I'll happily take any explanation to further Clark's transformation into Superman, I'm not exactly thrilled by "bug-boy" Arkin using his moment with Lois to deliver a corny monologue in our heroe's favor.
Thankfully, I was still smiling from what I had previously seen, so it doesn't really matter.
Smallville airs Fridays @8pm on The CW
Follow me on Twitter @anthonyocasio
Follow Screen Rant on Twitter @screenrant
If you're posting comments here, assume that anyone in the conversation has seen the episode – if you haven't seen the episode, I would recommend you don't read these comments here until you have. You've been warned.
Discuss away!


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It started innocently with a pair of Christian Dior sunglasses in the window of a Madison Avenue boutique. They were ideal for my vacation, so I ran in, put them on and glanced in the mirror. Sexy yet subtle. I pulled out my credit card.
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Two weeks later, my fiancé, Peter, and I lazed on a North Carolina beach. Everything was wonderful, except the Diors didn't fit; my eyelashes kept hitting the right lens. Otherwise, the trip was fabulous, especially at night, when I didn't need the glasses. On our last day, I stuffed the specs into my bag, trying not to think about the money I'd wasted. On the drive back, my right eye began to itch. I rubbed it through Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, all the way home to Manhattan.
Soon after, I saw my ophthalmologist. He took one look and called in his assistant, which I knew couldn't be good. They stood close together and spoke in hushed tones.
"What's going on?" I asked, panicked.
"We'll need to do an MRI," my doctor said. "There's a problem with your optic nerve. It's not quite right." He paused. "It could be a thyroid condition or something else, maybe a tumor."
My heart started racing as I pulled the sunglasses out of my bag. "No, it's these new glasses, see?" I said, holding them up.
"It's not the glasses," he replied, shaking his head.
If the frames weren't the problem, I told myself, it had to be something minor, certainly not a tumor. True, I hadn't been seeing as well the past few months, but I attributed it to age (I was 42 at the time) and put off getting my eyes checked. In my defense, I was focused on planning my upcoming New Year's Eve wedding. I've always been an optimist, existing on unwavering hope and the belief that everything works out in time. After all, I'd managed to rebuild my life after surviving a physically abusive first marriage: I'd landed a job as a fashion designer and regained my emotional health. Whatever the challenge, whether finding the right lipstick shade or maintaining hope that my mom would receive a donor kidney despite the mile-long waiting list, I'd chant to myself, How hard could it be? How long could it take? The mantra worked for me. Eventually, I managed to hit upon my new favorite lipcolor (Chanel Soft Mink), and my mother got her kidney in less than a year.
So while the ophthalmologist's assistant booked my MRI appointment, I didn't let my mind stray to scary possibilities. Instead, I thought about dress fittings and the apartment we were renovating. The next day, all the way through my MRI, I chanted to myself, How hard could it be? How long could it take?
One day later, Peter and I waited for Dr. Robert Della Rocca, a reconstructive eye surgeon. Suddenly, we were plunged into semidarkness, then a nurse called my name and ushered us in.
"We've had a power failure," Dr. Della Rocca said wryly, "but the generator will kick in. For now, I'll read your MRI this way." He held the films to the window, the sun his only tool.
I stared at the black and gray shadows, a Rorschach inkblot of my head. Then the doctor startled me with his diagnosis.
"It's a tumor," he said.
"What kind of tumor?" Peter asked, braver than I.
"It's a meningioma, a benign tumor that's irreparably damaged the vision in your right eye. You'll need surgery ASAP."
"Wait, if it's benign, why race into surgery?" Peter asked.
"Look," the doctor said. "You can see that her right eye is jutting out. The tumor is pushing it forward. While the technical definition may be benign, there's nothing benign about it."
"Surgery?" I asked, not sure I'd heard right. How could we not have noticed my eye bulging out of my head? Maybe love truly was blind, which would explain Peter's obliviousness; as for me, all my thoughts had been trained toward our big day, which I hoped would erase my past hurt forever.
"Yes, surgery," said the doctor. "To get to the tumor, they'll go in through your skull, so they will have to shave your head. But don't worry. Your hair will grow back."
"But our wedding is in four months!" I flashed forward to an image of me in a wedding gown with a shaved head. Just what every groom wants, I thought. Vanity, perhaps, but it was easier to focus on my appearance than on the fact that I might die. I'd spent my life in the fashion world, where looking the part was key to success, and I was quite sure bald wasn't in this season.
The doctor scribbled a name, saying, "Go see him. He's the best with these cases." Then we were back on the sidewalk, me clutching my MRI films. Everywhere, people spilled out onto the street.
"It's a major blackout; the entire Eastern corridor's dark," a cop told us when we asked him about all the chaos.
"Great," I said to Peter. "Isn't a tumor enough?" I squeezed his hand, thinking that by now he must have no circulation left. We walked uptown as everyone scrambled for home before dark. I was grateful for the distraction. I didn't want to think about my own possible vision loss and the darkness it could bring.
Immediate surgery needed
Six days after the bad news, we went to see Dr. Chandranath Sen. Before my appointment, I'd Googled the renowned neurosurgeon. In real life, he looked like he did online, with black hair and a mustache. I could see from the band on his left hand that he was married, which made me feel calmer. Smoothly, he put up my films for review. "Diane, please come here," he said.
I stood and walked over to the light box. "Here," he said, pointing to a blob roughly the size of Massachusetts in my otherwise Rhode Island–sized skull. "Your meningioma is quite large and in a very precarious position, I'm sorry to say. It's wrapped around your optic nerve and pushing back into your brain. Not the usual place for this kind of tumor. In 20 years of practice, I've only done about 25 surgeries like this."
I stepped back, startled, though whether from his description or the shock of what the pictures showed I'm not sure.
"So what do we do now?" I asked.
"I recommend immediate surgery to remove the tumor; we'll have to reconstruct your eye and part of your skull."
"But…we're getting married in four months! Will you have to shave my head?" I asked, weakly. "No," he answered, smiling for the first time. "I can save your hair — no shaving necessary."
Then Dr. Sen pointed to the films. As I listened to the medical terminology, words that presaged a major impact on my life, I forgot about my hair. Information can be a dangerous thing.
As Dr. Sen spoke, I tried to breathe deeply, taking in his scent of Acqua di Gio cologne. My ex had worn Acqua, which suddenly made for some very negative connotations. But what the doctor did next reassured me. "Diane, I need you to look closely because you should know what's going on," he told me. "Every surgery is potentially life-threatening. This one could result in blindness, partial paralysis, a stroke or even death. It's frightening. But know that on the day of your operation, you will be all I am thinking about; your well-being will be my only concern." With that, he pulled me in close and hugged me, something no other doctor had done. Suddenly, Acqua smelled different, better.
Dr. Sen booked my surgery for the following Monday — five days away. Then Peter and I headed to Central Park to discuss what we'd learned, again toting my MRI films, which had become my constant accessory — not a good look for me. But I couldn't do much talking, nor was I able to feel much of anything at all. I was in a fog as I tried to absorb the horror of images that clearly showed a bulging eye popping out of its socket. For the moment, my optimism had been immobilized.
Maybe that's why Peter and I made a silent pact to embrace denial for a few days. Other than telling our families, we immersed ourselves in wedding preparations and the apartment renovation as if everything were normal, visiting showrooms in a quest to beat the clock. Until the Friday before the operation, when, worn out, we went home and holed up in bed with our dog, our cat and a box of tissues. For the first time, I doubted my mantra. Everything felt too hard; everything was taking too long.
The morning of the surgery, after Peter and I said our good-byes, I was wheeled into the operating suite, where Dr. Sen looked down with smiling eyes over his mask. "It will be fine," he said reassuringly. But I woke up in recovery 11 hours later far from my ordinary self. To reduce the risk of brain swelling and seizures, I'd been prescribed massive amounts of medication that quickly turned me into a paranoid, argumentative monster. When they moved me out of the ICU and I tried to walk on my own, my balance was precarious. A nurse handed me a cane and told me to practice. I did, hanging on tightly to Peter with my other hand.
Despite all that, four months after my personal blackout, my sight mostly gone in my right eye, Peter and I married as planned, on New Year's Eve. I walked down the aisle, my balance and mood restored, in white silk, my hair piled atop my head. The photos were beautiful (it helped that my eye was now in its proper place), but they didn't show the deeper changes, beneath the hair and makeup. Every day, I cope with head pain and facial numbness, as well as sporadic disorientation, fatigue and short-term memory loss. Yet I'm grateful — for looking normal at my wedding, yes, but especially for having the gift of life, and being able to begin my life with Peter. I've learned that sometimes, what we value most is worth the least and that denial will only serve for so long. But I've kept my mantra (How hard could it be? How long could it take?) and my optimism. The honeymoon was magical, seven sunny days in St. Bart's. My Diors fit perfectly.
Copyright © 2012 CondéNet. All rights reserved.


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NSA Can Neither Confirm Nor Deny Anything Without Causing 'Exceptionally Grave Damage' To National Security
from the schrodinger's-metadata deptWhen you find out your own government is harvesting your phone metadata and internet activity, what do you do? If you're Jeff Larson at ProPublica, you file a FOIA request in hopes of getting the NSA to cough up some of the info it's collected on you.
Shortly after the Guardian and Washington Post published their Verizon and PRISM stories, I filed a freedom of information request with the NSA seeking any personal data the agency has about me. I didn't expect an answer, but yesterday I received a letter signed by Pamela Phillips, the Chief FOIA Officer at the agency (which really freaked out my wife when she picked up our mail).Yes, Larson received three pages of unredacted excuses and explanations as to why the NSA would not be letting him in on what it had gathered, as well as some circuitous explanations as to why it was unable to confirm the existence of the data he requested.
The letter, a denial, includes what is known as a Glomar response -- neither a confirmation nor a denial that the agency has my metadata. It also warns that any response would help "our adversaries":"Reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security..." That's a beauty, as is the entire paragraph. Instead of "Yes, we have some stuff but we can't let you look at it," or "No, we don't have your stuff, but thanks for asking," we get "We can neither confirm nor deny we have your stuff because a simple yes or no would give terrorists the upper hand." Alternately: "Sorry we can't be more specific. Can I offer you some fear instead?" Fortunately, as Larson notes, he won't be charged a fee for this non-answer to his request.
Any positive or negative response on a request-by-request basis would allow our adversaries to accumulate information and draw conclusions about the NSA's technical capabilities, sources, and methods. Our adversaries are likely to evaluate all public responses related to these programs. Were we to provide positive or negative responses to requests such as yours, our adversaries' compilation of the information provided would reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security."
The NSA's FOIA responder takes a little time to imply that the media possibly has all the facts wrong.
As you may be also be aware, there has been considerable speculation about two NSA intelligence programs in the press /media.If by "considerable speculation," she means "actual document leaks," then we're on the right track. Yes, there's been plenty of speculation but there are several exposed documents that give this speculation a solid starting point. The non-confirmation/non-denial continues, spilling onto the next page after a brief respite where the NSA rolls out the talking points and proclaims everything to be firmly above-board.
Therefore, your request is denied because the fact or the existence or non-existence of responsive records is a currently and properly classified matter in accordance with Executive order 13526, as set forth in subparagraph of section 1.4.The NSA: so secure even non-existing records are classified.
The response letter explains the other reasons everything's remains under wraps. Larson is welcome to file an appeal but the lengthy list of exemptions included in this response gives the indication that actually doing so would be a waste of everyone's time. This leaves Larson with only one legitimate option, the same option the ACLU and EFF find themselves pursuing with increasing frequency.
So where does this leave me? According to Aaron Mackey, a staff attorney at the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press, "If you wanted to see those records you would have to file a lawsuit."That's the way it goes in the surveillance state. Information doesn't want to be free. It wants to be litigated.
Filed Under: foia, jeff larson, nsa, nsa surveillance


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Subject: Message:
DIY post - Full H&K Audio Upgrade (long!) E46 M3 Coupe (with H&K, no NAV) Full Audio Upgrade By William Quiles (firstname.lastname@example.com) 12/01/02
Thanks to those who came before me and shared their information with me. They are the ones who deserve credit as they discovered most all of the information presented in here. Please look at the references for some very good sources of information, most specially the post by David Bagby on his lessons learned. He has the CORRECT wiring diagrams, which I used during my install (Yes, my H&K system has wires where his diagram shows no-connection, but it did not mater during my install). NOTE: To preserve this data (since it is the ONLY post I found that has this information) I have copied his wiring diagram at the end of this post in case his post is ever lost this information is very valuable! AS USUAL, THIS INFO IS PROVIDED WITHOUT ANY GUARRENTEE! THIS IS WHAT I DID & WHAT I HAVE FOUND - USE THIS INFO AT YOUR OWN RISK - I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE IN ANY WAY, SHAPE FOR FORM FOR WHAT YOU DO WITH THIS INFO.
I am not an audiophile, nor do I like very loud music, but I do like clear and quality sound of an stereo system, specially if I am listening to CDs. When I ordered my M3 Coupe (2002, late April production) I figured that the H&K would have been good enough for me. I also though, getting the upgrade now meant that if I wanted to replace components if would be easier later on. I was unfortunately wrong on both counts. Based on unofficial polls here on E46 M3 board, about half of the owners feel the H&K is pretty decent, although it lacks bass. I am on of the other half that thinks that the H&K is not good enough since I was not happy with the audio system on my car (specially the spatial button!), plus the more I listened to it the more I was convinced that the system just SUCKS big time!. I hesitated for a while about what to do, but eventually decided I could not live with the factory system (music simply did not sound accurate nor right). This whole process took about 2 months or so, so I am hoping that by me sharing what I learned it will be easier for those of you who are considering what to do. This post shares what I learned through this process and what I did on my particular car. When I started I had some simple goals (which might or might not match your own): - system must sound clear, with good imaging, and slightly louder. - good, decent bass, although not wanting to win SPL contests. - retain OEM head unit no exceptions! - make the install look 100% factory. - no significant trunk space loss preferably none. - try as much as possible to make changes reversible. - spend the LEAST amount of money possible. - try to do all of the work myself (also saves money!) Not only did I wanted to save lots of money by doing the install myself, but I really wanted to make sure that everything was done as best as possible. While researching for this task saw some photos of installs that were done by local shops that were not done right, so I studied my options for several weeks until I felt I had enough information to get started (see references/links at the end). Also, by doing the install myself I can tune and balance the system and the stage to MY liking, not somebody else. Lastly, if something went wrong, I have only but ME to blame J I first upgraded my rear stock OEM subs with the superb Kicker 6x9 Free Air replacements. Quite a few have replaced the factory subs for these for a quick and dirty upgrade on the bass department. For some, this will be enough and it will also be the least expensive and by far the easiest upgrade. However, if you are used to larger (10 or larger subs) with amps then this is not going to be good enough by itself. Although the new Kicker subs were a good improvement, I decided I wanted a little bit more punch so I decided to use an amp to give more power to my new Kicker subs. Let me take a moment to say that adding a simple sub and amp for the subs is what most folks need no more. If you have the factory CD-changer and new rear left panel you already have enough space for a decent, small, 2-channel amp to drive the OEM subs. You will need to add a thin layer of foam around the H&Ks sub housing to reduce/eliminate rattle (believe me, if it did not rattle before, it will after you use an amp!). You do not need more than 40 clean watts for the factory subs as right now they have FAR less. In fact, just look at the active crossover/amp next to the sub housing and you will see what you can not possibly have much power there at all. It would also be best if you get a small amp that has a built-in crossover for the sub frequencies (150Hz or less) as it will make the install easier. You should also know that there is power and
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26.10.2008 11:48
DIY post - Full H&K Audio Upgrade (long!) - BMW M3 (E46 M3) Me...
ground going to the sub amp/crossover so you could install the amp to the underside of the rear deck and wired it all there. Some of the links at the end do show some other posts about just adding a sub/amp, so please review those as well before proceeding. You could wire the sub for the amp directly from the rear or the factory subs, but realize (as I will cover later on) that the OEM amp already cuts the frequency range of all outputs (as it has buil-in active crossovers on all outputs), so if you do not bypass the OEM amp you will not have the full frequency range to feed your aftermarket amp. Some have reported excellent sound by taking the rear speakers directly to drive the subs, so you can try it to see what sounds good to you - after all that is what really counts. Since I decided that I needed an amp for the Kicker subs and since I wanted to replace the front speakers for better sound/image/bass I knew I would be better of by getting a multi-channel amp. After doing some research I found that a six channel amp would work great when configured in this way: - channel 1 and 2 front door separates (component speakers) - channel 3 and 4 rear fill (provides small ambience for rear passengers) - channel 5 and 6 drive the subs So now I need a 6-channel amp and a good set of quality component speakers. After much research for the amp I realized that if the amp had a built-in crossover to make tuning and balancing the overall system, the install would be easier on me. As you will see in the references, the a/d/s amps came highly rated and always got high marks for being very clear and for having clean power (low distortion at their rated power output). From my research, and since I do not listen to very loud music I found that I only needed about 40-60 watts of clean power per channel. Given this I started looking for a 6-channel a/d/s amp and after a month or so I found an used a/d/s P640 (6x40 watts) on Ebay for $250. Amp down, speakers to go! From my internet research I found that the front speaker is about 6 inches in diameter but that because of depth you can only fit a 5 and , so I concentrated on the 5 and speakers as I did not wanted to modify the front door. For the front speakers separates I found 3 speakers recommended (in order of preference): 1) a/d/s 235is or 345is (345 better woofer and crossover but same tweeter as in 235is) 2) MB Quart (although some consider them a little bit too bright) 3) Infinity Kappas Out of these I was able to listen to both the Kappas and the MB Quarts, and although I took a risk and was not able to listen to them, I pick the a/d/s speakers as the always got rave reviews for being the most clear and accurate, plus the fact that I already had an a/d/s amp meant that the system will work together for sure. After a couple of weeks I found a new set of 345is on Ebay that came from a closing stores auction so I had my front speakers. Now I needed to figure out how to wire everything together. In case you were wondering about the rear fill speakers, my research (and emails to a/d/s technical support) revealed that the OEM speakers are good enough for fill duty as long as you take the very low end frequencies (feed those to the sub) and the high frequencies (only the front speaker set gets these as to not to confuse the imaging/staging). So far this is working great, although I can always upgrade those in the future if I want something with higher quality. So I started looking in the Internet for audio upgrades for BMWs and I soon found that late model BMW head units work hand-in-hand with the H&K OEM amplifier. Unfortunately, the H&K amp (and I am talking here about the main amp, not the Mickey Mouse, tiny amp for the subs) uses built-in crossovers, which means that the amp and the speakers are matched to each other and that the outputs of the amp already have reduced frequency range. This means that if you take the output of the OEM amp to an aftermarket amp to drive your speakers you will never have a pure signal available. This is not terrible (it is actually a good design from BMW and H&K) but means that once you decide to upgrade your system you HAVE to replace the main amp as well. I also learned (and this is REALLY important) that the OEM head unit in our cars does not use the standard RCA signals prevalent in aftermarket stereos, but the much better differential output signals. This means that you CANT directly connect the outputs from the head unit into an aftermarket amp you need a converter. There are a few recent aftermarket amps that can take the diff signal directly, but most cant (check BEFORE you get your amp). My amp is one of those that does not, but luckily for me Peripheral makes one that works perfect with my a/d/s amp, the Vendetta 4 (also called VEN4 for about $40). I am using it and I can tell you it works! My a/d/s amp is driving speakers with the following frequency ranges, plus I am using a relative scale of 1-10 for power: - front speakers: power 6, high pass at about 50Hz or so - rear fill speakers: power 2-3, high pass at about 150Hz and low pass at about 2KHz or so - Kicker subs: power 8-10, low pass at about 150Hz or so. The system is predominantly front staged (driver and passenger, which is what I wanted) and just with
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enough fill from the back. Since I am only feeding limited spectrum to the subs, they of course have to get much more power to balance out with the rest of the system. Yes, there is a little multi-coverage on the low frequencies, but I adjusted the a/d/s crossovers until the system sounded good, seating in the front and the rear or the car. This part takes a while (since you have to go back and forth the trunk and the seats many times) but the results are worth it!. As for the sources from the hear unit: - front and rear channels use the OEM front signals, so the balance of front to rear is done at the amp since my amp has adjustable gain for each pair of channels. - the subs use the OEM rear signals so this allows me to change the relative power going to the subs by simply using the FADER control on the OEM head unit. NOTE: Some aftermarket amps (like my a/d/s) have a remote BASS adjustment that could have been used instead of the fader, but I wanted the stock look and did not wanted extra knobs in the front of the car. Components/pieces that I used for the installation: 1) a/d/s P640 amp (6 channel x 40W, built-in crossover) = $250 (used on Ebay) 2) a/d/s 345is Separate Component Speakers = $245 (new, super deal on Ebay) 3) Kicker 6x9 Free Air Subs (now discontinued) = $150 for the pair (new) 4) Peripheral Vendetta 4 = $40 (new search Internet for it) 5) Cable Ties, High-strength Velcro, labels, etc. = $20-30 (Radio Shack) 6) Amp Installation Kit (ground, Power, and in-line fuse) = $30 or so (but came free from the same guy who sold me the P640) 7) OEM CD install kit with new rear panel = $100 or so with BMWCCA discount. So I spend about $850 on parts and since I did all of the installation (about 9-10 hours worth) myself I saved about $400-500 on the install. I estimated that retail-wise, my install (if done by any good local shop) would have cost me over $2K easily. In fact, if I would have saved the $600 for the H&K upgrade I would have only needed an extra couple hundred to have a system worth a couple thousand!. It is VERY important to have a reference CD to compare your system before and after, especially if like me you are changing the main speakers. I made a new CD with different songs to test the system before and after, plus I took the same CD every time I went to listen to speakers something has to remain constant so that you can really make comparisons!. Pick music from various sources (not just from one CD nor author) so that you can really test different aspects of your system. I have hard rock, rock, pop, classical, soft-rock, etc. on my CD so pick something you listen to. Just in case you are curious these are the songs on my test CD: - Hybrid Theory - Linkin Park - December - Collective Soul - You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette - Call Me - Blondie - Sunglasses at Night - Corey Hart - Drops of Jupiter - Train - Meet Virginia - Train - Home - Sheryl Crow - Hold On - Santana - Don't Do Me Like That - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Refugee - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Time and Tide - Basia - Last Chance - Shooting Star - Brand New Day - Sting - Love Theme from "The Saint" Soundtrack - Devil Inside - INXS The new system is completely unbelievable: clean, sharp, great bass and superb imaging. A couple of co-workers (one of them a jazz musician, another a guy with an M3 like mine but with stock H&K stereo) have listened to the system and cannot believe how different and improved the music now sounds. It is like night and day this is the way the H&K should have sounded when we got it. The new system is so impressive (specially with CDs) that you can now listen to music louder and your ears do not hurt after a while, plus with the VEN4 there is absolutely ZERO hiss/noise when the engine is running. Lessons learned: - Research, and then do more research before you start. Look at the references I list below as a staring point. Those guys figured out what worked and what did not lets leverage what they learned. - YES, you can do the work yourself. As I will show you in the pictures below, there is a great deal of work involved to wire the amp to the OEM harness, but it is doable. Take your time it pays. - Make sure your amp can take the diff signals. I am exchanging email with another guy who tried without the VEN4 adapter and the noise was far too great once the engine was started that he had to shut down the
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radio. He is now in the process of buying the adapter. - The H&K system is adequate, but not even close to being decent (in my opinion, of course). You can spend relatively little money and get a really good upgrade. - The OEM head unit is very good. Certainly not the best, but good enough for most all stereo upgrades. Plus, keeping it means that the steering wheel controls DO work after the update. - NO, you do NOT need special, pricey, super-duper speaker wires. The OEM wires are more than adequate and are already twisted which minimizes noise pickup. - Yes, you do loose the speed sensitive and spatial mode and I am VERY happy I did J - NO, getting the H&K system upgrade hoping that will make upgrading easier later is not true (what was my hope and I was wrong). There is nothing in the H&K system that makes the upgrade easier. The ONLY thing I am re-using is the H&K sub housing, but to pay $600 for that is insane! - For those of you who like the H&K but want extra bass, just get a 2 channel amp, the adapter (if needed), and drive your subs with it. You can also try to fit aftermarket 6x9s (the subs I got are now discontinued) and just use the built-in crossover to give the subs only the lowest frequencies (100-150Hz is a good place to start). - It is worth to get a quality amp and quality separates my system sounds awesome and it is because of the items that I selected. Even if you are on a budget (like I was), remember that you can replace stuff later, but it is cheaper to put good stuff the first time around! OK, so here are the install pictures. Getting access to the OEM amp:
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Look at how tiny is the OEM amp that is supposed to be driving 6 speakers in the front, and four in the back (not counting the 2 subs):
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Remove the piece of [Oops!] OEM amp from your fine car!:
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Look at how much bigger the a/d/s amp is, even though is going to drive fewer speakers:
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Although this is not the final resting place for the a/d/s amp, this is where I put it while I tested the whole system:
It is always best to find a ground VERY close to the amp, in this case, it if even better to use the SAME spot used by the stock system for ALL audio grounds:
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Of course, use heavy gage wire with an in-line fuse as close to the 12+ terminal as possible (notice I used cable ties everywhere no room for accidents!):
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OK, this is now the hardest and most time consuming part (by far): to deal with this little devil over here, which is really two connectors inside one housing (just pull apart gently the black housing) :
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You can probably deal with this in many ways, but I decided to label every pin (with labels from Radio Shack) to make sure I knew where they came from in case I had to re-wire at any point (which I did). Many of the wires are the SAME color, so without labels you are in big trouble if you get confused. This seems (and it was) a lot of work, but my complete install worked the very first time with ZERO errors. Here is a picture of the labeling process:
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One tip is to group (with electrical tape) the channels as you go along. For example, group together the front speakers (left), the front speakers (right), and so on. If you know that you are not going to use some of the wires (like I did not use the front mids nor the rear tweeters) you can group those aside and out of the way. Here is the Peripheral VEN4 being wired:
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You probably noticed that I am using screw-type white posts to get signals together. Not only these are electrically strong, but allow me to re-wire as appropriate (which I did since I first wired the amp to the stock speakers, and then later to the external passive crossovers for the separate front components). Pick the right method to fit your needs. Here is everything wired (to the stock front speakers) to test the system:
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The a/d/s amp has all adjustments and crossovers on one side (opposite to I/O signals) so it is very easy to adjust:
By the way, I used the a/d/s amp with the factory front woofer and tweeter and although it was a little bit improved with the new (and more powerful) amp, it simply pales in comparison to the a/d/s speakers. Even though my new woofer was actually smaller than the OEM woofer, the new a/d/s woofer has a lot more bass. Those who think the OEM H&K speakers are great simply have to listen to really good speakers to realize that they are actually not that good. In these pictures the factory lining does not fit, but it covers the amp for now (I drove it for a week like this), until I replace it with the OEM CD-changer kit (with new panel) later on:
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I have a link below (from bmw330ci.com) that shows in detail how to get the panel off, so I am not going to post my pictures of that. Here is the door with the panel off:
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I removed the bracket that holds the OEM woofer to the door panel:
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And removed the ring which remains on the door panel, which is not being reused:
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and since it was a little bit smaller I used some 3/8 thick foam I had to create a ring to seal the new smaller speaker to the door panel:
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I removed the factory connector for the woofer and solder new terminals for the new woofer:
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Hard to tell, but the tweeter is actually angled towards the driver a little bit:
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also, note that the door panel itself is also slightly tilted towards the driver:
Not that you need to know this for this upgrade, but the only way to get the mesh out of the door panel is to
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remove the door panel and remove the tweeter/mid. It is just clipped in place:
Here is the new super-duper tweeter that will replace both the tweeter/mid:
I made a small bracket for the a/d/s tweeter out of a piece of metal and attached it to the same spot the OEM units goes. Not pretty, but it works, it is solid, and it is also angled towards the driver:
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I did the right door next, and then went back to finish the amplifier/crossover installation. I did try the front speakers with the a/d/s amp but without their a/d/s speaker crossover units and the new a/d/s speakers did not sounded good at all I simply could not adjust the level and frequency balance to match the carefully developed a/d/s crossover, but at least I was able to verify that the speakers were wired properly. So since I wanted to use the Alpine MP3-cable CD changer soon, I decided to go ahead and get the kit and re-locate the amp at the same time. I choose to locate the amp next to the Mobility Kit as shown here (notice that I already got the brackets for the CD changer in place:
Since I am not using the OEM amp, I now have space behind the brackets which I can use the tie and hide the wiring:
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Here are the references that I used: - http://e46fanatics.com/faq/stereosaga.html Excellent and most helpful site correct wiring diagrams and signal theory for BMW OEM amp. Notice that some of the no-connects are actually used in out H&K system, although there were not used during my upgrade. - http://bimmer.roadfly.org/5series/messages/archive/msgsy1999w06/11357.html Outstanding knowledge of BMW factory systems and a/d/s upgrades. - http://www.adst.com/pages/manuals.html Great guides for a/d/s upgrades for BMWs. - http://forums.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e46m3/forum.php?postid=770237&page=1 Good information from Dom, who is collecting stuff to be added to the FAQ. - http://www.mindspring.com/~pmbenn/stereo.htm - http://www.projectbimmer.com/ Examples of installs on BMWs. - http://www.eskimo.com/~dalus/bmw/e46/stereo/e46_cd_changer_installation.html Excellent post on how to install the Factory CD Changer Kit. - http://www.bmw330ci.com/DIY_Door_Panel_Removal.htm Great link on how to remove the front door panels.
I know this was a very long post, but I hope that it will help others with their own upgrade plans. William 12/01/02
Re-Print of David Badgys wiring diagram for E46 cars taken from here (not added the H&K signals as I did not used them): http://e46fanatics.com/faq/stereosaga.html
Factory harness Wiring information: Now that you have the connectors made, you need to figure out how to wire things up Some of the wiring harness info available on bimmer.org in the archives and the info faxed to me by ADS for the E46 is WRONG. In the course of making the connector I started with info from the bimmer.org archives and a faxed page of info from ADS re E46 wiring both had (different) errors in them be advised that it pays to check all wiring for yourself in a project like this. Both sources had incorrect pin numbers and colors that did not match the wires physically in the harness. I have provided (to the best of my knowledge) corrected information below. The notation I used below is: Pin # xx / Signal (main wire color) / (wire stripe color) no connection literally means that there is not a wire in the factory harness at that pin. Signal name followed by an * are signals that I believe to be correct, the color code is verified with the harness etc, but I did not personally use these signals in the upgrade so I can not claim to have proven the connections out personally. In particular I did not verify the +/- polarity of the factory mid range speakers. The non-* signals lines I am using to run the upgraded system so I am sure they are correct (at least for my car). The harness connector pin numbers are embossed on the plastic. There are two halves to the connector, looking at the female harness connector its pin lay out looks like this: Grey of connector Pin # 13 / Tweeter Rear Right door + * Yellow Pin # 21 / Tweeter Rear Right door - *Blue / yellow Pin # 12 / Tweeter Front Right - Blue / Brown Pin #20 / no connection
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Pin # 12 / Tweeter Front Right Blue / Brown Pin #20 / no connection Pin # 11 / Tweeter Front Right + Blue / black Pin #19 / no connection Pin # 10 / Switched +12v remote turn on White Pin #18 / no connection Pin # 9 / Head unit output Front Right + Blue / red Pin #17 / Head unit output Front Right - Brown / orange Pin # 8 / Head unit output Rear Right + Blue / black Pin #16 / Head unit output Rear Right - Brown / orange Pin # 7 / no connection Pin #15 / no connection Pin # 6 / no connection Pin #14 / no connection Pin # 5 / +12v factory amp +12v supply *Red / green Pin # 4 / Woofer Front Left +Blue / white Pin # 3 / Woofer Front Left -Blue / brown Pin # 2 / Woofer Rear Left +Yellow Pin # 1 / Woofer Rear Left -Brown Black of connector Pin # 34 / Tweeter Front Left - Yellow / brown Pin # 42 / Mid Front Right door + *Green Pin # 33 / Tweeter Front Left + Yellow / red Pin #41 / Mid Front Right door - *Blue / green Pin # 32 / Tweeter Rear left door - * Yellow / brown Pin #40 / Mid Front left door + *White Pin # 31 / Tweeter Rear Left door + * Yellow / black Pin #39 / Mid Front left door - *Blue / white Pin # 30 / Head output Front left - Brown / orange Pin #38 / Head output Front Left + Yellow / red Pin # 29 / Head output Rear Left - Brown / orange Pin #37 / Head output Rear Left + Yellow / black Pin # 28 / no connection Pin #36 / no connection Pin # 27 / no connection Pin #35 / no connection Pin # 26 / DC ground factory ampBrown Pin # 25 / Woofer Rear Right +Blue Pin # 24 / Woofer Rear Right -Brown Pin # 23 / Woofer Front Right +Blue / Red Pin # 22 / Woofer Front Right -Blue / Brown Pins 1-5 and 22-26 are heavier connections that then other pins, these are the ones that feed the woofers and provide power to the factory amp. I did not use the power connections for the factory amp for the ADS amp the ADS can draw 30A and the factory connector had wire much to small for that type of current draw. Instead I powered the ADS amp directly (with safety fuses etc) from the battery (easy since BMW puts the battery in the trunk).
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