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Staff Picks: What's Your Favorite Soup in Chicago?
Our favorite dishes.
Hang in there, Chicago. While we are still dealing with something that is honestly being referred to as a "Polar Plunge," doesn't that sound far less frightening than a Polar Vortex? Plus, even though the Chicago Tribune threw enough question marks in the title to make you wonder whether the paper is being honest, by Thursday the temperature might actually creep above freezing for the first time in two weeks. I know! So, what should you do in the meantime to stave off the cold? You should eat soup.
While we've already catalogued some of our favorite winter soups, we've had the chance to do a lot of research since then, so we decided that it was time to see what our staff likes to slurp during a real chill. The results are as varied as you'd expect, covering a number of different cuisines in as many neighborhoods.
Take a look at our picks, weigh in with your own, and let's get through this last ridiculously cold stretch—hopefully, I didn't just jinx us.
- Matzo Ball Gumbo at Inspiration Kitchens
- Pozole Verde at Pueblo Nuevo
- Butternut Squash Soup at State and Lake
- Hot & Sour Soup at Belly Shack
- Birria en Barro at Birriera Zaragoza
- Celery Root Soup at Lula Cafe
- Beef Ball and Tendon Soup at Aroy Thai
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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With on-demand support and ultra-responsive cushioning that outperforms wherever you play, the Nike Zoom KDX Basketball Shoe is as versatile as KD himself. Details honor the Black History Movement and the power of unity and equality in sport.
Locked-In Comfort
Zoned Flyknit fabric integrates areas of lightweight breathability, stretch and support for sock-like comfort and a locked-in feel.
On-Demand Support
Oversize laces wrap the sides of your foot to provide comfortable support when and where you need it.
Responsive Cushioning
Nike Zoom Air delivers ultra-responsive cushioning while allowing your foot to flex naturally. It's thicker in the heel to soften hard landings and thinner in the forefoot to allow better control.
More Details
Answer:we can reach every country.
Answer: in general, the package tracking number is sent within 24 hours, and the package tracking number is sent within 36 hours on the special festival.
Answer: it usually takes 7-9 days forpackage to arrive in the United States. Special festivals are more slow for 2-3 days. If you choose to use DHL transportation, it will be 2 days faster.
Answer: if the product is damaged, we will help you replace the new product.
Answer: if you do not like our product, you need to return the product, we can refund. When we receive the product, the money will return to the credit card automatically.

subset: commoncrawl


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Education Is the Solution!
To begin with, education enables citizens to be aware of their rights and responsibilities, starting from childhood. It also supports the consolidation of a culture based on dialogue and the free expression of opinion in which beliefs and convictions are represented through rational argument and evidence. Education also has the potential to foster independent, conscientious, mature individuals who are able to think in innovative ways.
The second reason why education is so important is the prominent role it plays in social mobility, for example in Egypt. Put simply, a good education leads to a good job with a good salary, allowing qualified individuals to advance within society. The bulk of the working classes in Egypt still believe that a good education provides their children with a secure future. When asked directly, they say: "I want to provide my children with a good education so that they have a better life than mine."
Unjust system
Unfortunately, the chances in the education system are unfairly distributed. The majority of those who would benefit most from the opportunity to climb the social ladder have no access to the good education necessary to achieve social mobility.
The poorest people in society are most at risk of falling through the net. They are often deprived of the basic elements needed to live a dignified life and thus it is not possible for them to attend school – even though it is free.
The education system provides no justice for a large section of the population. The situation is made all the more difficult by the two-tier education system, split between state and private schools. The two-tier system also extends to the state university system in which entire departments and disciplinary fields are only accessible through the payment of fees.
False dichotomy
Politicians have constructed a seemingly inescapable dilemma between the priorities of funding for education and fighting poverty. But actually the opposite is true: Education allows marginalized groups broader access to resources. Extra consideration must be taken for groups on the fringes of society if the injustices of the distribution of national resources are to be eliminated and authoritarian, neo-liberal economic policies are to be changed.
There no justification for the suspension of structural changes on the basis of a lack of financial capital. The dividends which would come as a result of investment in education would benefit not only individuals in question but the entire nation. The benefits would be multiplied through raising the competence level of the population at large in order to avoid further losses. In health and infrastructure, for example, low levels of education are having an extremely negative impact on the national economy.
Fundamental solution
Education has become a product, in part of highly questionable quality, to which the majority of the population have no alternative. It's a fact that certificates are no proof of a good education, they are merely documents that show someone has participated in a particular course. At least in Egypt, a massive gulf exists between the impressive looking diplomas hung on office walls and actual levels of knowledge. The shock generally occurs when people start their first job.
The fundamental solution – which sooner or later everyone needs to be realized – is in the upward revaluation of the teaching profession. This could be achieved through wage increases and stronger incentives to enter the profession through a fair and non-corrupt administrative system. This way, the majority of teachers would be freed from the necessity of offering private tuition in order to secure their livelihoods.
Education is more than just lessons in school. It is a fundamental vision for the future of a nation. The state of a nation's education system says a lot about the level of significance politicians ascribe to individuals in any given society.
Hanan Badr
© Qantara.de 2012
Hanan Badr is a media and communications scientist at the University of Erfurt, Germany. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) doctoral fellow was previously a communications scientist at the University of Cairo.
Editors: Anke Rasper/Deutsche Welle, Lewis Gropp/Qantara.de


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The essential sources to assist in your investigation of the history of your property are the Sands Directories. These were the city-wide address book of the day in use in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria. In Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia a similar directory was in use, and were published by either the Post Office or H. Wise & Co.
Sands Directories | Source: Royal Australian Historical Society Library, Sydney
Sands Directories: Sydney and New South Wales, Australia, 1858-1932
Each issue of the Directory listed householders, businesses, public institutions and officials of the entire Sydney area. The two major components of the Directory were the 'Alphabetical' and the 'Suburban' sections. The first consisted of a single alphabetical sequence of the names of householders, business houses and major organisations, with the address of the associated premises attached. The suburban section provided similar information arranged variously by suburb, locality or local government area as the Directory developed.
The street-by-street listing of householders in Sands is useful for undertaking research on the history of properties. The type of information included is:
- Householder's name and title,
- Street number and house name,
- Householder's occupation or type of business
They are useful in listing the residents of a building, although they may not necessarily be the owners of the property. They also help confirm the date of the house. The easiest way to do this research is to simply take a later volume of the directory and go back until your house no longer appears. You may come across a reference to the property being "vacant" or "house under construction". If so, it's likely your house will appear the following year. The first year in which a property appears in Sands may be considered an indication of when a piece of land was first developed but be cautious, the first listing may in fact be after a period of omission e.g. if the property was vacant for some time.
However, directories are not without their problems. Information was often a year behind and inclusion in them was not compulsory - the fee for being listed putting many off. Other problems identified by the Royal Australian Historical Society, says the society's librarian Donna Newton, include:
- Street names may change
- Street numbering sometimes absent in the early Directories
- Street numbering may change
- House names could change regularly
- Listing may not indicate a change of use or redevelopment
- Sands is not a legal document - the information was collected by Sands' agents who called door to door - and is open to error
- If a property was vacant, then the Sands' agent could not collect information for the site
Where do I find a Sands Directory?
As with all research, start with your local library. These fine institutions may have hard copies or microfiche of the originals, and will likely have free access to Ancestry.com.au or findmypast.com.au, which both have Sands records from various states as part of their collections.
Use the amazing Trove to find a library near you stocking the directory.
Beautiful hard copies of the Sands Directories are available at the Royal Australian Historical Society, at History House, 133 Macquarie Street, Sydney and of course, you can find the Sands at:
- State Library of New South Wales
- State Records NSW, see Archives in Brief 116 - Researching your house or property
Directories across the states:
- Queensland. Post Office Directories. Published 1868 - 1949
- South Australia. Sands and McDougall's. Published 1884 - 1973
- Tasmania. Post Office Directories. Published 1890 - 1948
- Victoria. Sands and McDougall's. Published 1862 - 1974
- Western Australia: Post Office Directories. Published 1893-1949


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Alonzo Church
Born: 14 June 1903 in Washington, D.C., USA
Died: 11 August 1995 in Hudson, Ohio, USA
Click the picture above
to see a larger version
to see a larger version
|Main Index
|Biographies index
Alonzo Church's parents were Mildred Hannah Letterman Parker and Samuel Robbins Church. His father was a judge. He was a student at Princeton receiving his first degree, an A.B., in 1924, then his doctorate three years later. His doctoral work was supervised by Veblen, and he was awarded his doctorate in 1927 for his dissertation entitled Alternatives to Zermelo's Assumption. While he was still working for his doctorate he married Mary Julia Kuczinski at Princeton in 1926. They had three children, Alonzo Jr, Mary Ann and Mildred.
Church spent two years as a National Research Fellow, one year at Harvard University then a year at Göttingen and Amsterdam. He returned to the United States becoming Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Princeton in 1929. Enderton writes in [4]:-
Princeton in the 1930's was an exciting place for logic. There was Church together with his students Rosser and Kleene. There was John von Neumann. Alan Turing, who had been thinking about the notion of effective calculability, came as a visiting graduate student in 1936 and stayed to complete his Ph.D. under Church. And Kurt Gödel visited the Institute for Advanced Study in 1933 and 1935, before moving there permanently.He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1939 and to Professor in 1947, a post he held until 1961 when he became Professor of Mathematics and Philosophy. In 1967 he retired from Princeton and went to the University of California at Los Angeles as Kent Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Mathematics. He continued teaching and undertaking research at Los Angeles until 1990 when he retired again, twenty-three years after he first retired! In 1992 he moved from Los Angeles to Hudson, Ohio, where he lived out his final three years.
His work is of major importance in mathematical logic, recursion theory, and in theoretical computer science. Early contributions included the papers On irredundant sets of postulates (1925), On the form of differential equations of a system of paths (1926), and Alternatives to Zermelo's assumption (1927). He created the λ-calculus in the 1930's which today is an invaluable tool for computer scientists. The article [10] is in three parts and in the last of these Manzano:-
... attempt[s] to show that Church's great discovery was lambda calculus and that his remaining contributions were mainly inspired afterthoughts in the sense that most of his contributions, as well as some of his pupils', derive from that initial achievement.In 1941 he published the 77 page book The Calculi of Lambda-Conversion as a volume of the Princeton University Press Annals of Mathematics Studies. It is effectively a rewritten and polished version of lectures Church gave in Princeton in 1936 on the λ-calculus.
Church is probably best remembered for 'Church's Theorem' and 'Church's Thesis' both of which first appeared in print in 1936. Church's Theorem, showing the undecidability of first order logic, appeared in A note on the Entscheidungsproblem published in the first issue of the Journal of Symbolic Logic. This, of course, is in contrast with the propositional calculus which has a decision procedure based on truth tables. Church's Theorem extends the incompleteness proof given of Gödel in 1931.
Church's Thesis appears in An unsolvable problem in elementary number theory published in the American Journal of Mathematics 58 (1936), 345-363. In the paper he defines the notion of effective calculability and identifies it with the notion of a recursive function. He used these notions in On the concept of a random sequence (1940) where he attempted to give a logically satisfactory definition of "random sequence". Folina [6] argues for the usually accepted view that Church's Thesis is probably true but not capable of rigorous proof. The background to Church's work on computability and undecidability, based on his correspondence with Bernays during the years 1934-1937, is examined by Sieg in [11].
Church was a founder of the Journal of Symbolic Logic in 1936 and was an editor of the reviews section from its beginning until 1979. In fact he published a paper A bibliography of symbolic logic in volume 4 of the Journal and he saw the reviews section as a continuation and expansion of this work. Its aim, he wrote, was to provide:-
...to provide a complete, suitably indexed, listing of all publications ... in symbolic logic, wherever and in whatever language published ... [giving] critical, analytical commentary.The article [5] highlights Church's guiding role in defining the boundaries of the discipline of symbolic logic through this editorial work and testifies to his unflagging industry and conscientiousness and his high editorial standards. The aim of comprehensive coverage, which in 1936 had seemed quite practical, became less so as the years went by and by 1975 the rapid expansion in symbolic logic publications forced Church to give up this aspect and begin to provide only selective coverage. We mentioned above that Church retired from Princeton in 1967 and went to the University of California at Los Angeles. Perhaps this is the place where we should mention why he left Princeton after 38 years of service there. Enderton writes:-
Upon his retirement, Princeton was unwilling to continue accommodating the small staff working on the reviews for the Journal of Symbolic Logic.Church wrote the classic book Introduction to Mathematical Logic in 1956. This was a revised and very much enlarged edition of Introduction to mathematical logic which Church published twelve years earlier in 1944. This first edition was, as he states in the Introduction:-
... the first half of an introductory course in mathematical logic given to graduate students in mathematics [at Princeton in 1943].Haskell Curry in a review of the 1944 work writes:-
It is written with the meticulous precision which characterizes the author's work generally. ... The subject matter is more or less classical, namely, the propositional algebra and the functional calculus of first order, to which is added a chapter summarizing without proofs certain features of functional calculi of higher order. For the expert the chief interest in the tract is that it makes readily accessible careful detailed formulation and proofs of certain standard theorems, for example, the deduction theorem, the reduction to truth tables, the substitution rule for the functional calculus, Gödel's completeness theorem, etc.Manzano writes in [10] that the 1956 edition of the book:-
... defined the subject matter of mathematical logic, the approach to be taken and the basic topics addressed.The book begins with an Introduction which discusses names, variables, constants and functions, and leads on to the logistic method, syntax and semantics. Chapters I and II are concerned with the propositional calculus, discussing tautologies and the decision problem, duality, consistency and completeness, and independence of the axioms and rules of inference. The first order functional calculus is studied in Chapters III and IV, while Chapter V deals mainly with second order functional calculi.
Another area of interest to Church was axiomatic set theory. He published A formulation of the simple theory of types in 1940 in which he attempted to give a system related to that of Whitehead and Russell's Principia Mathematica which was designed to avoid the paradoxes of naive set theory. Church bases his form of the theory of types on his λ-calculus. Other work by Church in this area includes Set theory with a universal set published in 1971 which examines a variant of ZF-type axiomatic set theory and Comparison of Russell's resolution of the semantical antinomies with that of Tarski published in 1976. Another of Church's research interests was intensional semantics which is considered in detail in [3]. The idea developed here was similar to that of Frege, distinguishing between the extension of a term and the intension, or sense, of a term. Church considered this topic for about 40 years during the latter part of his career, beginning with his paper A formulation of the logic of sense and denotation in 1951.
Although most of Church's contributions are directed towards mathematical logic, he did write a few mathematical papers of other topics. For example he published Remarks on the elementary theory of differential equations as area of research in 1965 and A generalization of Laplace's transformation in 1966. The first examines ideas and results in the elementary theory of ordinary and partial differential equations which Church feels may encourage further investigation of the topic. The paper includes a discussion of a generalization the Laplace transform which he extends to non-linear partial differential equations. This generalization of the Laplace transform is the topic of study of the second paper, again using the method to obtain solutions of second-order partial differential equations.
Church had 31 doctoral students including Foster, Turing, Kleene, Kemeny, Boone, and Smullyan. He received many honours for his contributions including election to the National Academy of Sciences (United States) in 1978. He was also elected to the British Academy, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Case Western Reserve (1969), Princeton (1985) and the State University of New York at Buffalo (1990) awarded him honorary degrees.
Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson
Click on this link to see a list of the Glossary entries for this page
List of References (13 books/articles)
Some Quotations (5)
A Poster of Alonzo Church
Mathematicians born in the same country
Additional Material in MacTutor
- Gian-Carlo Rota on Alonzo Church
- An entry in The Mathematical Gazetteer of the British Isles
(Click the link below for those honoured in this way)
|Speaker at International Congress
Cross-references in MacTutor
- History Topics: Word problems for groups
- Chronology: 1930 to 1940
Other Web sites
- Gian-Carlo Rota
- Princeton (Interview with Church)
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (The Church-Turing thesis)
- Mathematical Genealogy Project
- MathSciNet Author profile
- zbMATH entry


text:
Premier Rental-Purchase has perfected the RTO franchise model.
Our proven strategy has made it possible for many experienced operators to open their RTO business, operate their stores, and realize their dreams as thriving entrepreneurs.
Premier provides state of the art support systems for financing, opening, and operating high quality RTO stores. We have developed many industry firsts, including local customized live inventory websites, integrated marketing platforms, purchasing programs, and the first in the industry to provide mobile communication through our "Premier App".
Perhaps our greatest strength is our flexibility and belief in our franchisees! We strive to provide our franchisees the freedom to select the systems that they value, and to see what works best for their own business aspirations. Premier's unique philosophy gives franchisees the freedom to run their business independently with the security of knowing our support systems are in place for them at any time.
You are in control of your destiny. We do all we can to support you along the way.
Join Our Franchise
Premier puts the management of the business in the hands of the franchisee. Our goal is to enable businessmen and women to successfully establish and grow a business within a network of nationwide franchise locations. It is very important for us to continually provide our franchisees with the very best tools and support systems necessary to assist them in growing their business.
Premier has the advantage of understanding that we are all here to be successful. "Together we Succeed"! As a result this is one of our Core Values. Premier is unlike any of our competitors. We use our Core Values, talents and unique franchise system to make Premier Great!
Together, as franchisor and franchisees, we strive to value our core values every day, either at work or in our personal lives. We live by these core values in all decisions we make.
Now that we have peaked your interest, we are certain you want to find out more. That's easy. Call us or complete the form and we will be sure to answer all your questions. Once we receive your inquiry, you will be contacted by a Premier Team Member.
Phone: 800-277-3643
5248 Olde Towne Road, Suite 11
Williamsburg, VA 23188
The Premier Companies, 5248 Olde Towne Rd., Suite 11, Williamsburg, VA 23188, 800-277-3643, The information contained on this website is for general informational purposes and is not intended as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. Certain states regulate the offer and sale of franchises. Our registrations for certain of The Premier Companies have not yet cleared in all of these states. When you contact us, we will determine if you are covered by one of these laws. If you are, and we are not yet registered under that state's law, we can determine how quickly we can offer a particular franchise to you. California: These franchises have been registered under the franchise investment law of the state of California. Such registration does not constitute approval, recommendation or endorsement by the commissioner of corporations nor a finding by the commissioner that the information provided herein is true, complete and not misleading. New York: This advertisement is not an offering. An offering can only be made by a franchise disclosure document filed with the Department of Law of the state of New York. Such filing does not constitute approval by the Department of Law of the state of New York.


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MAKE Asks: is a weekly column where we ask you, our readers, for responses to maker-related questions. We hope the column sparks interesting conversation and is a way for us to get to know more about each other.
This week's question: What do you do with a project once it's completed?
When I finish a project I like to put together a blog post documenting the build and the final product. This isn't just an act of self-fulfillment — once it's up on the internet I hope it can help and/or inspire others with their own projects. I also like to keep an eye out for public venues to show my work. At the very least I show it to friends to get feedback.
Post your responses in the comments section.


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Many persons with disabilities do not have access to effective exercise programs or opportunities to participate in an active lifestyle. There is ample evidence that exercise can result in health benefits and improve quality of life in those with disabilities. However, exercise must be appropriate to each population to address their unique needs in order to induce optimal health benefits. The Exercise for Persons with Disabilities (ExPD) program provides suitable exercise activities for health, leisure and sport for people with disabilities such as spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and peripheral neuropathy.
The EXPD program specializes in Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) rowing for individuals with Spinal Cord Injury. FES is a technology that allows paralyzed muscles to contribute to whole body exercise. In this way, both the paralyzed legs and innervated arms are under voluntary control and higher exercise intensities can be reached and sustained. In fact, some FES-rowers have achieved unprecedented work rates comparable to those of able-bodied rowers.
You will be individually evaluated and have an exercise prescription specifically tailored to your needs and capabilities. Your progress is monitored closely, and the exercise prescription is reevaluated frequently. Typically, a combination of FES (Functional Electrical Stimulation) and upper body strength training, arms only rowing, and FES-rowing is used to optimize your performance and functional capacity.
In addition to our specially adapted rowing machines, you can also use our SkiErg machine that mimics cross-country skiing, a pneumatic resistance trainer to improve muscular strength, a recumbent stepper, and a stationary arm cycle. This variety of equipment provides opportunity for people with many different types of conditions to perform meaningful exercise.
Benefits of participating in the ExPD program can include an increase in aerobic capacity, an increase in lower extremity bone mass, and an improvement in blood lipid profile. An additional benefit is that the exercise is performed in a group setting, allowing you to encourage other participants. Recently, we have expanded to Community Rowing, Inc. This move enables our rowers to integrate themselves into Boston's rowing community.
The ExPD program is overseen by Exercise Physiologists, who are trained in keeping individuals with chronic diseases, such as Spinal Cord Injury, as fit and healthy as possible through the use of aerobic conditioning and strength training. Our team is familiar with a wide range of chronic conditions and is experienced in advanced technologies such as oxygen consumption measurement and heart rate monitoring. Our job is to provide you with an individualized exercise program. Currently, the EXPD program is the only program in the United States that offers FES rowing, giving our staff unparalleled expertise in this emerging form of exercise.
Dr. J. Andrew Taylor is the Principal Investigator for Spaulding's Cardiovascular Research Lab. Dr. Taylor holds a Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Arizona. He is also an Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and a Fellow of the American Heart Association. He has published over 50 research articles on topics such as the impact of microgravity on blood pressure control in astronauts, the effects of exercise on human aging, and most recently the beneficial effects of functional electrical stimulation of the legs for rowing exercise in those with spinal cord injury.
Glen Picard is the Director of The Exercise for Persons for Disability Program with a Master's degree in Exercise Science. He has worked as a clinical exercise physiologist and researcher for over 10 years and has held both the Health Fitness Instructor and the Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist certifications from the American College of Sports Medicine.
Meghan Pronovost is a Research Exercise Physiologist with a Master's degree in Health and Exercise Science and is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a Certified Exercise Specialist. In addition to her work with the ExPD Program, she also has a background in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation
Spaulding Rehabilitation Network is dedicated to researching new treatments in the field of spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Spaulding researchers, including physicians and other clinicians, are working on several research studies and clinical trials.Research ProgramExercise for Persons with Disabilities Program (ExPD) Program
DescriptionThis program provides the opportunity for people with various disabilities to perform exercise in a safe, monitored environment. Types of exercise included, but not limited to, are FES rowing, non-FES rowing, strength training, and other forms of aerobic exercise.
Research ProgramBone Health and SCI
DescriptionA spinal cord injury may greatly increase a person's risk of bone fractures. Adapted rowing, combined with functional electric stimulation, may reduce this risk by improving bone health. A Department of Defense funded study currently is seeking people with thoracic SCI to participate in a clinical trial of FES-rowing.
The ExPD Program is based at the following locations. Click on the name of the facility for more information.
Spaulding Hospital for Continuing Medical Care CambridgeSpaulding Rehabilitation Hospital BostonCommunity Rowing, Inc.
The following services are related to the ExPD program. Click on the program names below for more information.
Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation


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Varvaro showing Braves he can be counted on
NEW YORK -- With Eric O'Flaherty and Jonny Venters sidelined for the remainder of this season, the Braves are looking for some of their less-experienced relievers to prove they have the talent and mental resolve to handle crucial late-inning situations.
After allowing a pair of runs amid the torrential downpour that soaked Citi Field as the Mets produced a game-tying eighth-inning rally on Friday night, Anthony Varvaro returned to the mound when the suspended game resumed on Saturday. While tossing a perfect ninth inning under a sunny sky, he gave the Braves a chance to claim a 10-inning victory and also enhanced the coaching staff's confidence in his abilities.
"He's got good stuff," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Last year when he came up, we didn't want to put him in the game because of the inconsistencies, walks and all that kind of stuff. But now you learn that you are comfortable with him, so you put him in situations."
Varvaro had surrendered a run in just three of his previous 17 appearances before being subjected to Friday's nearly unplayable conditions.
"[Catcher Brian McCann] came out and said, 'I'm struggling to get the ball back to you, so let's just do everything we can just to get it over the plate.'" Varvaro said. "I [said], 'Realistically, I can only throw a straight ball right now and I don't know if it's going in the dirt. I'm just trying to get the ball to you over some white part of the plate.'
"I don't want to say I had a little bit of a disadvantage. But if the conditions were a little bit better, maybe the outcome would have been as it was yesterday. But ultimately, [Saturday's] inning was just as important as the night before. So my goal was just to go out there and put up a zero. Thankfully, I did."


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Lead Sound Designer at Zero Point Software.
At ZPS we have high ambitions regarding the sound of the Interstellar Marines universe. We believe that sound is 50% of the experience. And as a small development team it might seem a bit luxuriously to have one fulltime composer and one fulltime sound designer, but that just explains how dedicated we are to deliver a kick ass audio experience in our games.
The two keywords in our approach to the sound design are "immersion" and "realism". We need you to believe that you really ARE a Marine, and that the world surrounding you is "real". But again quite often reality sounds a bit boring, so we have actually extended the term "realism" to be more than that - you might call it "heightened realism" - to empathize the overall experience.
Reverb for the world
First of all this IS a shooter, and primarily it should be fun and thrilling to shoot your weapon, so we want the shooting experience to be loud, violent and asskicking! A lot of the shooting experience is the reverb - basically if you fire a weapon in an acoustically "dead" room without reverb, you will only hear a short "pop". So we needed a cool reverb system to spice it up.
In the current version of Unity (the game engine we are using) there is NO reverb system included, but in the next version (Unity 3.0), there will be a basic realtime reverb system. So in order to have any reverb at all in Running Man I had to make my own system...
In a lot of the games I have played, the reverb experience have been restricted to only one flimsy sounding realtime reverb of the room the player is located in. Which means that if the player is located in a small room and a grenade explodes in a larger adjacent room, you don't hear the reverb from the large room applied to the grenade sound, but instead you hear the sound of the grenade with the small reverb added... as the player is located in the small room... (hope this makes sense).
What I wanted to do was to have multiple reverbs, so that you hear the correct reverb added to each sound, instead of one global reverb added to all sounds.
On top of this I also wanted to add an echo, so that you hear a "bounce" from the walls, as well as having the reverbs "bleed" from one room to another.
This called for an entirely new, but very simple and effective, reverb design that I never have seen in any game before! Let me try to explain it...
Shoot that Target...
I devide a level into "Reverbvolumes". A reverbvolume is basically an invisible box, which holds some informations of what kind of reverb should be added when a sound is played inside it. Each reverbvolume also hold the position of a "Target Reverbvolume".
So when a sound is played, It checks to see which reverbvolumer it's located in, and then adds the appropriate reverbtype to the sound. Some sounds are also set to play a "Target reverb", which means, that the sound again looks at the reverbvolume for the position of a "Target Reverbvolume", and plays the appropriate "Target reverb" at that position.
You can hear the result best by plugging in some headphones to your computer and start up Running Man. Fire your SMG (without silencer) in any room, and you will hear an echo from a distinct location. When you are in a small room, next to a large room, you will hear the small reverb from the room where you are located, AND the reverb from the large room through the door or opening between the small and the large room.
The reverb in Running Man and Bullseye is not a "realtime" reverb, which means that the reverb added is "prerendered/prebaked" as separate audiofiles. So when a sound is played, and the appropriate reverbtype and targetreverbtype is determined, I play two or three audiofiles at once: the direct sound, the reverb sound and the positioned targetreverb sound if needed.
One small bonus of using "prerendered" reverb is that I can use really really high quality reverbengines for rendering the reverb. The type of reverb I'm using in this case is a "convolution reverb", which if I ran it as a realtime reverb would be quite processor heavy.
Enjoy Running Man, and remember that this game should be played loud! ;-)
Cheers, Kenneth
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For all Unity developers and developers-to-be, both beginners and professionals!
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Sunday, December 27, 2009
#310 Barça for Nadal
We met in Barcelona for a family Christmas. Roast Turkey on Friday and out on Saturday to a tapas restaurant called Segons Marcat for:
Pernil Patates Ous
Muscles Cloises Escopinyes
Sepionetes en la seva tinta
Carchofes amb foie
Amenida de Ventresca de Tonyina, Ceba i Tomàquet
Bolets amb Butifarra Negre i Blanca
Pa amb Tomàquet
which roughly translated is:
Ham and Potatoes with Fried Egg
Mussels, Clams and Cockles
Squid in its ink
Artichokes with Foi Grasse
Tomato & Tuna Salad
Mushrooms with White & Black Sausage
Tomato Toast
Posted by John Lillie at 7:57 pm No comments: Links to this post
Labels: reports
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
#309 Square Fish
You know when you get an oblong plate, it's going to be expensive!
And so too was my Monkfish with a Praying Prawn, two Mussels, a Garlic and a few Spuds (nice though).
It's also expensive on the autopista on the way to Barcelona. Sally chose a piece of Cheesecake with her coffee. Cake 4.25€ - and it wasn't even on an oblong plate!
I'm only guessing, but I think this is one twelfth of a whole cake - total income 50.50€ less staff shrinkage, say 48€. Cost of cake 6, 7 or 8 euros? Profit margin= Huge.
Posted by John Lillie at 12:34 pm No comments: Links to this post
Labels: food
Sunday, December 06, 2009
#308 Magical Mystery Tour 2003
A trip round Spain's Vias Verdes on a Merlin Metalworks Titanium Newsboy Mountain Bike.
lots of words, tap your space bar about 12 times to jump through this post.
In September 2003 I bought a new bike, a very rare (only 100 ever made) Merlin Metalworks Titanium Newsboy mountain bike and wanting to giver it a good ride. Looking around for an interesting trip, I found an advert for a Magical Mystery Tour - a voyage round Spain's Vias Verdes. These Vias Verdes or Green Ways are old railway lines that have been converted to pathways and maintained for the pleasure of cyclists and walkers. So Sally and I signed up and took ourselves off to Spain.
Our programme started in Madrid, we would travel round Spain, stopping at some of the major cities such as Seville and Barcelona. We would get some culture when in Bilbao by visiting the Guggenheim Museum and in Mérida for an archaeological visit to some Roman ruins. One night would be spent in an old railway station converted into a hotel, and another relaxing at a spa. More importantly, from my point of view, we would be sampling the cuisine in each region; tapas in Madrid, paella on the Costa Brava, fabada in Asturias (don't ask - it's a bean dish which repeats itself at embarrassing moments) and hopefully a constant supply of red Rioja wine - preferably a nice old 'Gran Reserve'
Day 1 - Sunday 5th October - Vía Verde de La Jara.
Last night, we met up with the rest of the group in Madrid and were given a reception at the Spanish Railway Headquarters in the imposing Fernan Nuñez Palace where our tour was explained by Señor Joaquín Jiménez Otero, President of the European Greenways Association. A convivial dinner in a local restaurant, accommodation in a three star hotel. This morning we depart from Atocha railway station on a regional train. Our guide for the next two weeks is Alberto Hernandez Colorado - Tetto to his mates.
An hour and a half later we arrive at Talavera de la Reina (Toledo). Then a short journey in a minibus, and we jump on our bikes to start the descent of the Vía Verde de La Jara through amazing mountains, great granite rocks and a spectacular viaduct over the Azután reservoir. The construction of this line was halted because of the Spanish Civil War and was never restarted, in fact the rails were never laid and so no train ever ran down this 52km route. There are several tunnels to negotiate, one I found 'entertaining' because it was quite long and unlit, but as I could see light at the far end I didn't bother to unpack my headlamp. However, half way through the light from behind ran out and it became virtually pitch black. Trying to keep balance with nothing to relate to was a bit alarming, even more so as the sound under my wheels seemed to indicate that the grit was getting thicker. I must admit I unclipped my shoes and was ready to walk, but then the light from the far end began to penetrate and I made it through on two wheels.
We stopped half way through the stage for a picnic lunch, Spanish style; bocerones (marinated anchovies), cepas (big, wild mushrooms), bacon and venison - with wine. To follow, thick slices of sweet melon and then very black coffee. Today was mostly dead straight with a good hard surface so quite an easy ride. The day ends at the railway station at Calera y Chozas where we climbed into the vans for the transfer to our hotel in Trujillo in the province of Cáceres.
Day 2 - Culture
No riding today, we go to Seville with a stop to see the Roman theatre and amphitheater in Mérida. Last night in Trujillo was spectacular. The beautiful cobbled square in the mediaeval town centre was a perfect setting for another memorable meal and a nice hotel. On top of the church tower a stork was sitting on its nest. In fact, it comes back each year and adds another layer to its nest which is now estimated to weigh over a tonne.
Day 3 - Vía Verde de la Sierra - Day of the Tunnels
We go to Puerto Serrano (Cádiz) the start of the Vía Verde de la Sierra to Olvera, a 36 km route along the Guadalete River and through the unique Zaframagón Vulture Reserve. No need for suncream today as we have 27 tunnels to go through. Although we have been issued lights, all the tunnels are lit and have sensors which switch on the lights as we arrive at each entrance. As well as seeing the vultures wheeling overhead we pass a few goat farms with black and brown goats basking in the midday sun.
We stop for another picnic lunch under an enormous oak said to be a thousand years old, which has been declared a National Monument, where we have the most amazing food delivered from a local restaurant. Big bowls of stews laid out on tables covered by white tablecloths and then delicious spicy meatballs and cabbage. Despite the red wine we complete the ride to the former train Station of Olvera, which has been renovated as a rural hotel, where we are treated to jugs of manzanilla wine mixed with mint and lemonade. I thought I might get fit this holiday but already calories-in are exceeding calories-out.
Day 4 - Vía Verde del Aciete - Paella & Grit (but not together)
There are two sections of the Via Verde del Aciete totaling over 100km, but we have picked out the most recently made section of 48 km crossing an imposing countryside of olive trees and impressive 19th century metal viaducts, arriving at Alcaudete (Jaén). Lunch is in the former Luque Station, now renovated as a restaurant, where we are served paella, one of the few, if not only, time the food didn't quite come up to scratch. Paella is a regional dish of the Mediterranean and here in Andalucia they didn't get it quite right.
Also the road surface isn't quite right. Thick grit has been laid for most of the way, and while this would have been 'bedded-in' on most normal public roads by passing traffic, here on the greenway which is so little used, and then only by bikes, the grit is still loose. This makes for unpleasant and sometimes dangerous riding ploughing through gravel a couple of inches thick.
Day 5 - Thursday - more culture and a train ride
Last night we arrived in Granada and stayed in a hotel that is a former monastery. Today some of us look round town while I track down a local swimming pool and swim a steady mile. We all then visit the Alhambra, the famous Arabic palace and in the evening board an overnight hotel-train to Barcelona.
Day 6 - Barça
A sort of no cycling day, although we ride up and down the Ramblas, look around the port and drink hot chocolate. In the afternoon we get into the vans and drive up to Gerona. Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya where most locals speak Catalan as well as Castillian Spanish, If you know some Castillian you can usually figure out what is being written in Catalan. The regions of Valencia and Mallorca have the same sort of language as Catalan, or a dialect of it, and the local governments of these regions use it as their official language. Up in the north-west of Spain in the Basque country, which is Pais Vasco and Navarra and bits of adjoining France, the language is Euskara and the region is known locally as Euskadi. This tongue is totally different from Castilliano and sounds to me a bit eastern European, going on Russian. In fact, about 30 of their words are exactly the same as those used in southern Turkey around the area of the Caucasus.
Another Spanish region, Galicia in the far west, has Gallego as its language, which is the mother of Portuguese, and in Asturias there is a language called Bable which can sometimes be heard in rural areas. Regionalism, or some would say, Nationalism is very strong in Spain. Football matches between Barça and Madrid are infamous for the hatred vented by both sets of fans. When Luis Figo, an ex Barcelona player, came back to play with his new Madrid team at Barça's Camp Nou stadium he received not only a hail of abuse, but a hail of projectiles, including coins, bottles, a few mobile phones and a bloody pigs head. During the time Franco was head of government all these regional languages were suppressed, but now they have been revived and are taught at all levels of school.
Day 7 - Saturday - Vía Verde del Carrilet.
We are taken up to Olot and ride the 54km from the foothills of the Pyrenees back to Gerona. This is the best riding day so far. The landscape is much greener with narrow tracks winding around fields of maize, some following the old railway but at other times deviating along well marked paths. The first 10km is uphill to the Col d'En Bas then it's mostly downhill or flat to Gerona. In the evening we stroll around the lovely old town looking for Lance Armstrong's house but end up in a bar, called the Celtic, showing the Turkey v England match on Sky TV.
You know how in Britain, if you order a G&T, the gin is measured using an optic to dose the equivalent of a dessertspoon - well in Spain they don't bother with measures. My theory is that the Spanish barman counts to seven as he glug-glugs the gin into your glass and you end up with the British equivalent of a triple. In the Celtic your man counts to ten (at least) and so, consequently, we became quite animated watching the match. To celebrate England's 0-0 draw and topping of their group, we dined out on tapas in the town square.
Day 8 - Vía Verde de Girona to Costa Brave - Down to the sea.
Gerona to Sant Feliu de Guíxols on the Mediterranean coast and only 23km as we drive the first bit which, apparently, is a bit industrial. However the rest is far from it, being really beautiful, and we fly down the old railway line through lines of eucalyptus trees to Sant Feliu and lunch. You might think that a two week cycling holiday in October could be cold and damp but we only had one little bit of drizzle later on in the trip and today most of our group went for a swim in the sea (mind you, the sea was rather cold). After lunch we load up and have a four hour drive up to Tudela in Navarra.
Day 9 - Vía Verde del Tarazonica and Vía Verde de Préjano and A Swim.
Two vias to ride today. First the Tarazonica, mainly uphill, and then lunch in Tarazona. Second a fairly short ride on the Préjano down to our spa hotel in Arnedillo. The Tarazonica has a nice hard grit surface, bridges specially built to cross busy roads, well signposted, and what more can you say? It wasn't exactly boring . . . . well, actually, it was. But I shouldn't complain, a good few euros had been spent on it and the locals obviously used it a lot as we saw quite a few groups out walking the route.
The Préjano on the other hand wasn't dead straight, had some nice descents and interesting scenery and menacing dogs, fortunately behind a big fence. The only problem was that it was short, about 9km, so I left my Merlin in the van and ran the route. The last kilometer into Arnedillo had a long, long tunnel and while it was lit I didn't know if the lights might switch off at any time so had to sprint the last 600 metres to be on the safe side. Not to worry, they stayed on and I ended up at he marvelous Arnedillo Spa Hotel. Firstly into the outdoor pool for a few lengths of front crawl and then indoors and into the spa for a very relaxing hour of water massage. Arnedillo is also one end of the Via Verde del Cidacos going down to Calahorra, but we didn't get to ride it as next day we were going further north into the Basque country.
Day 10 - Vía Verde de Plazaola - Gollum territory
Today we go deep into the forest from Uitzi to Andoain, not another human or road or village or anything, except trees, lots of trees. Oh yes! and tunnels. The book says 39 and it's probably right. Previously our tunnels had been nice and dry and well paved and well lit (mostly). Today they were like going into long forgotten caves, wet, dank, black and probably the next location for part 4 of the Lord of the Rings. These tunnels were scary and even with lights I have to admit to a bit of walking.
But this tour of Spain is all about seeing its differences and today was not like any other and despite the tunnels (or maybe because of them) it was fantastic. We've had straight rides, curvy rides, rides through flat lands and downhill rides through mountains, but today's was completely different. Today we went right into the heart of the forest where only an ex-railway line could comfortably take us - and it was amazing, virgin forest free of any sign of human interference, even the path we rode was nicely aged and seemed to fit. And now for something completely different - we are off to Bilbao.
Day 11 - Wednesday - Bilbao and the Guggenheim Museum.
Seeing that the Guggenheim Museum and my Merlin Newsboy are both made from titanium I spent an hour taking some photos of the bike with the museum in the background. At one point clouds of steam came up from the lake in front of the museum and the night before I saw flames jetting out of little islands in the lake, so full marks to Mr Guggenheim for creating the occasional bit of kinetic art as well as an awesome piece of architecture. The exhibition was pretty good. We saw some impressive sculpture and I particularly liked the Photo and Moving Image exhibition on level 3. Having 'done the Gug' we were off to stay the night, a couple of hours up the road, in Santander in Cantabria.
Day 12 - Not quite the Via Verde del Pas
Our itinerary had said we were to ride the Via Verde del Pas, enjoying the Cantabrian mountains and the Peña Cabarga. However, the Pas is in fact two separate tracks with a town in the middle, so rather than spend time fighting the traffic, we had a leisurely ride round the headlands of Santander, and jolly nice they are too. Even nicer was the stop in a cafeteria for hot chocolate and churros. I had first gone to Spain when I was eight years old and had 'Chocolate con Churros' for breakfast every morning. When I got back to England I could never understand why the hot chocolate tasted of milk powder and not the lovely smooth rich chocolate that I had had in Spain. Years later I discovered that the Spanish version is not re-constituted powder but actual blocks of special chocolate, added to a little milk and then heated to melting point. The result is a thick, smooth, creamy, rich drink that adds another thousand calories to the days intake. But that's not all, the Churros are deep fried bits of sweet batter, another million calories - what a luxury.
Then we rode one of the bits of the Pas and apart from a few wet tunnels it wasn't really memorable. This gives me a chance to mention our two van drivers who had been employed by the FFE to chauffeur us around Spain. Roman Bascuñana runs his own Serac outdoor adventure company. He takes climbers up mountains and pilgrims on the Camino de Compostella. Our other 'main man' Jesus Blazquez Sánchez, or 'Chus' as he is known, is the bike man. He supplied the bikes for everyone else on the tour and also organises his own tours and weekend breaks from his base in Madrid. So we finished our riding and transfered to Oviedo in Asturias for the night.
Day 13 - Friday - Via Verde de la Senda del Oso - and a big blow out.
Today we ride up a narrow leafy track, having first had a quick look at a of sort of safari park in Teverga which housed a sleepy jaguar, some ostriches and a rat. This used to be a mining area and the safari park was an old mine with all its surface machinery intact. It was closed in the eighties and only then on the condition that the miners were re-employed in the park. Further up the track is an enclosed area where two bears live. We got a bit confused when Alberto, our guide, was telling us that "two birds, that are sisters" lived there. His English was pretty good but he had a certain Spanish twang, so we got a bit lost in the translation. All was revealed when we saw the pair, and luckily just in time to see them take lunch, quite a lot of oranges if I remember correctly.
I've not mentioned the lunches and dinners lately, they have all been first class, but today's lunch was - historic! We ended up in a little village, San Martín de Teverga, and went into a very nondescript bar called Casa Laureano. We were taken through the kitchen to a back room and there served The Meal of the tour. First of all we had some little empanadillas, a sort of mini pastie, just to get us started we didn't realise was this was only the first course and there was more to come. No sooner had the plates been cleared, and we had begun to think of coffee, than the main course arrived. Big knuckles of wild boar, Bonito a la plancha - a fish a bit like fresh tuna - and Picadillos, basically minced spicy chorizo sausage which had been deep fried. Phew! Well, we did our best but then when it was finally all over, dessert arrived. I had to have some of the rice pudding, rich, smooth with a taste of caramel, really superb. I managed to drink a teaspoon of black coffee before making my excuses and staggering out with a stomach so full it was painful. What a meal.
In a daze we make it back to Oviedo, look round the shops and then board the night sleeper train to Madrid, the finishing line of our Vuelta de España. A terrific two weeks, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. A serious mountain biker might find it a bit tame and it was a bit too hard for the uninitiated in cycling holidays. However you can do sections of the two week tour and pick the bits that might suit you best. For more information the FFE web site is www.viasverdes.com. Our bike man Chus, who runs tours for mountainbikers throughout the year, is at www.rutaspangea.com.
Post Script:
Fired up with enthusiasm for all things Via Verde we have since ridden the Via Verde de la Safor between Oliva and Gandia, a two day trip combining the Vias Verdes Serpis, Xixarra and Maigmó and a train ride up to Teruel to come back down the Vias Verdes de Ojos Negros (l) and (ll).
Posted by John Lillie at 10:58 pm No comments: Links to this post
Labels: travel
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(Phoenix, Ariz. – Jan. 17, 2006) Victoria Marie Cervantes of Phoenix, a former escrow officer for First Financial Title Agency of Arizona, Inc., was sentenced today to three months in jail, four years of supervised probation, and 200 hours of community service. Restitution will be determined at a hearing on February 24.
Cervantes, 40, was sentenced by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Brian R. Hauser after pleading guilty to forgery. The Court also revoked her notary public license.
She is one of four defendants indicted by the State Grand Jury in July 2005 on charges of alleged fraud, forgery, and false identities in 10 home-sale transactions. The defendants included real estate agent Carmen Cantu, real estate broker Betty Barbee, loan officer Frank Martinez and escrow officer Cervantes. The fraudulent activity was generally designed to hide the true identity and bad credit history of the actual home buyer. Cantu and his wife, Barbee, were accused of stealing monies that were owed in real estate transactions.
Barbee and Cantu formerly operated Profile Real Estate Services & Investments at 2525 W. Greenway Road in Phoenix. Barbee pleaded guilty to presentment of a false instrument for filing (by falsely notarizing a signature on a warranty deed), and was sentenced Jan. 10 by Hauser to two years of supervised probation, a $1,000 fine, and 100 hours of community service. Restitution in Barbee's case will be determined at a hearing on February 24. The court also revoked her real estate license and notary public license.
Cantu is scheduled to be sentenced January 26 after pleading guilty to fraudulent schemes and artifices, and forgery. He faces up to 16 years in prison. Martinez, formerly employed by Security Mortgage Corporation, is scheduled to be sentenced on February 2 after pleading guilty to forgery. He faces up to 3.75 years in prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Ted Noyes and followed a joint investigation by Arizona Department of Real Estate Investigator Henry Soza and Attorney General's Office Investigator Roberto Rivera.