text:
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Welcome to the offseason
(Oh, and as an aside, if you don't think Appetite For Destruction is one of the best albums released in the last 25 years, we probably can't be friends. That's just how I roll.)
So, yes....the offseason, which finds us all consumed in the search for the new manager. And I have to be completely honest here, friends - I have no idea how to feel about the direction the team should take, nor do I feel strongly for any candidate in particular. Does Anthopoulos look for his own Joe Maddon (you have no clue how it pains me to type that), or shoot for a "name" guy with big-league managing experience? Look to hire a bench boss who will accept input from the front office, or hand the reins over completely?
Much has been made of the team interviewing the flamboyant Bobby Valentine, and with the Mariners apparently zeroing in on another potential Jays candidate, Eric Wedge, the internets might just blow right the fuck up with speculation.
And what of the "Cito Recommends" group? Do we have to take this seriously? Does Anthopoulos? Don Baylor? Juan Samuel? Really?
Or how about the "hidden gem" department, which basically includes every bench coach in the major leagues?
Or the internal candidate group, including Butterfield, Leyva, Rivera, and Fasano?
(Hang on, I'm going somewhere with this. Really.)
But wait - we still have the "once managed in the bigs and looking for another crack at it" genre.
And the "somehow affiliated with the Red Sox, so they must be good" category.
If you're getting the impression that I'm worried AA might be casting his net a little too wide, you might be correct. I'm all for due diligence (finance nerd), but it seems to me that Anthopoulos runs the risk of missing out on candidates - like we've already seen with Wedge - as a result of ensuring seemingly everyone and anyone with interest is interviewed.
But again, I just don't know. You'd think I'd feel strongly one way or the other - Valentine! Butterfield! Martinez! - but I don't. Speaking in the vaguest of terms, I suppose I'd like to see a bright baseball mind willing to accede some decision making control to the front office (specifically, with regards to the coaching staff) with fresh (but not batshit crazy tinkering) ideas on how to run a ball club. Is that too much to ask?
.... and about the playoffs
If you can't get into Roy Halladay vs Tim Lincecum, I question your genetic makeup as a baseball fan.
Oh, and fuck the Yankees.
18 comments:
- Steve G. said...
Hiring a manager is just such a crapshoot :/ Terry Francona in Boston and Dusty Baker in Cincy seemed like horrible hires at the time. Baker has been good through one year though, and unless you're a talk radio nut, Francona has done really well as Red Sox manager.
Meanwhile, Trey Hillman said all the right things in his early years with the Royals, and then did a horrible job. Eric Wedge always seemed to underperform year after year with the Indians, even if he was a nice dude. (Also, when he was still playing and finishing up his career with the Pawtucket Red Sox, he signed a baseball for me.)
- October 16, 2010 at 2:55 AM
- Tao of Stieb said...
At the risk of getting put back in my place (again), I'm in no way a fan of Wedge. I think he oversaw a good group of players and steered them into a cliff towards the end of his tenure.
And I don't care how well Bobby Jones and Rick Reed pitched for Bobby Valentine.
Don Baylor is a retread. Leyva is a crony and has never demonstrated much of anything aside for the ability to stand next to The (Former) Manager.
Blair says on his new radio program that Butterfield is already gone to Baltimore to work with Buck Showalter.
And Sal Fasano? Don't be ridiculous.
So...where does this leave us?
NO to Bobby V. NO to Eric Wedge. NOOO to Baylor, Samuel, Leyva or Fasano.
Dave Martinez actually intrigues us the more that we think about it, and we loved seeing him in Joe Maddon's ear throughout that ALDS.
Not that he's the candidate of choice necessarily. But we're starting to get a good vibe off him.
- October 16, 2010 at 10:01 AM
- Ty said...
I read yesterday that Luis Rivera said the Jays told him he didn't get the job, and Bobby V also said he doesn't expect to hear back from them. So they're interviewing a lot of people, but at least they're being pretty straightforward and quick with the guys they don't want.
Speaking of guys they don't want, Baylor was dismissed as Rockies hitting coach yesterday and given the very Cito-like title of 'Special Assistant to the GM'... Here's hoping he stays over there.
- October 16, 2010 at 10:32 AM
- The Ack said...
At the risk of Leyva-ing Tao's comment, I pretty much agree. I do wonder, though, if I seem to be leaning towards the Dave Martinez's of the baseball world only because they're all shiny & new. After all, the Sox haven't done too bad with "retread at the time" Tito Francona....
- October 16, 2010 at 1:05 PM
- Darren Priest said...
Is Grady Little available?
- October 16, 2010 at 1:17 PM
can i interject here to ask if anyone thinks aa is in on the greinke sweepstakes?
- October 16, 2010 at 1:17 PM
- Darren Priest said...
I hope they'll at least give Phil Wellmen an interview. He deserves that much.
- October 16, 2010 at 1:18 PM
- The Ack said...
^^ I don't want to say too much, that's part 2 of my *planned* weekend blogging. But have at it....
- October 16, 2010 at 1:19 PM
- Jim Briggs said...
I know the Bobby V dig was directed at this corner, but I think it's more rational to say that his antics are detrimental than to say he can't manage (I watched a lot of Mets ball back in his day and thought he did a fine job for that shitshow of an organization).
The Rick Reed/Bobby Jones note was less about those guys in particular (I doubt he had much to do with their performances), and more about the fact that he did more in NY with less talent than the Jays have right now, at least on the pitching end.
Given that it doesn't sound like Valentine is in the mix, I think I'll still be happy with whomever they hire, in much agreement with most of the rest of your "NO" list (no Samuel, Baylor, Leyva and Fasano - I think Fasano could be a good MLB manager someday, but not right now).
I also wonder if some of the interviewing they're doing isn't to vet out some potential options for managerial staff given the likely departure of at least a few of these guys (Butters, Leyva, hopefully not Murphy). Rivera, Fasano, other organizational guys and outsiders looking for promotion might account for this large list, were that the case.
- October 16, 2010 at 2:35 PM
- Jim Briggs said...
@Steve G: I trust Dusty Baker about as far as I can throw him if he's working with a young pitching staff. He pretty much sabotaged the careers of Prior and Wood.
- October 16, 2010 at 2:36 PM
- Darren Priest said...
Grienke would be an awesome addition, but I shudder to think of who the Jays would have to give up for him.
- October 16, 2010 at 3:44 PM
I just hope this process doesn't drag on for too long. I'm all for being thorough, but if the reports about 200+ candidates are to be believed, I think that's going a little far. Are there even 200 Major League capable potential managers out there?
Here's hoping they get this done at a minimum before the winter meetings.
- October 16, 2010 at 3:59 PM
- Jim Briggs said...
I'm sure the conversation would begin with Drabek and probably 1-2 other top-shelf prospects. Anyone thinking they'd get Greinke for the likes of Jeroloman, Rzep and Escobar would be delusional.
I wonder how well-regarded any of the past two years' draft picks are, and if they would be in the mix in such a conversation...
- October 16, 2010 at 4:02 PM
- Jim Briggs said...
@Hurley I think AA said World Series is their deadline.
- October 16, 2010 at 4:02 PM
- Tao of Stieb said...
I actually don't think that Bobby V is a bad tactical manager. It's just that he's a guy who sucks up a lot of the oxygen out of the room, and I'm not sure that's what this team needs.
Also, go back and look at those Mets teams. They had huge payrolls and were stacked with veterans.
As for Greinke: I have a feeling that the Royals are going to look for their Halladay payday, and I wouldn't be willing to give that up for a guy who has had one great season and some spectacular flame-out moments.
(Not to be insensitive...but I'm just not totally sure how long he keeps his stuff together.)
On the other hand, if you could do it for prospects who were not at the top of your list, maybe you consider it.
- October 16, 2010 at 5:27 PM
- Darren Priest said...
I agree, Tao, I'm not keen on emptying the pantry for Grienke. With Rogers' money, they should just sign Lee.
- October 16, 2010 at 5:49 PM
- Darren Priest said...
I can see Grienke being similar to Jeff Weaver in his next stop. Here's hoping the Sawx or Yanks overpay for him.
- October 16, 2010 at 5:57 PM
- Jim Briggs said...
Agreed. Would not break the bank for Greinke, considering this team's timetable. Why deal your young horses when one of them could turn out to be as good as or better than Greinke?
@Tao - wouldn't confuse the Mets' spending for loaded teams, necessarily. They've always had the fat wallet but they also always get suckered into lots of bad / unwise / unlucky deals. I think they were still paying for Bobby Bo back then. What a mess!
I always appreciated Johnny O's contributions there (if I had a Jays only blog I'd figure out a way to get "Olerud" into the title). Their pitching was pretty suspect to me back then and it's even moreso when I look at it. They really rode Piazza, a few hot hands and a few really good role players during their best years.
Anyway, doesn't look like it'll be Bobby V, which should make the discussion moot. I do hope that whomever they hire is allowed some breathing room and is someone the fans will get behind. The team absolutely needs some air in the tires.
- October 16, 2010 at 9:38 PM


text:
Take a central role at the Bank of Canada.
Reviewing the Monetary Policy Framework.
Promoting a stable and efficient financial system.
See More
Explore and share the $10 polymer bank note featuring Viola Desmond.
Find out what removing legal tender status means and which bank notes are affected.
Browse and filter Bank of Canada publications by author, JEL code, topic and content type.
The Bank updated its forecast for real economic growth to 1.3 percent this year, 1.9 percent next year and 2.0 percent in 2021.
Understanding digital currencies and related financial technologies is an important part of our research agenda.
Browse and filter Bank of Canada press content by topic, author, location and content type.
Economic Progress Report — Deputy Governor Lawrence Schembri of the Bank of Canada speaks before the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. (12:00 (ET) approx.)
These forecasts are provided to Governing Council in preparation for monetary policy decisions. They are released once a year with a five-year lag.
Guillaume Poulin-Bellisle is an Economist in the Advanced Economies Division of the International Economic Analysis Department. He holds an M.Sc. in Applied Economics from HEC Montréal.
Bank of Canada
234 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0G9

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Walking my dog Opie is like an adventure. You never know where it's going to take you, and you're lucky if you get back home on time and in one piece.Okay, I exaggerated just a little about coming home in one piece because so far I have, but the rest of it is absolutely true.
When Opie was younger, we tried all we could to train him to walk like a "good dog." But for some reason- likely the fact that he is the most stubborn creature I've ever known – he refused to fall in line.
Although he walks at least twice a day, rain, shine, snow or ice, Opie treats every walk like it's his first one. He goes raring out the door, eager to chase down every squirrel, stare at every person he sees, and sniff hard at every calling card left in the grass by every dog in the neighborhood.
Sometimes, he decides he wants to go a certain route. And arguing with Opie is not easy. If I walk in another direction than the one he's set his mind to, he will first bury his front feet in the ground, put his head down, and refuse to budge. His big, brown eyes meanwhile will make a frantic appeal, asking me to reconsider.
If I insist, he'll just sit down.
As you might have guessed, I usually give in.
But although he might sound like a bit of a pain in the rear- and he certainly is a lot of the time- it is indeed hard to fight that kind of curiosity and vibrance. I am always awe-struck by how his enthusiasm never seems to wane.
In freezing weather, as I plod with him through knee-deep snow, begging him to walk fast, he will plonk down on a smooth patch in a neighbor's lawn, turn on his side, and move vigorously back and forth to make a snow angel. Then he'll put down his ear to the ground, push up his playful butt, and go sliding through the snow, enjoying himself completely. Even though my fingers and toes are screaming for life by this time, I can't help but laugh.
Some of you might wonder – as I am sure most of my neighbors do- why I don't work harder to make Opie behave as I want him to. Well, Opie's not a badly behaved dog. As a stranger delighted by his antics once remarked, very astutely, he just has a mind of his own.
And I'm certainly not going to fight that.
So why the prologue about Opie in a post titled Chocolate Cupcake? After all, dogs and chocolate are not compatible. But Opie is my chocolate cupcake, or at least that's one of my names for him, and I wanted to share with you this little tale of a very special dog.
As for the cupcake, this one, which I adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, is so delicious, so fluffy and moist, that no one would ever guess it was vegan. In fact, it's one of the best cupcakes I've ever tasted and made.
This cupcake would be even more wonderful, if that's possible, with some chocolate icing, but this time I didn't have the time to make any, so I just went with a simple topping of powdered sugar. Bliss.
Vegan Chocolate Cupcake
- 1 cup almond milk (can use soy)
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 3/4 cup turbinado sugar (can use regular sugar)
- 1/3 cup canola or other flavorless vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- In a bowl, mix the almond milk and vinegar and set aside for a few minutes until it curdles.
- Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract and beat togeter until it turns frothy.
- In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt.
- Add the cocoa-flour mixture to the wet ingredients in two batches, mixing well until the mixture is fairly smooth. Don't overbeat.
- Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Pour the batter into each liner, about 3/4 full.
- Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Cool on a rack for about 10 minutes. Then unmold the muffins and place them on the rack until thoroughly cooled.
- If desired, take some powdered sugar in a sieve, and sprinkle over the top of the cupcakes.
- Enjoy!


text:
Mint 11 Katya 64-bit, 2.6.38-16-generic-pae, 4GB RAM, Gnome 2
Moved to a new place, 3-story house, router is upstairs on the 3rd floor, no access to it,
I am on the first floor; phone and 2 laptops pick the signal fine (3/5 bars, about 800k download speed).
My desktop however is in the corner of the living room, and has an old RTL 8185 wireless PCI adapter,
which wouldn't even see the wireless network. I tried with an external USB stick (wireless G) on a 6 feet USB cable -
barely sees the network, don't even talk about connecting to it.
So I bought this external USB-N adapter: USB Wireless Lan 802.11N High Power Adapter w/ 2 Antenna - 2T2R (300Mbps) - two big antennas, bla-bla.
It has the Ralink RT3072 chip, I needed some time to find good linux drivers (the ones supplied didn't work - d'oh!!!).
The drivers I got were for the 3070 family and compiled fine after some playing with the config.mk file.
The only funny thing is that lsusb shows it as RT3072:
However in modprobe it is rt5370sta:
Code: Select all
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 148f:3072 Ralink Technology, Corp. RT3072 Wireless Adapter
Which didn't really bother me as the adapter worked FINE with these drivers, I see twice the amount of networks
Code: Select all
modprobe rt5370sta
compared to my laptop, and it gets 5/5 bars to my wireless when connected. Here's the result of a speedtest:
Output of /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintWifi/mintWifi.py:
Code: Select all
ra0 Ralink STA ESSID:"D9GY0" Nickname:"RT2870STA"
Mode:Managed Frequency=2.462 GHz Access Point: 00:26:B8:18:86:D6
Bit Rate=48 Mb/s
So... To the point. To the points, actually.
Upon restart, the blue light on the wireless adapter is blue, however I have NO "Wireless Networks" in network manager AT ALL.
As if the adapter is not seen/installed AT ALL. It takes disable/enable network a few times, a good 4-5 minutes of it before it
shows up in the network manager and connects. From then on it is all good, until...
When it connects, it stays connected - no problem, see history above.
HOWEVER... When I open deluge - IT WILL ONLY STAY CONNECTED FOR FIVE MINUTES AT A TIME, IF THAT!!!
Then the adapter drops the signal, and I have to disable the wireless adapter and re-enable it; then it's all over again...
Almost seems like the adapter doesn't like deluge running...
So... is it a driver issue or what?!?!


text:
Turnout in a special election to represent a large portion of Bluffton in the Beaufort County Council remains light but consistent.
Poll workers at the only two day-of voting locations report between two and 10 percent turnout for a Republican Party primary between political newcomers Tabor Vaux and Mark Lawson. No precinct reported midday totals that exceeded 78 voters.
"It's been constant but not heavy," said Jerry Wells, a poll worker at First Baptist Church. "There's been no lines."
With no Democratic hopefuls, the winner of the Republican primary could be sworn in as early as Monday if no write-in candidates emerge.
Vaux, a 29-year-old attorney, emphasized his lifelong Bluffton roots during campaigning, his potential to mobilize a younger generation toward greater civic involvement and steadfast support for the county's land preservation program. He also pledged greater county involvement with restoration efforts on the May River.
Lawson, 47, talked up his experiences as the top realtor at Heritage Lakes for more than a decade; as the founder of a small business, Last Minute Tee Times, that's still operational; and as an active coach with Bluffton Youth Sports.
County Council District 9 covers Bluffton south of S.C. 46 as well as the area between Buck Island and Malphrus roads south of U.S. 278.
Poll workers also said they didn't experience problems with a new law that requires some form of identification or a reported obstacle to presenting it from the voter.
"Most everyone seems to have a driver's license, so it hasn't been an issue," said Joe Weikel at the Bluffton Library.
Voters can also present a voter registration card with a photo, a S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles ID card, a federal military ID or a U.S. passport.
Results are anticipated between 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.


text:
Have you been dreaming of designing the website look and feel unique and great? Do you want to improve your interface design skills? In this article, we provide you more than 50 very high quality web UI design photoshop tutorials which web designers have to investigate. You can build up your skills no matter you are a starter or expertise, enjoy!
The Interface tutorial you have been nagging about is here! It explains how to create a Aqua Interface UI design. Very cool!
In this detailed tutorial you will learn how to create a web layout for your business.
3. Content Box
In this tutorial you will learn how to create a content box design.
4. Creating A Cool 3D Web Design Effect
In this tutorial I will show you some very easy techniques, using gradients and layer styles, that we can use to produce nice subtle 3D effects in our web designs.
5. Create a Dark Themed Web Design from Scratch
This tutorial covers the key areas to focus on when creating a Web site design. This is a blog-style design, but the techniques and strategies used in this design could be applied elsewhere across the Web as well. Learn how to create a colorful design set against a dark background.
6. Create a Nature Inspired Painted Background in Photoshop
In this tutorial, the author will show you his/her own technique for creating special type design of background.
7. Creating a Professional Business Layout Using Photoshop
This tutorial we'll be recreating a simple and professional website design, a business-themed website template, to be exact!
8. Create a Promotional iPhone App Site in Photoshop
In this tutorial, you can learn on creating an iPhone app promotional site, include adding color, texture, images, and effects to polish off this design in Photoshop.
9. Create a Professional Portfolio Design in 17 Easy Steps
This tutorial teaches you how to create a professional looking portfolio design using very basic techniques. The majority of online portfolio's appear amateur, yet it really isn't very difficult to produce a simple design, very quickly that can portray a professional image online.
10. Create a Sleek, High-End Web Design from Scratch
In this tutorial, we'll put together a high-end Web design using a crisp, thin font, gorgeous background images, and clever use of space and layout. You can easily use the technique to create your own unique designs.
11. Create a Web App Admin User Interface in Photoshop
A modern and easy to use Admin User Interface is the key to success of web applications. We are going to show you How To Create a Web Application Admin User Interface in Photoshop. So that you can easily create your own admin user interface for your web applications.
12. Design a Clean Web Layout with the 960 Grid
This tutorial introduced how to design a clean website layout using the 960 Grid System. You'll see how working with system can streamline web development workflow, and how to work with a grid system.
13. Design a Web 2.0 tab with Photoshop
This tutorial attempts to give you an idea how to design a nice sleek tab menu in Photoshop, Web 2.0 style.
A step by step guide to creating a professional web layout with a dark theme for Web Design Studios.
15. Design Watercolor Effect Menu
This is a two-part tutorial on how to create an artistic and un-typical CSS list menu as seen on Web Designer Wall. In the first part (this article), I will show you how to design a watercolor effect menu in Photoshop.
16. Design Web 2.0 Interface in Photoshop
With this tutorial you can draw yourself some graphical user interface for a website. Side navigation, buttons, headers, for instance. All Web 2.0 style.
17. Glossy-Style Carbon Fibre Navigation Buttons
A tutorial on how to design something like what I've shown below, a kind of glossy, carbon fiber navigation set.
18. Graphic Design Studio Web Layout
A simple and professional design studio layout.
19. How to create a Black stylish layout
This Photoshop tutorial will show you how to create a stylish layout.
20. How to Create a clean black and green web design
In this tutorial we're going to create a clean black and green webdesign which can be used for anything and everything!
21. How to create a Chopper layout
This tutorial shows you how to create a Chopper layout.
22. How to create a distinguishable textured web layout in Photoshop
In this tutorial I'll show you how to create a textured web layout, starting from the concept on paper to Photoshop design. We will discuss about site structure and will use the 960 grid to organize our contents. Also you will learn how to use layer styles to create an engraved text effect. Give it a try!
23. How to create a web layout for persoanl site
In this tutorial you will learn how to create a web layout for persoanl site.
24. How to Make a Menu Interface for a Fantasy Themed iPhone Game
In this tutorial, we'll create a main menu interface for a fictional iPhone game. We'll go through setting up Photoshop to accurately display target screen size, setting up a wire frame for the project, creating a background, making a logo, creating rock texture for the sidebar, and wood texture for the saved games-box and buttons.
25. Draw a Flickr thumbnail box
Learn how to use the tools in Photoshop to draw a Flickr thumbnail box.
26. High-Detailed Plastic Navigation Bar
Navigation menus can vary from ordinary text links to the most complicated dropdown menus. This tutorial is describing detailed process of creation of "plastic" navigation bar.
27. How to create a Interior Design layout
This tutorial shows you how to create a Interior Design layout.
28. How to create a professional website design studio
Learn how to create a professional website design studio. A step by step guide to creating a professional web layout.
29. How to Create a Simple & Sleek Web 2.0 Site Footer
This tutorial shows you how to produce a sleek looking site footer in Photoshop.
30. How To Create a Stunning Vista Inspired Menu
This tutorial will show you how to make a semi-transparent Vista-inspired menu using gradients, shadows, and blurring to produce a stunning modern effect.
31. How to create a modern web portfolio layout
This tutorial will show you how to create a modern web portfolio layout.
32. How to design a simple blue layout with Photoshop
In this Photoshop tutorial, you will learn how to design a simple blue layout with Photoshop by combining shapes and layer styles.
33. How to Create a Slick and Clean Button in Photoshop
This Photoshop tutorial shows you how to create a simple and clean "Web 2.0 style" button sprite with a rollover state. You'll also learn how to set up the sprite using some basic CSS techniques (CSS background sprite and CSS text image replacement).
34. How to make nice looking web template for Real Estate site
This tutorial will show You how to make nice looking web template for Real Estate site.
35. How To: Make the Viget Inspire Background
The driving philosophy behind real-texture stuff like this is to fake as little as possible. No matter how many brushes you have or how good you are in Illustrator, there's a quality of unpredictability in real photographs and real, physical elements that adds great subtle qualities to any design.
36. Interface Navigation Tutorial
This tutorial explains how to create the below navigation box.
37. Make a Web Interface with Car Images
This tutorial shows you how to make a web interface with car images.
38. Modernistic Navigation Module
Create this beautiful navigation module with Photoshop. This Photoshop layout tutorial will show how simple shapes and gradients can create elegant designs.
This Photoshop tutorial will show you how to create a portfolio Layout.
40. Photoshop a Paper Texture from Scratch then Create a Grungy Web Design with it!
You can learn how to photoshop a paper texture from scratch then create a grungy web design with it.
41. Professional Design Studio Web Template
Guide to design a professional web layout for Web Design Studio.
42. Professional Blog Template Design
You will learn how to create a professional blog template design with this tutorial.
43. Portfolio Web Layout Tutorial
This Photoshop tutorial will show you how to create a modern portfolio layout.
44. Royal Interface – Photoshop Graphic Design Tutorial
Today, we are going to design something along the lines of a Royal Interface graphic design in this Photoshop tutorial. I think that the idea mainly came from the Casino itself, and I am not sure whether this interface has a purpose; however, it does teach a few techniques.
You can learn how to create a slick looking web 2.0 website banner / header from this tutorial.
46. Sound System Studio Web Layout
In this tutorial you will learn how to create a nice looking layout.
47. The Most ADVANCED GAME Layout
You can learn how to create a game layout (very detailed).
48. Tutzor web 2.0 style design
A new and improved look of the Tutzor website. Also you should learn a lot from this tutorial.
49. Volkswagen Inspired Navigation
This tutorial assumes that you know your way around Photoshop enough not to need too much hand-holding. You should know your way around the Layers palette and know how to add Layer Styles, use Custom Shapes and Clipping Masks without much explanation.
Here you can learn how to create a navigation bar with a unique Vista Style.


text:
Forum rules
Taiwanease is pleased to have the legal forums moderated by individuals from the upstanding legal firm Eiger. While the moderators are happy to help point people in the right direction for legal assistance and to attempt to keep these forums civil and tidy, please bear in mind that an Internet forum is not the place for providing or receiving legal advice or for the creation of any attorney-client privileges or obligations. Also keep in mind that Taiwanease, the moderators and the Eiger firm cannot conduct comprehensive reviews of all laws or legal concepts referenced or discussed within these forums – laws and regulations are updated and amended, interpretations do change, and sometimes the legal landscape can change very fast. Taiwanease provides these legal forums for general informational purposes only. By using these legal forums, you agree that the information does not constitute legal or other professional advice and no attorney-client or other relationship is created between you and Eiger or any other posters on these forums. DO NOT CONSIDER THE FORUMS TO BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR OBTAINING LEGAL ADVICE FROM A QUALIFIED LICENSED ATTORNEY.


text:
Happy Friday!
I am taking the day off from dressing up and have instead proclaimed today furry boot and sweater day, LOL I have been doing some online window shopping and putting looks together that I hope to pull off soon. Individual items within the looks shown are $50 or less. I am going to chill in my furry warm boots and comfy bed and wish you all a great weekend.
Classics by mimigstyle featuring a gold clutch
Casual Cool by mimigstyle featuring peep toe boots
Comfy Saturday by mimigstyle featuring j crew


text:
A vital part of society and an important form of professional non-fiction. Journalism faces great challenges in the new millennium.
Use this control to limit the display of threads to those newer than the specified time frame.
Allows you to choose the data by which the thread list will be sorted.
Order threads in...
Note: when sorting by date, 'descending order' will show the newest results first.
Forum Rules


text:
This is the fourth in our Top 13 of 2013 series. Every day for the rest of 2013, we will count down the Top 13 moments/games of the year, with each program represented. With three Little East Conference Titles, several huge upsets over nationally ranked teams and some dramatic finishes-2013 was another step forward for UMass Boston Athletics.
#13: Softball Clinches Playoff Spot With Senior Day Win Over Rhode Island College (April 27)
#12: Women's Basketball 76, UMass Dartmouth 73 (January 22)
There is only one tie on our "Top 13 of 2013" list and it came from a team that earned their fair share of big wins. Despite tallying 11 victories on the year, no game served as a more of a statement that UMass Boston Men's Soccer was a legitimate contender in the Little East Conference than the Beacons 1-1 tie against LEC Champion Eastern Connecticut State University.
The three-time defending Little East Champions entered the unbeaten in 14 in row (13-0-1) against Little East foes and winners of 13 in a row over the Beacons, dating back to 1999.
But Jake Beverlin and his squad came in to the match ready to topple a giant of the Little East and for 110 minutes dominated the heavily favored Warriors in an exciting conference affair.
Little East Conference Rookie of the Year Edmilson Barros (Boston, Mass.) appeared to lift UMB to a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute, when he took a feed from Luis Alva (Lima, Peru) and buried a shot by First Team All-Conference goaltender Greg Walton, only to be called offsides.
Barros made up for the mistake seven minutes later when he made a brilliant play in slicing up four defenders in the box. The freshman forward made three touches to himself while surrounded by blue shirts, before blasting a shot into the near-netting for a 1-0 Beacons lead. The goal snapped Walton's 551-minute shutout streak and gave UMB their first goal against Eastern Connecticut in three years.
From there UMass Boston would continue to dominate the play, outshooting Eastern Connecticut 8-1 for the half, including forcing the Warriors goalie to make three first-half stops.
The tides turned early in the second half, as Mitch Power was taken down in the box just 26 seconds into the second stanza and sent his penalty kick by Alfonso Rosales (Revere, Mass.) to tie the game at 1-1.
UMass Boston continued their relentless attack, creating two point-blank chances that just went wide late in regulation.
Eastern Connecticut appeared to go ahead in the 80th minute, but Powers was called offsides, just as his strike went off of Rosales' hand and into the back of the net.
Rosales came up huge late in regulation and overtime, making two big stops to keep the game at 1-1, while the Beacons continued to create chances against the league's top defense
When the final horn ended with the score knotted at 1-1, UMass Boston walked off the field disappointed in the lack of a win in a game that they dominated. Going forward into 2014 and beyond though, that game may signify the start of things to come, as the Beacons look to get over the hump and return to the four-team LEC Tournament for the first time since 2006.


text:
Care, General Care Projects in Kenya by Aryaan Bassi
Arriving in Kenya
Upon arriving in Nairobi I was overwhelmed at first by the hustle and bustle of the city, there were so many different vehicles on the road, tuk-tuks and matatus which I would later become very familiar with; as this would be my mode of transport to and from the placement.
Filled with excitement after my long journey I wanted to take in as much of my surroundings as possible, so I forced myself to stay awake on the three hour journey to Nakuru from Nairobi. It really is a shock when you are a city girl like myself and look out of the window and see zebras and baboons just casually standing by the sides of the road! However, this immediate change in environment only increased my enthusiasm and eagerness to start this project.
Upon arrival I was shown to my host family and met the other host volunteers who were staying with me- very apprehensive at first as I wasn't too sure what to expect. But, my host family were wonderful and I became close friends with the host volunteers who were staying with me and we are still in contact!
What truly made me realise that I was not in the UK anymore was when we were given a tour of Nakuru town, although it is a small town, the multi-coloured fruits that were displayed to be sold, the busyness of the matatu station, it made me realise that I was not at home anymore and I loved it!
Fresh watermelon, pineapples, bananas were all sold by the side of the road and all the vendors try and get your attention to sell their products which, I admit does take a bit of getting used to. Later on I had my first meal with the host family and other volunteers - as I sat around the dinner table I realised how unique it was that my housemates were people from all over the world; one of the fantastic things about doing a project like this is that not only are you doing something for a great cause, but you meet these fascinating people from different parts of the world!
My Care placement
Nakuru Future was the name of the placement that I was volunteering at, it was a children's home where the children would sleep, get food and play different games after school and during their holidays. The activities, involved me helping some of the children with their schoolwork, taking part in the children's games whilst thinking of fun and unique things that the children had not done before. An example of some of the activities and games that I did with the children are: we had a water balloon fight, played hide and seek, musical statues, dobby scarecrow.
The children also taught me various traditional games and performed traditional African dance. Thinking back on it now, it was a truly incredible and rewarding experience and I would strongly encourage anyone who is debating whether to take this opportunity and volunteer for a good cause to do it. I created a strong bond with all of the girls and my supervisor Sharon and it was so upsetting when I had to leave on the last day. I bought some gifts for the girls before I left, (as the home was an all-girls home with the age range being from age 6-14) which included some sweets and bracelets.
My host family in Kenya
My host family took the other volunteers and me out for 'myo choma' which is a welcoming meal where a goat is eaten. Now I personally have never eaten goat in my life and the goat itself is cooked on a barbecue where you can literally see the intestines and all the different parts of the goat being cooked! The meat was then served on a chopping board and I tried goat intestine, where the intestine was covered in salt to mask the taste. I shall have to admit, it was not my favourite meal in Kenya, however it was a truly different experience.
My host family were always very welcoming and breakfast was also ready for us on the table in the morning. This consisted of cereals, eggs and toast and there was always a delicious hot dinner waiting for us in the evening. On one of my days off, the other volunteers and I went to visit the places where our host parents worked and it was interesting to gain more of an insight into their day to day lives. My host mum was extremely kind and upon leaving she gave us each a gift and mine was a small wooden statue of a giraffe that is in home, in my bedroom; so now whenever I see it, it acts as a small reminder of this amazing adventure I had and the incredible people who I have met.
Free time in Kenya
Although the placement does occupy most of the day there are still many opportunities to explore the area you are living in. As I volunteered for one month my free time was spent with other volunteers going on day trips to Hell's Gate, which is basically a bicycle safari and a very different way to see animals up close!
We also went to a nearby town called Navaisha, which is where there was a large waterfall that you could pay a guide to take you close to. It was really exciting exploring all of these different nearby towns and Nakuru itself. I decided to do this project, because I wanted to do something different, yet I also wanted to help people and have a positive impact whilst exploring another country and am incredibly glad that I took part, it was an experience that I cannot ever forget and will surely stay with me for the rest of my life.
Aryaan Bassi
Ce témoignage de volontaire peut faire référence à des actions impliquant des orphelinats. Retrouvez plus d'informations sur la vision actuelle de Projects Abroad au sujet du volontariat dans les orphelinats et la réorientation de nos actions vers des projets d'aide à l'enfance à dimension communautaire.
Ce témoignage est basé sur l'expérience unique d'un volontaire à un certain moment donné. Nos projets s'adaptent constamment aux besoins locaux, ils évoluent au fur et à mesure que des volontaires s'impliquent et s'adaptent aux saisons, ainsi votre expérience sur place pourra être différente de celle décrite ici. Pour en savoir plus sur cette mission, vous pouvez consulter la page de ce projet ou bien contacter l'un de nos conseillers de volontaires.


text:
HAVELOCK � Havelock quarterback Travis Sabdo completed just six passes against Anson County in Friday�s second-round playoff game.
HAVELOCK � Havelock quarterback Travis Sabdo completed just six passes against Anson County in Friday�s second-round playoff game.
But, oh what passes they were.
Sabdo threw four first-half touchdown passes � three to record-setting receiver Micheal Bowman � as the Rams rolled into the third round of the playoffs with a 53-14 victory over the Bearcats Friday at Havelock High.
�It was definitely a big numbers game for me,� said Sabdo, who completed all six of his pass attempts for 245 yards. �But, I have to give all the credit to the big boys up front. They work their tails off in practice all week. They do a great job picking up the different fronts that a defense throws at them. I couldn�t do it without those five up front.�
Sabdo was sacked once in the game, but Havelock coach Jim Bob Bryant joked that his junior quarterback simply didn�t want to throw the ball away and ruin his perfect 6-for-6 night.
�Travis had a great game,� Bryant said. �He did a great job. He took that one sack that I was a little upset about, but I guess he didn�t want to throw an incompletion. I think I�d rather have the incompletion, but he did a good job.�
Sabdo found Bowman on touchdown passes of 70, 42, and 66 yards � all in the first quarter � and Derrell Scott added a 34-yard touchdown run as the top-ranked and top-seeded Rams (13-0) raced to a 27-0 lead.
Bowman caught three passes for 177 yards, breaking the school�s single-game receiving yardage record of 168 yards by Titus Dailey against Pender in 1998.
�Mo�s a great athlete,� Sabdo said. �You look for him on the field on almost every play. Any defender, it�s basically a mismatch for him. He�s unbelievable. He�s got great hands. He�s a heck of an athlete and I love playing with him.�
Despite the lopsided first-quarter lead, the key may have been Havelock�s defense. After Scott muffed a punt, Anson (6-7) had the ball at the Ram 20-yard line. Keion Joyner had a big sack for the Rams, and then Joey Godette broke up a fourth-down pass attempt as the Bearcat drive stalled on the 15-yard line.
The Rams took over, and Sabdo�s 42-yard scoring pass to Bowman put Havelock ahead 14-0 with 5:41 left in the first.
�They had their backs against the wall and they kept them out of the end zone,� Bryant said of his defense. �They allowed us to get the ball back and score on the next drive. They did a great job.�
Anson got an 11-yard touchdown pass from J�Maine Harris to Deontez Threatt with 5:37 left in the first half, cutting the margin to 27-7.
But Havelock�s B.J. Boyd came up with an interception that led to a 25-yard touchdown run by Scott, and Sabdo added a 42-yard touchdown pass to Matt Boykin that gave the Rams a 40-7 lead at halftime.
Taylor Woods went 48 yards for a touchdown on Havelock�s first offensive play in the third quarter, and he later added a 7-yard scoring run as the Rams led 53-7 after the third quarter.
Anson�s Jekev Robinson scored from a yard out with two minutes left to complete the scoring. Robinson, Anson�s 1,000-yard rusher, was held to 60 yards on 26 carries. Anson totaled just 167 yards on the night and completed just two passes in the game.
Meanwhile, the balanced Rams also got 131 yards rushing on just 11 carries from Scott, as well as 86 yards from Woods and 42 from Boykin.
�Everyone did their job,� senior offensive line Michael Howard said. �Before the game, the coaches told us that everyone was talking about how the offensive line was our weakest link, so we all felt like we had to step up. Everyone was in sync, and we came out with a team win.�
Havelock is next scheduled to play North Forsyth, which defeated Jacksonville 59-20 in the second round. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Havelock High.
�We�ll celebrate but it will be short-lived because we�ve got to get ready for North Forsyth,� Bryant said of the 8-5 Vikings. �The Winston-Salem area has some really good football teams, and they play in a really tough conference, and they won their conference, so we�re going to have a tough opponent next week.�
Ken Buday is the editor of the Havelock News.


text:
WORCESTER � A man was struck by a police cruiser Thursday afternoon on Grafton Street.
Police said he suffered a possible broken leg when the cruiser hit him in the westbound lane in front of 177 Grafton St. Police said the man walked out into traffic around 3:45 p.m.
Bystanders at area businesses said they saw traffic backing up and looked outside to see the 56-year-old man in the road.
Traffic quickly closed up along the busy artery after the road was shut in both directions for investigators. Several police officers responded, including the police Crash Reconstruction Unit. A woman driving a pickup truck parked behind the police cruiser spoke at length with police and appeared to recreate the man's path into the street.
Police said the woman in the pickup had to brake quickly to avoid the man. The driver of the cruiser, which was traveling next to the pickup in the lane closest to the center line, swerved into the right lane in an attempt to avoid the pedestrian, and the side mirror struck the man and knocked him to the ground. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was listed in good condition Thursday night. He was also interviewed by police.
The road was reopened by about 5:30 p.m. Police said the investigation is ongoing. The man was not in a marked crosswalk when he was hit, police said.


text:
Voodoo Doughnut opens in Denver at 11 a.m. on Jan. 15
Voodoo Doughnut officially opens in Denver at 11 a.m. on Jan. 15, after a month of tweaking its recipes for altitude and the sort of pre-launch hype normally associated with, well, a Broncos Super Bowl run.
The Portland, Ore.-based shop, which had a soft opening in mid-December at 1520 E. Colfax Ave., was anticipating lines out the door for its signature doughnuts. Voodoo is noted for its offbeat offerings, such as the maple-bacon number (I tried it about 18 months ago in Portland, and it's pretty remarkable in concept and execution) and the M&M-topped Marshall Mathers creation, named after the musician better known as Eminem.
Co-founders Kenneth "Cat Daddy" Pogson and Tres Shannon told the Post's Kris Browning-Blas in December that they searched around the world, from Amsterdam to Chicago, before settling on Denver. Who knows, maybe they just wanted the challenge of baking at altitude.
Be forewarned: Like the Oregon outlet, the store is a cash-only place. Look for a bright pink building with a ton of sugar-fanatics on the sidewalk.


text:
DENVER, March 2 (UPI) -- Ty Lawson's jump shot with two-tenths of a second remaining Friday gave Denver a dramatic 105-103 victory over Oklahoma City.
Denver took a 10-point lead into the final period, but the Thunder went on a nine-point run early in the stanza to get back in the game and eventually went in front by three.
The Nuggets regained a two-point advantage with 22 seconds left on a jumper from Wilson Chandler, but Denver moved back into a tie on Kevin Durant's field goal with 17 seconds remaining.
Denver let the clock run down before Lawson produced the last of his 11 points to win it.
Oklahoma City had won its previous three games while Denver ran its winning streak to four. The Nuggets are 25-3 at home this season, tops in the Western Conference.
Chandler scored 35 points, hitting six 3-pointers and going 13-of-19 from the field. Andre Miller and Corey Brewer added 14 each.
Russell Westbrook had 38 points for the Thunder while Durant scored 25 and grabbed 14 rebounds.


text:
In such a fragile and volatile society, how can brands ensure that their actions are authentic, sincere and credible?
thisisbravetalk asks the burning question on matters that matter, curates inspiration for hungry design enthusiasts, challenges the average, sparks light bulbs and celebrates ideas, brands and people that are actively paving the path to the future.
Run by bluemarlin, contributors include brand provocateurs, strategic mavericks, creative gurus, talented upstarts, prophetic influencers and super-smart experts.
To view our portfolio or connect with our team, please visit, www.bluemarlinbd.com


text:
Taiwan ODD market: Competition expected to heat up in 2005
Market competition is expected to become more intense than in 2004, according to Taiwan-based ODD makers.
Pioneer was the first foreign brand to compete with leading Taiwan ODD makers Lite-On IT, BenQ and Asustek Computer. Then, HLDS, NEC and TSST entered the Taiwan market with DVD burners in the first half of 2004, and Philips did the same this quarter.
In the past, Lite-On IT, BenQ, Asustek and Pioneer have recorded market shares of 30%-40% for certain models of CD-ROM drive, DVD-ROM drive and CD-RW burner in Taiwan. As HLDS, NEC, TSST and Philips are planning to introduce Combo drives, slim-type Combo drives, slim-type DVD burners or other types of ODD in 2005, the expectation is that the increased competition will make it impossible for each of the three local and the five foreign brands to have a market share that exceeds 30%, the Taiwan-based ODD makers pointed out.
From DigiTimes


text:
Positive Experience with Accel London
Fund: Accel Partners
Posted by RalfM on 2007-09-18
We pitched with one of my German clients (Web 2.0 business) to Accel Partners in London.
While Heikki Makijarvi (Venture Development at Accel London) has a difficult to pronounce Finn name (you better practice before you meet him ;-) is he a very smart and nice guy. Heikki has quickly setup a productive meeting with Kevin Comolli (Managing General Partner at Accel) a very experienced VC. Heikki and Kevin assessed the opportunity and drilled deeper into the subject. Even while they finally decided to not invest, gave they us some hints of how to better bring our message across and informed us honestly about their decision logic.


text:
After a month-long vacation, the 1st National Soccer League is returning strong today with four games beginning tonight, according to Al-Watan daily.
The hiatus was because of Al-Fiter feast. The most hyped match is expected to be between the league leader Al-Orouba (21 points) against 8th place Ruwa (10 points). Ruwa is hoping that playing at home will give them the winning edge.
Another match is between second place Al-Seeb (19 points) that will face last place Fanjaa (2 points). Al-Seeb needs this win if it stands a chance of overtaking the league leaders. Fanjaa needs the win just to stay alive.
In the third game, 6th place Boshar (12 points) will meet 4th place Al-Suwaiq (15 points). Boshar's coach recently resigned.
In the fourth clash, 7th place Dhofar (11 points), will meet Sour Club, which is second to last place with 8 points.
A fifth game was scheduled between Al-Nassr and Sohar but was delayed because the former is playing in the Gulf Football Championship.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)


text:
Moby Wrapmb001
Product Details
The superior design of the Moby Wrap uses your entire back, as well as your shoulders, to carry the weight of your baby. Unlike other carriers, which have narrow straps or go across one shoulder, the Moby Wrap is a wide piece of fabric that is wrapped over both shoulders. It is amazingly comfortable and easy to wear. There are no buckles, snaps or other fasteners. It is easy to adjust the fit of your Moby Wrap by varying how tightly you wrap yourself and your baby. The Moby Wrap is long enough to adapt to your growing baby. The fabric can hold up to 45 lbs, and most people feel comfortable carrying up to 35 lbs.There are many ways to wear your Moby Wrap. Your can wear your baby facing you, facing the world,sideways or on your back. When not being used as a carrier, the Moby can be used as blanket, pillow or anything else that comes to mind.


text:
Anime World Order Show # 77b - Please Don't Take My Baby Robot
Here's the second half of Show 77 with our special guest Mike Toole. It contains Gerald's review of Five Star Stories and Clarissa's review of The Big O.
Click Here to Download
Gerald and Clarissa have their notes for their segments, so pictures and such are forthcoming. Hopefully they can add them in less time than it takes for Daryl to add notes for his.
Review: Five Star Stories (0:00 - 39:42)
As Howard Stern so deftly put it one New Year's Eve so very long ago, FIND OUT WHICH ONE OF THESE GIRLS IS A MAN
Review: The Big O (39:42 - 1:25:35)
This segment TOM JOWNS. Let me show you the REAL Big O:
Closing (1:25:35 - 1:29:29)
Next time, Daryl's getting himself into trouble by finally talking about Mamoru Oshii for the first time on this podcast. May as well go for broke: he's talking about Angel's Egg...and yes, In The Aftermath. Gerald will be reviewing the much-requested Roujin Z, and Clarissa completes her jailbait dudes in armor trifecta by reviewing Shurato. We haven't recorded this yet, and this weekend is technically a convention. So uh...see you when we see you!


text:
Because Washington Redskins left tackle Trent Williams was mic'd up for Sunday's 24-14 wild-card loss to the Seattle Seahawks, we now have a firsthand look into Robert Griffin III's painful evening.
The Redskins' rookie quarterback left the game in the fourth quarter after twisting his right knee during an attempt to gather an errant snap. Griffin's injury led to Wednesday's surgery to repair damaged lateral collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments, but debate still exists about when RG3 was first hurt.
Redskins coach Mike Shanahan argued his quarterback was injured on the play before the errant snap, but Griffin first was seen hobbling around in the first quarter, after a rollout that led to an incomplete pass. Griffin tossed a 4-yard touchdown strike on the following play to put the Redskins ahead 14-0.
Sometime after that drive, Griffin and Williams shared this private conversation that's now public, thanks to NFL Network's "SoundFX," which aired Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. ET:
Williams: Are you sure you're all right, bro?
RG3: Yeah, I'm going to be safe.
Williams: You tweaked it when you were trying to back up?
RG3: Yeah, my foot kind of went wah-wah.
Williams: Did that shock you a little bit?
RG3: Yeah, scared the (expletive) out of me (laughs).
Williams: All right, be smart.
RG3: I will. I promise.
In the end, of course, it didn't go well for Griffin. His doctor stated Wednesday he expects the electrifying passer to be ready in time for next season. That's the expectation in Washington, and that's the hope for Robert Griffin III.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.


text:
Inside Google's Mountain View skunkwork operations, tucked away from the company's main headquarters, about four dozen hand-picked developers gave Google's new "Wave" service its first run-through today. The service is pre-alpha -- geekspeak for software that's still in heavy development -- and the focus group is being paid not in cash, but in sandwiches and soft drinks.
Talk about a throwback scene. I have to blink to remember that I'm not back at Netscape headquarters circa 1998. The absence of Skittles tips me off.
What's Wave, and why is it energizing developers in a way we haven't seen in a decade? According to project leader Lars Rasmussen, it's email "if it were invented today." It's also a new way to communicate with others over the internet.
Wait a minute: New email means no need for the much-maligned Microsoft Outlook. Could Wave, being pitched by Google as a way to bring people and companies together in a utopian future, actually be its secret weapon to make Microsoft obsolete?
Think about it. Look down at the bottom of your screen, and you're probably seeing (as I am) at least three browsers opened to different operations: Twitter, Gmail, finance, a blog. Add in Outlook, and you've got a lot of mouse-moving and clicking ahead of you every time your computer so much as beeps. What if all that goes away, and you can find everything stacked up neatly in one place. If you're a heavy Twitterhead, think "Tweetdeck" with a little more personalization.
The example Rasmussen shows me is the blog you just commented on. Instead of having to click back to see who else has commented, the Wave gives you a steady stream of information about the blog. Same with email, and any other chatting you're doing. It's admittedly a Grand Central Station of information that at first makes my head spin (imagine this much stuff condensed onto the screen of your smart phone!), but I have to admit: it is all in one place.
Microsoft has coasted for so many years on its Outlook, it's almost impossible to imagine a world without it. But while Google is not listing "obliterate Microsoft" in its goals for Wave, imagine if it really succeeds. For that to happen, lots of other companies, and lots of users, have to get onboard. A wave is only powerful if it can rise, and then keep going.
If Google's Wave rises, and gets enough momentum, look out. Microsoft may get very wet.


text:
Budget Battles
Trump and Pelosi Still Working on Drug Prices: Report
Seema Verma Won't Say What the Plan Is if Obamacare Gets Struck Down
Obamacare Premiums Are Going Down for 2020 — and the Trump Administration Is Claiming Credit
Buttigieg Would Hike Corporate Taxes to Pay for His Health Plan
Warren Says She'll Release a Medicare for All Finance Plan
Pelosi Pushes Ahead on Drug Bill Despite Clashes With Trump
The $30 Trillion Question Haunting Elizabeth Warren's Campaign
Why Trump Might Want Another Government Shutdown
President Trump has been known to raise the stakes in political battles, especially when he's holding a weak hand. Now, political insiders in both parties worry that he might do it again, Jonathan...
Fighting Corruption in Ukraine? Trump's Budgets Suggest OtherwiseBy Michael Rainey
President Trump has insisted that the controversial delay in the disbursement of military aid to Ukraine earlier this year was driven by his deep concerns about corruption in the Eastern European...
Warren Proposes to Increase Spending on Public Education by $800 BillionBy Michael Rainey
Sen. Warren released an education plan Monday that calls for raising federal funding for public schools to $450 billion over 10 years, roughly four times current levels, according to Bloomberg News...
A November Government Shutdown Is Growing More LikelyBy Michael Rainey
The dizzying whirl of events in Washington on Wednesday – including a House vote condemning President Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from northern Syria and an explosive meeting at the White House...
Trump Signs Executive Order Aimed at Curbing New Agency Spending
President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at cutting spending at federal agencies by requiring them to offset any increased outlays on mandatory programs with other cuts. The "...
Trump Suffers Two Legal Defeats on Immigration and Border Policies
The Trump administration suffered a pair of legal defeats on major immigration policies Friday, as a federal judge in Texas ruled that the president acted unlawfully in declaring a national emergency...
House Appropriations Chair Nita Lowey Won't Seek Reelection in 2020
Rep. Nita Lowey, the New York Democrat who chairs the influential House Appropriations Committee, announced Thursday that she will not seek reelection next year. The 82-year-old Lowey has served in...
The Budget Outlook Isn't Good — but It Has 'Improved Substantially Since 2010': Report
The national debt is now approaching $23 trillion, up nearly $9 trillion from the end of 2010, and the debt held by the public now stands at nearly $17 trillion, up about $7.5 trillion from since the...
Trump Wants States to Experiment With Medicaid — Up to a PointBy Michael Ollove, Stateline
After a series of zigzags, Utah is about to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. At least 10 red states have done the same, but Utah's experience may be a bellwether showing how far the...
The Navy's $7 Billion Destroyer Is Now 6 Years OverdueBy Michael Rainey
The U.S. Navy's Zumwalt-class destroyer program has experienced one problem after another, from a failure to maintain power while at sea to a gun that requires munitions so expensive that the Navy...
Why Huge Deficits Could Be Here to StayBy Michael Rainey
Even as annual deficits climb back toward the $1 trillion mark, "the deficit fear-factor" continues to recede in Washington, says Bloomberg's Steve Matthews, reporting on a debate organized this week...
States Get a Third of Their Revenue from Uncle SamBy Michael Rainey
The federal government provided 32.4% of all state revenues in the 2017 fiscal year, according to a new analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts. That's roughly in line with the year before, when...
2019 Deficit Was Just Under $1 Trillion, Highest in 7 Years: CBO
The federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2019 grew to $984 billion, or 4.7% of GDP, the highest since 2012, the Congressional Budget Office estimated on Monday. The total for 2019 is 26% higher...
How Much Would Trump's Snake-and-Alligator-Filled Border Moat Cost?By Michael Rainey
President Trump has asked his staff to investigate some pretty extreme options related to border security, according to a forthcoming book by Michael D. Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis of The New...
Americans Like Most Major Federal Agencies — Except One
The American public's trust in the federal government is at a historically low level , with just 17% of adults telling pollsters earlier this year that they trust the government to do what is right...
Budget Directory
- (-) Remove Analysis filter Analysis
- (-) Remove Partner filter Partner
- (-) Remove Service filter Service
- Blog (1) Apply Blog filter
- Book Review (1) Apply Book Review filter
- Column (1) Apply Column filter
- Feature (1) Apply Feature filter
- Latest-News (1) Apply Latest-News filter
- News (1) Apply News filter
- Op-Ed (1) Apply Op-Ed filter
- Opinion (1) Apply Opinion filter
- Photo-Gallery (1) Apply Photo-Gallery filter
- Quick Hit (1) Apply Quick Hit filter
- Research (1) Apply Research filter
- Slideshow (1) Apply Slideshow filter
- Slideshow-Best (1) Apply Slideshow-Best filter


text:
Personal Trainers in Boulder, CO
North Boulder Iris Super Sport - View club info
2900 Iris Avenue
Boulder, CO 80301
Browse the profiles below to learn more about our Personal Trainers in Boulder, CO. Once you've found your trainer, you can purchase personal training sessions online. We'll do our best to match you up with the personal trainer that you choose but availability may vary.*
Not ready to choose a trainer?
Purchase a Personal Training package and choose a trainer in club.
Install 24GO App to Request a Free Fit Appointment


text:
Aesop Rock "ZZZ Top" (2012)
Hip-Hop Top 5 Week ending 7/12/12
1) Aesop Rock Skelethon (Rhyemsayers Ent.)
2) El-P Cancer4Cure (Fat Possum)
3) Killer Mike R.A.P. Music (Williams Street)
4) J Dilla Rebirth of Detroit (Yancey Music Group)
5) Azealia Banks 1991 EP (Interscope)
Like El-P, whose Cancer4Cure is his first album since 2007, another hip-hop artist who can patiently keep fans waiting five years before dropping a new album is Aesop Rock. And this week Aesop Rock, who used to be on El-P's currently on hiatus Def Jux label, returns triumphantly after half a decade between albums with a stellar new full-length: Skelethon on Rhymesayers Entertainment.. The album does not disappoint with powerful songs like "ZZZ Top" (video above), the opening "Leisureforce," "Homemade Mummy," and the lead single "Zero Dark Thirty." With Aesop's usual barrage of intricate lyrics luckily the physical release comes with a lyrics sheet. Another new release this week is a re-release of an older hip-hop album: The Pharcyde's 1992 Bizarre Ride II: The Pharcyde [Expanded Edition] which differs from the original two-decade old classic in that it is a triple disc set with the original album in its entirety, plus two additional discs including instrumentals, remixes, and "B-cydes" plus really nice packaging that include some classic old photos of the legendary SoCal hip-hop crew and enlightening liner notes from producer J-Sw!ft. And in honor of this most welcome reissue/extended set here is one of the great tracks from that hip-hop classic: "Passin' Me By,"


text: Popular satirist Bassem Youssef, who has come to be known as Egypt's Jon Stewart, waves as he enters Egypt's state prosecutors office on Sunday. Amr Nabil/AP hide caption toggle caption Amr Nabil/AP The Two-Way U.S. Embassy Tweets Jon Stewart's Egypt Monologue; Diplomatic Incident Ensues April 3, 2013 The embassy tweeted a link to Stewart's monologue mocking Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. The tweet offended the Egyptians, so the embassy deleted its entire Twitter account. It then restored the feed without the offending tweet.


text:
Free shipping over € 149
Free shipping over € 149
KU platter is the perfect accessory for table service. The oval shape and the slightly accentuated rim make it easy to use. The platter is made of white porcelain like the other objects which make up KU tableware.
Refinement and uniqueness, essentiality and elegance... these are the peculiarities of KU plate collection in porcelain, designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito. A set of uniquely designed dishes, which have circular shapes and curved forms enhanced by the brightness of white porcelain. The KU series is dedicated to those who love having an unpredictable and surprisingly refined elegance in the table.VIEW THE COMPLETE RANGE
Toyo Ito was born in 1941. He graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1965 and worked in the office of Kiyonori Kikutake until 1969. In 1971, he founded his own office Urban Robot (URBOT), which was renamed Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects in 1979. He is the recipient of many awards, including Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, Royal Gold Medal from The Royal Institute of British Architects and The Pritzker Architecture Prize, etc. Among his best-known buildings are Sendai Mediatheque; Tama Art University Library (Hachioji campus); Torres Porta Fira (Spain); Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, Imabari; National Taiwan University, College of Social Sciences (Taiwan R.O.C.); 'Minna no Mori' Gifu Media Cosmos, National Taichung Theater (Taiwan R.O.C.), etc.


text:
Da Bears
Fifteen years ago, Sweetness, Samurai,Iron Mike, the Fridge and a comic book's worth of superheroes roared out of Chicago, taking the NFL by storm. By the time, the season was over, they had shuffled their way to the Super Bowl. Reliving that glorious season, the Bears wonder, "Why didn't we ever win it all again?"
by Andrew Santella
GQ, October 2000
Everything about the 1985 Chicago Bears was oversized. Start with the Bears' first-round draft pick that year: a 330-pound defensive-tackle-turned-fullback-turned-pop-sensation named William "the Refrigerator" Perry. Equally enormous were the blowouts the Bears registered: a 44-0 rout of the Cowboys, back-to-back playoff shutouts of the Giants and Rams, a record-setting laugher in the Super Bowl against the Patriots. Then there was the Bears' ample collective ego, made manifest in the "Super Bowl Shuffle," the seminal sports-to-music crossover that has inspired so many imitations. But biggest of all may be the lingering disappointment, the sense of missed opportunity, many of the Bears still harbor: With all that talent, they wonder, how in the world did we manage just one championship?
Gary Fencik: Mike Ditka was the first head coach I had ever had in the NFL that had stated the goals of the organization. (When he took over in 1982), he said our goal is not only to win the NFC Central Division; our goal is not only to win the NFC; our goal is not only to get to the Super Bowl; but it's to win the Super Bowl. And then he said, "Half of you won't be there when we get there."
Mike Ditka: I tried to convince them that we weren't just capable of winning a Super Bowl, we were worthy of winning a Super Bowl.
Dave Duerson: The making of the '85 team all took place in '84. We got in a nasty fight with the Raiders that year and that kind of set the tone. We won the game and we also won the fight. And, you know, we took on a different attitude.
Dan Hampton: We were probably more reckless and aggressive in '84 than we were in '85.
Matt Suhey: Then we walk on the field in San Francisco (in the NFC championship game) and, my God, the pressure was just, wow.
Jay Hilgenberg: They spanked us good that game.
Duerson: They beat us 23-0, they kicked our butts and embarrassed us. They played at a level we'd never seen before. We were completely caught off guard at the speed at which the playoffs were played.
Ditka: They put a lineman (Guy McIntire) in the backfield against us to block at the end of the game. I forgive very easily, I just don't forget. But I knew after that game that I made a commitment personally and they made a commitment personally that we were gonna kick their ass next time we played them, period. That's what I explained to them and that's the way it had to be.
Steve Fuller: That game was the impetus for an offseason program unlike any I'd seen. Everybody had a poor taste in their mouth about how we played. Guys that you never saw working out in March or in late February were in the gym every day.
Already possessing the league's best defense, the Bears used their first-round pick in the 1985 draft on defensive tackle William Perry of Clemson. Defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, who thought the team needed another cornerback, called Perry "a wasted draft choice."
Buddy Ryan: He was a good kid, but he wasn't a very good football player. He could have gone in the fourth round.
Ditka: I thought he was a good football player in every sense. I thought he was one of the better athletes I'd seen and at the time he was an exceptionally big man. He had great quickness, great explosion. He could dunk a basketball.
Ryan: He could dunk the basketball, but he couldn't run down the court twice.
Perry: Buddy just didn't care for no rookies.
Hampton: The thing about it was the hype of the Refrigerator. We got the No. 1 defense in the league and we draft this guy and the media wants to build it up like he's the savior. Save what? We're No. 1. Whatcha gonna do? Anyone that's 350 pounds isn't gonna overwhelm you with work ethic. But the thing was, Fridge had an amazing amount of natural ability, he was a good guy, he took the ribbing and obviously we accommodated him and grew to really, really love the guy.
Hilgenberg: I was happy he was on the Bears so I wouldn't have to play against him in games.
In the third game of the season, a Thursday night game, the injured Jim McMahon replaced Steve Fuller at quarterback in the third quarter and rallied the Bears to a 33-24 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
Jim McMahon: I was in the hospital Monday and Tuesday (with a back injury) and got out Wednesday. I went to practice Wednesday and just kind of sat in the stands with the guys from ABC because Joe Namath was there. And Ditka got (bleeped) off because he thought I wasn't watching practice, I guess. So he told me I wasn't gonna play.
Ditka: He just could not throw the ball during the week.
McMahon: I wasn't planning on playing, but I went out and did my usual pregame stuff and all of a sudden I started feeling pretty good. I don't know if it was adrenaline or what. Sometimes a lot of pain goes away on game day. But during the warmups I was throwing the ball real well and I went up to Ditka and I said, "If you need me tonight, I'm ready."
Ditka: We thought we could play the other way, but we didn't do very well. Of course, he was begging to get in the game the whole game and driving me nuts.
McMahon: I could see it was slipping away. They were doing everything right and we couldn't do anything. I'm convinced to this day that he only put me in the game because he got tired of me chewing his ass out.
Hilgenberg: It was unbelievable what happened next.
McMahon: Finally, he put me in and sent me over the play and it was a screen pass. Minnesota, knowing I'd been hurt, blitzed me the first play. And I come away from the center stumbling a little.
Tom Thayer: Walter (Payton) picked up the blitzing linebacker, knocked the (bleep) out of him. If Walter doesn't make that hit, Jim might have gotten hurt on that play. Walter stood up there and knocked the dog out of him and allowed Jim to make the completion.
McMahon: I looked up and Willie (Gault) was 10 yards behind his guy, so I threw it to him. And he ran under it. Touchdown. Everybody was going nuts and I come off the field and Ditka's (bleeped) off. He says, "What play did you call?" I said, "I called the damn screen pass." He says, "Well, why'd you throw it to Willie?" "Because he was open."
Fuller: Literally, I can remember hundreds of times that year where Jim would walk off the field and Mike would come over and they would literally curse at each other, you know, 30, 35, 40 seconds.
McMahon: He thought he was an offensive coordinator, which he's not.
Fuller: If you look at Mike's history with quarterbacks, you know, don't feel special because he's yelling at you, because he yelled at everybody at that position anyway.
Ditka: I guess in about three-and-a-half minutes, he threw two more (touchdown passes).
McMahon: We got a quick turnover and the next play was designed to be a bootleg pass. The safety jumped the tight end and Dennis (McKinnon) got in behind him and we were two for two. And it should have been three for three. The next play, I saw Willie was gonna beat his man and I threw it to him and bounced it off his head. But as it ended up, I hit Dennis a few plays later on another broken play. That kind of sealed the game.
Ditka: That was the game that really made them believe in themselves a lot more offensively.
Suhey: Jim let it hang out. I mean, Fuller was extremely capable in doing the offense, but McMahon took chances. And for the most part, he was successful.
Three weeks later, the Bears avenged the previous years' season-ending loss to the 49ers, beating San Francisco 26-10. Ditka completed the payback by inserting Perry in the offensive backfield for the game's final two plays and twice calling "34 dive straight." Perry carried both times, picking up two yards on each. They were his biggest rushing gains of the season, and they launched a new phenomenon.
Perry: They asked me to run the ball and block and I said, "Yeah." We started the plays on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It was fine with me, because at that time I was a rookie and the only thing I was doing was on special teams. I wasn't starting on defense yet, so it was just something to be on the team.
Hampton: We put him on offense during the week in practice and we thought it was hysterical.
McMahon: My biggest problem was trying to get my hands and arms out of his when he tried to grab the ball. It's tough to explain to him, you don't grab the ball, I'll put it there. But he saw the ball and he wanted to grab it and everything that was around it. Nearly pulled my arms off a few times.
Ditka: When we got the lead, I put Perry in the backfield and ran him with the ball. And that's where it started.
McMahon: Ditka was just getting back at (49ers coach Bill) Walsh and then all of a sudden it became a pretty good play, because trying to stop him was not fun. Just ask the guys he hit.
Hampton: They put him in the game, it was almost like you could see a magical baton go from their sideline over to ours. It was a transformation. They knew and we knew they were no longer king of the hill. We were.
Ditka: And then in the meetings, we'd say, "Well, if he can block for a touchdown and run for a touchdown, then we'll let him catch a pass for a touchdown." We had a play in where he threw the ball, we thought we could throw a pass for a touchdown. It was something that kind of unified our team. We worked on the goal line in practice and the guys said, "This is gonna be good."
The next week, on Monday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers, Perry lined up at fullback on four goal-line plays, scoring a touchdown and opening big holes on two Payton touchdown carries. The performance turned Perry into a national celebrity. He did commercials for appropriately gastronomic products -- hamburgers, bacon, macaroni and cheese -- and before the season ended he was on the cover of Time magazine.
Hampton: The dynamic of Fridge playing offense, running over George Cumby (of Green Bay) on Monday night, all those things built the lore of the Bears. We were bigger than life and Fridge had a lot to do with that, with his offensive performances. I've seen a lot of damn car wrecks. I've seen a lot of mayhem in my life. Watch him hit George Cumby. Players respect (stuff) like that.
Duerson: That year was really the beginning of professional athletes' taking over the world of endorsements, and Fridge was at the forefront of that. For a rookie to get hype, that was unheard of. You know, hype was for All-Pros, perennial All-Pros. So you know, that was different for a lot of us, particularly those first couple of weeks when the hype came about. As you can imagine, there were some veterans that did a little grumbling.
Fuller: I guarantee you, if you took the whole roster and picked a guy that would probably least likely want the kind of attention that was coming his way, it might have been William.
Duerson: But shortly thereafter, there was enough for everybody.
Hilgenberg: When we traveled, it was almost like we were a rock band or something, the way you see the Beatles, you know, with the crowds.
Duerson: Bear mania just caught the imagination of the entire country. There'd be some 300, 500 fans inside the hotel to greet us everywhere we went. And as the season went on, those numbers grew.
Fuller: With Walter and Jim McMahon, with Mike Singletary, with Perry, with Hampton, strong personalities and great players, when the attention started coming, they got most of it, and deservedly so. But the unusual thing was, the next tier of guys, the journeyman players or good everyday players started (getting attention). When Jim began doing Taco Bell, there was a local opportunity for someone else to fill in. You know, William started doing national ads and the second tier of guys were now assuming a role they had never seen before and never would again. And probably on any other team, your best bet is an autograph on Tuesday morning at the hardware store.
Hilgenberg: Everybody was doing promotional appearances. The offensive line did that poster, the Black and Blues Brothers. It was like a Hollywood team.
In mid-November, the Bears won their 11th game without a defeat, beating the Dallas Cowboys 44-0.
Ditka: I didn't like that. I never felt good about the score of that game. The Dallas organization had always meant a lot to me. Tom Landry was my mentor, my friend. They couldn't do a thing that was right that day and we couldn't do anything that was wrong.
Mike Singletary: The thing for us was, we wanted to send a message. We hadn't beaten Dallas and they were America's team. And we wanted to be America's team.
Hampton: When Ditka showed up in Chicago, you know he comes from (coaching in) Dallas and he would say, "Dallas this and Dallas that." We were so sick, sick, sick of Dallas. We had played down there in the preseason and we got into a bunch of fights. So I said, let me tell you something, when we come back here in November, that little cart that carries people off the field, you better get that sonofabitch with a full tank of gas because we're gonna be ready.
Thayer: If Dallas had had three or four more quarterbacks, they would have had to use them, because our defense was hurting their quarterbacks and they would come out for a few plays and then have to come back in.
Fuller: I've never seen situations where guys were physically beaten up like quarterbacks were that year. It was an incredible amount of times that the guy did not finish the game.
Duerson: The way we whupped up on the Cowboys, it just basically spelled doom for anyone who would have stepped on the field with us.
Hampton: That cart, it got used all day.
In the season's 13th week, the Bears suffered their only loss, 38-24, at Miami, on a Monday night.
Singletary: Man, we were going to go on Monday Night Football and knock Marino out and everything else. We were cocky.
Hampton: We've been practicing in snow for two or three weeks, we fly down on a plane, get on an air-conditioned bus to go to the hotel; of course, we don't leave the air-conditioned hotel. And the first time we hit the heat was that night, pregame, and I about fainted.
Thayer: All of a sudden it's 80 degrees out. A group of us got to the stadium early that day, we're on the field playing football and running long pass routes and catching the ball. I think we got so tired before the game that by the time the game actually started, we had a hard time playing.
Hilgenberg: They whipped us pretty good. That first half everything just fell apart. We had a punt blocked for a touchdown.
Singletary: You knock the snot out of Marino, you're looking for a pick, it bounces off a guy's head, (Mark) Duper gets the ball and he runs for a touchdown.
Hampton: McMahon was down again and we go in there with Steve Fuller, who I love, but we've got the No. 1 running game in football and they've got the No. 28 run defense in the league and so Ditka starts the game by calling six passes, which I mean, honestly, does that make any sense? Oh, he's really gonna throw them off.
Ryan: That was right before the Pro Bowl voting and everyone was playing their own game, trying to be a hero and get to the Pro Bowl.
Duerson: What cost us the game, you know, was Ditka was involved on the defensive side where he should not have been. He was pulling starters out of the game and putting in reserves and he and Buddy got in a rather ugly little fistfight at halftime.
Ryan: We didn't have any confrontation. I don't know where that came from. Mr. Halas hired me to coach the defense and him to coach the offense.
Fencik: Everybody was witness to it. The Orange Bowl doesn't have very large locker rooms, it's a crowded area and Buddy, I know, was visibly upset that we had not been coordinated on defense and I think Ditka threw some gas on the flames and they had words. Everybody was (bleeped) off, players were mad, coaches were mad and you've got 70 really emotionally charged people and your adrenaline's very high. The fact of the matter is everybody is always yelling at everybody because you've got 70,000 people yelling at you. There's no such thing as hushed whispers in the NFL.
Duerson: It was a weak fight. There weren't any exploding blows. I mean, they fought more like cats than dogs.
Ditka: It was no big deal. It hurt to see us not doing well in a national TV game like that. We had a few words. We've had other words and we've had a lot of good words, too, when we had a beer or two or a drink.
Duerson: Quite simply, Mike Ditka wanted to prove to Buddy Ryan that it was his football team. Ditka had no intentions of winning that ballgame. He was making a statement to Buddy that it was his team.
Singletary: (Ditka and Ryan) hate when I say this, but they never understood how much they needed each other. To this day, they won't admit it, but they needed each other. You're talking about two of the greatest coaches of all times and they never got the credit for it because they couldn't put aside their differences to become one.
Fencik: I know a lot of people say, "Well, if you could have won that game, you would have been undefeated." But I look at it quite differently. That game served as a wake-up call that one bad game could keep you from reaching your goal. The loss didn't stop 10 of the Bears from taping, just hours later, the video for a song called "The Super Bowl Shuffle."
Thayer: Consider this. The very next morning, they made the "Super Bowl Shuffle." So it certainly didn't hurt the confidence level of the majority of the players on the team.
Hampton: I said, "How pompous is this? We're talking about the Super Bowl and we've never been?"
Fencik: Every month, every week of my life, I get grief about the "Super Bowl Shuffle."
Ditka: I didn't know too much about it. I said, do whatever you want. But they said a video, I didn't know it was going to be called the "Super Bowl Shuffle." So when I saw it, I said, well, that's just fuel for the other team. The irony of it was, it worked out. We did win the Super Bowl. If we didn't, people would've said, "That's what caused them not to win." Well, maybe this is what caused them to win. Because you've got to have a little bit of ego in this business.
Fencik: I really think "The Super Bowl Shuffle" was like rap before rap. We were like the predecessors of rap. Somebody told me we were up for a Grammy; they wanted us to do "The Super Bowl Shuffle." I was like, you've got to be kidding me. But what it started is fairly commonplace today, to go across different mediums. I think we were one of the first.
Hilgenberg: I figured we better win the Super Bowl now or we're gonna look like jerks. The Bears became the only team to shut out consecutive playoff opponents in the same year, beating the New York Giants 21-0 and the Los Angeles Rams 24-0.
Ditka: Look at the two teams we shut out and it's pretty hard to believe that you could do that. But we did it. Everything Buddy was doing was right and they believed in it totally and they just went out there and were relentless.
Thayer: Sunday mornings, our locker room, it was like a shook-up bottle of champagne ready to blow. It's the most confident before a game in a locker room that I've ever been in my life, just knowing that every game we went out there, we were gonna win.
Ditka: I can still see Singletary going over the top and hitting (Eric) Dickerson for no gain.
Fuller: When the two came together, Eric went backward and went backward with wobbly legs. It was a statement.
Hampton: We used to dog Singletary, "Don't let him drag you for a first down, OK?" And when he hit Dickerson, whacked him in the hole, we were like, all right, all cylinders clicking.
Fencik: To win the NFC Championship Game in Chicago, when Wilber Marhall picked up that fumble and it was snowing and we knew we were going to the Super Bowl. It was a great collective moment. We were hugging, we were happy, but we knew we had one more game.
Hampton: We all wanted to play Miami again.
Ditka: Who's to say, if we'd played the Dolphins again, they might have beaten us again. I thought that wouldn't happen. But our defense was relentless. They weren't going to let it happen.
The Bears went to New Orleans to play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX, and the spotlight on the team intensified. McMahon, in particular, attracted attention. He feuded with the league office about fines for unauthorized advertising on his headbands. (In response to the fines, he wore one in the NFC Championship Game that read ROZELLE, and in the Super Bowl he wore a series that advertised the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the POW/MIA cause and an old college buddy.) He imported an acupuncture specialist to treat his injured backside. He mooned a helicopter. And a New Orleans sportscaster erroneously reported that McMahon had defamed the people of New Orleans. A record number of TV viewers would watch the Super Bowl. But behind the scenes, the Bears already were dealing with a decision that would change the team forever.
Duerson: The night before the Super Bowl, we walk into our meeting room, Buddy Ryan gets up and tells us all he loves us, how proud he is and he starts crying.
Hampton: He said, "No matter what happens tomorrow, you guys will always be my heroes." And we knew exactly what that meant, he was going to Philadelphia, it was his last time ever. So he walks out, and we start watching another reel of film. After about three plays, I couldn't stand it. I got up and kicked the projector over and (Steve) McMichael grabbed the chair and throws it at the chalkboard.
Duerson: One leg pierced the board. And Hampton said, "Well, I guess that's it." We all got up and we walked out. Our meeting lasted five minutes. And we were walking by the offensive players' meeting room, the door was open, and they were in shock. We were done.
Hampton: I went to the bar and had a beer with (actor and Chicagoan) Bill Murray and went to bed. We knew exactly what we had to do all year and we just took care of business.
Singletary: I was the last one (Ryan) let know he was leaving. Gary Fencik came in and sat next to me and I was watching film and he said, "Wow, man, I can't believe Buddy's leaving."
Fencik: Singletary was classic wide-eyed. I realized then that Mike didn't know.
Singletary: I was clueless. It was like Mom and Dad getting a divorce. It broke my heart and I didn't want to talk to him, see him. I had somebody to play for. Playing football is one thing, but when you have somebody to play for, somebody you'd die for, that's when the good stuff happens.
Fuller: Let's put it this way. Less distraction has brought down teams better than we had that year.
McMahon: I was getting death threats at the hotel. Supposedly, I'd done a radio show and said the women of New Orleans were sluts and the men were stupid. No one would stand next to me at practice. There were apartments overlooking the complex and I had to change my number, pretend I was a kicker hanging down at the end of the field. As I was walking back to the Bears' hotel on Saturday, there were fire engines and police cars and there was a bomb threat at our hotel. I thought they'd blown up my roommate. The game was secondary. I just wanted to get out of town alive.
Ditka: We started off the game against the Patriots uptight anyway. We called a running play with the wrong formation in the first series and Walter (Payton) gets hit before he gets the ball. We fumbled.
Thayer: So now if it goes 7-0 and they get some kind of weird confidence boost, it's a different game. But because they held 'em to a field goal, it was 3-0 and then we went on to score 46 unanswered points.
Duerson: If not for the fact that they were already in scoring range, it would have been a shutout. We would not have put our reserves in the game and not allowed the Patriots to score.
Hampton: (Patriots quarterback Tony) Eason was scared to death. I saw this guy in an interview and I said, "Look at his eyes, he's scared to death." And when we walked out there, sure he was scared. Maybe he's a smart guy.
McMahon: New England's only goal that week was to stop Walter Payton and they did a pretty good job of it. But they forgot about everyone else. That's why our play-action passes got big yards, that's why Matt Suhey was able to run for yardage. All we had to do was fake it to Wally and they were going after him.
Duerson: We were at our best on Super Bowl Sunday.
Hampton: I remember being on the sideline and the Jumbotron was playing the "Super Bowl Shuffle" and I remember thinking, "Damn, I should have done that."
As the clock wound down on the Bears' 46-10 victory, a group of defensive players approached team president Michael McCaskey on the sidelines.
Hampton: We went to talk to him about Buddy Ryan. I grabbed him by the neck and I said, "You keep him here and we'll win two or three more Super Bowls." And he said some stupid stuff: (imitating McCaskey) "Well, we're presently talking with him."
The Bears returned to Chicago for a ticker-tape parade. But a national tragedy kept the team from making the customary champions' visit to the White House.
Hilgenberg: The next day is when the space shuttle blew up. That ended the whole hoopla. We never got invited to the White House.
McMahon: We figured we'd be back a few more times. In '85, we were the youngest team in the league.
Hilgenberg: We should have been back. I remember meeting Joe Greene at a banquet a couple years after that and he said, "You know, you can't let an opportunity like that slip by." And we definitely did. I always said when we got our Super Bowl ring that I would never wear this one until we win another Super Bowl. So I never wear my ring.
Ditka: The great football teams that can repeat are really remarkable. We weren't able to do that. And we had the players to do that. But things have to roll your way and they didn't roll our way at the end of the '86 season. If they had rolled our way, we might have repeated and repeated a couple times and not changed so many people over the years.
Ryan: I don't know (what happened). I left. Maybe that had something to do with it.
Thayer: I think we're all guilty. I think the success we achieved in that Super Bowl season and because of the gratitude of the city of Chicago and how popular everyone became, there were so many distractions during the offseason, I don't think any of us prepared ourselves the way we should have.
Hampton: Say what you want about the Steelers, they got it done. Even the Cowboys, a bunch of convicts down there in the early 90s, hell, they got it done. Shame on us. Shame on every one of us. We're all a bunch of punks because we didn't win another one. []


text:
Advance passes for the 2015 Stagecoach Country Music Festival, scheduled for April 24-26, are set to go on sale Thursday morning, organizers announced.
Passes will be up for grabs 10 a.m. Thursday through 6 p.m. Friday online while supplies last, according to a festival news release from Goldenvoice, the producers of the country music festival and its ever-popular counterpart, Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.
The three-day country music event is at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.
General assignment weekend passes are $249, while corral standing pit and corral reserved seating passes are $799. Fees, taxes and shipping are included in the ticket prices while children 10 and under are free.
Payment options include a plan that allows fans to put 20 percent down and pay five equal installments thereafter to pay the ticket off.
An expanded RV Resort will be available again next year. Returning 2014 RV Resort purchasers can purchase an RV pass during the advance sale, according to the release. New applications for the RV Resort, however, will not be accepted until the official line up announcement later this year. Prices are $550 for dry camping, $850 for 30 amp service and $950 for 50 amp service.
For more information on reserved seating options, travel packages or to create an account to purchase tickets, head to www.stagecoachfestival.com.


text:
11-17-2010 02:04 PM - last edited on 11-17-2010 02:09 PM by andyP
Here it is with all the values I can show.
-Blue Frog
Moderator note; picture(s) totalling >50K converted to link(s) Forum Rules
When I run maindiag.exe it doesn't see the drive, thus can't flash it. Is there a BIOS-setting for HotPlug?
Make sure you have your bios SATA setting to "Compatible" not AHCI
Second, boot from USB with hard drive in, run maindiag.exe, should populate with your model, firmware, etc.
If it does populate the make/model/firmware correctly, shutdown, reboot to USB with your hard drive out.
When it boots to c:\, insert your hard drive. Run maindiag.exe again.
This time, the make, model, serial, etc. lines will appear, but will be blank. It will not show your versions.
(This is the hole in the flash routine, it is seeing your drive, but cannot tell the firmware/model, therefore it flashes it. If you try to flash it while it can read your firmware, it will only flash the main firmware, not the initialize firmware because it will check the firmware version and refuse to flash it.)
Proceed with the 2,1,4 routine. It will tell you success or fail after each one.
If you run maindiag.exe with no hard drive in at all, you will not see the make,model,firmware lines at all, it will just say no drive found and return you to the command prompt.
The SATA connector is hot-pluggable by default, that is part of the spec for SATA. So there is no way to turn hot plug on or off in the bios, it is up to the OS to utilize the spec correctly, assign a drive letter, etc., and DOS does not do this which is why it cannot pull the firmware version after the hotplug, but the flash routine still finds the drive.
I must say I find this kind of input checking hair raising
if not is_lenovo()
@towolf wrote:
I must say I find this kind of input checking hair raising
if not is_lenovo()
I think you can interpret it a few ways:
I think #2 is quite likely, #1 is highly improbable, and #3 is a result of #2.
Yeah, but i was referring to the programming logic that went into this flasher.
I don't know what it is, it wasn't enumerated by the BIOS properly, it could be an unknown harddisk, I'm gonna flash it anyway.
@towolf wrote:
I don't know what it is, it wasn't enumerated by the BIOS properly, it could be an unknown harddisk, I'm gonna flash it anyway.
That's useful if the disk is in a bad state, e.g. from a failed firmware flashing.
Usually having to flash firmware is the last ditch option, so it has to work "no matter what."
The error checking routine checks for any OEM firmware.
Lenovo, Dell, HP, etc.
If it finds OEM firmware, it refuses to flash it. Has nothing to do with Lenovo specifically.
Samsung is contractually not allowed to flash the OEM drives.
The firmware is all created by Samsung, then supplied to the OEM. The OEM can then turn off or on features to sell the drives at different price points and lock them into the OEM's known config so you cannot flash from Samsung. There is nothing fancy they are doing to make them more/less compatible, just crippling them or selling them with everything on.
That way you have to get your updates from the OEM. If you bought the drive at Best Buy, after market, then you can use the flash provided from Samsung.
Dell, HP, Corsair, etc. are all the same hardware, different OEM firmware. Everyone except Lenovo has re-released the firmware from Samsung with TRIM enabled for their customers. Lenovo may eventually release it also.
I believe that Lenovo has not released it because it will cause you to lose all of your data if you did not backup properly. Having "Joe the Plumber" run this patch and lose everything then calling Lenovo is not something they want to deal with.
They would rather you continue running with a slower drive and have you call and complain and they can sell you a faster drive, rather than make it easy for an end user to apply this firmware and wipe everything and call them for support.
-Blue Frog
And you are correct Towolf, that is a strange routine....
software - "Hey computer, any idea what drive is installed?"
computer - "Not a clue, I cant even assign it a drive letter"
software - "I know there are a bunch of drives I am not allowed to flash but, if it this drive were one of them, it would tell me. Let's give it a go anyway!"
computer - "Sure, be my guest, flash away!"
But hey, this is what allows us to do this and as stated above I think it is a failsafe for a bad drive so they can flash it anyway.
Also, the Dell folks were using the hotpug method for a quite a while with the Mushkin OEM update, again not specific to Lenovo.
Blue Frog