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The euro rose from near a four-month low against the dollar amid speculation Cyprus is moving closer to a deal to stave off financial collapse and prevent contagion from infecting the rest of the region.
Europe's shared currency climbed versus all of its 16 major peers after the Greek Finance Ministry said the country is working closely with Cyprus to stabilize the banking industry. Marios Mavrides, a lawmaker with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades's ruling Disy party, said the government must pass legislation to protect the island nation. Asian currencies slipped for a fifth week, the longest losing streak since June.
"People are reluctant to head into the weekend short euros just in case we get a deal," said Paul Robson, a senior currency strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London, referring to bets the currency will decline. "There may be expectations that Cyprus will be creeping closer to some kind of a deal. If we do get something over the weekend there will probably be a rally next week."
The euro climbed 0.4% to $1.2956 at 8:20 a.m. New York time, after falling to $1.2844 on March 19, the weakest level since Nov. 22. It strengthened 0.4% to 122.87 yen, after dropping as much as 0.8%. The yen was little changed at 94.83 per dollar.
Euro-area finance ministers expect a proposal from Cyprus "as rapidly as possible" to raise the 5.8 billion euros needed to trigger emergency loans, they said in a statement after a teleconference yesterday. The search for a compromise comes after a week of tumult marked by Cypriot lawmakers' rejection of a proposal for an unprecedented tax on bank deposits.
Weekend 'Uncertainty'
Europe's shared currency headed for a 0.9% drop versus the greenback for the week and 1.4% decline against Japan's currency.
"Our base-case scenario is that an agreement will be reached," said Lee Hardman, a foreign-exchange strategist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in London. "There's a lot of uncertainty as we head into the weekend."
The euro may climb toward $1.30 if a deal is found on Cyprus, Hardman said.
Europe's shared currency fell 1% in the past month, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes, which track 10 developed-nation currencies. The yen weakened 0.7%, while the dollar rose 1%.
ECB Repayments
The European Central Bank said today that financial institutions will repay 1.94 billion euros of three-year loans on March 27, down from 6.82 billion euros the week before. That takes the total amount of money repaid early to 237.7 billion euros, or 23 percent of the overall lending.
The ECB flooded financial markets with three-year loans totaling more than 1 trillion euros a year ago after banks stopped lending to each other because of Europe's debt crisis. Banks now have the option of repaying the loans, which were offered at the average of the ECB's benchmark rate over their duration.
The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks the 10 most-active currencies in the region excluding the yen, dropped 0.13 percent since March 15.
Overseas investors pulled $2.4 billion from Taiwanese, South Korean and Thai stocks in the first four days of this week, exchange data show.


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Are your kids video game fanatics? If so, you're not alone. Studies show that the overwhelming majority of American kids play video games. You're also not alone if you take pleasure in seeing your young ones squeal with delight while racing mini-mushrooms through tangled forests. And, let's face it, having your child immersed in playing a video game can be an equally welcome break for you, too!
However, as you've probably noticed by now, not every game that your child wants to play is "kid-friendly." The average age of a gamer today is, believe it or not, 35 -- so it stands to reason that, just like movies and TV shows, some games are simply not intended for younger players. Here's how to ensure that the games your kids play are age-appropriate.
Know the Rating
To determine if a particular game is right for your child, start with the rating on the package. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), a nonprofit organization, assigns the ratings that appear on virtually every game available for purchase or rental. The front and back of the package carry one of six age ratings, ranging from Early Childhood (EC) to Adults Only (AO). (Click here for more information about each of the ratings.) On the package's back, next to the rating, content descriptors such as "Comic Mischief," "Violence," "Strong Language," etc. explain what might have triggered the rating, and indicate what may be of interest or concern to parents.
During the process of assigning ratings, the ESRB considers many different aspects: What is the degree of intensity and realism? How much control does the player have over the action? What is the reward system? These considerations, among many others, figure into the rating that is ultimately assigned.
A complete list of ESRB ratings, content descriptors and their definitions is available at ESRB's website, where you can also search for a particular game's rating before going to the store. Or you can download ESRB and Parenting.com's rating search widget featured right here on Parenting.com and find ratings for the games your kids are asking for right from your personal homepage or social networking profile.
Go Deeper
After you've looked up the rating, you can conduct an online search for reviews, screenshots, and video trailers of the game your child is interested in buying or renting. If you need help finding information, you can consult the Resources section of ESRB's website, which provides direct links to a variety of helpful websites.
Stand Your Ground
Most parents have heard their children say something like: "All of my friends get to play it! What's the big deal? Don't you trust me? It's just a game!" It's natural for kids to want what the older kids have. However, as compelling or passionate as your child's plea may be, you shouldn't hesitate to say "no" when a game doesn't seem appropriate for your child. You'll be in good company: Studies show that the overwhelming majority of parents say they never allow their children under 17 to play Mature-rated games (a rating that warns a game's content is appropriate for ages 17 and older), although they do become a bit less restrictive once their children enter the teenage years.
Sure, many kids will argue that all the "cool" games are the ones you don't permit, but that's not necessarily true. There are plenty of fun, popular, and suitable games for kids of all ages to play. In fact, despite the disproportionate amount of media attention they receive, Mature-rated games made up only 6% of the 1,600 ratings issued last year (2007). E for Everyone has always been ESRB's largest rating category, and is currently its fastest growing one, too.
Set Your Parental Controls
No parent can hover over their child all the time, so activating parental controls can make managing your kids' video game playing that much easier. All new video game console systems (Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii , PLAYSTATION 3) have this function, as do the newest version of Microsoft Windows Vista and handheld devices such as the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP). Similar to the V-chip for television, parental control settings allow you to restrict the games that can be played on your system based on the ESRB rating you choose.
The way these settings function may vary a bit -- see the step-by-step guides linked above for help -- but the premise is essentially the same. For instance, say you have an 8-year-old who you feel isn't ready for E10+ games (those appropriate for ages 10 and older). Just set the parental controls (which are password-protected) to allow games that carry ratings up through E (for ages 6 and older). This prevents your child -- and his friends -- from playing games rated E10+ or above on your system.
Get Involved
And of course, talk to your children about the games they play. Be adventurous and try playing with them. Go on! Stop being so intimidated and join them on a journey into their virtual world. Playing games can be a fun way to actually learn new skills, spend some quality downtime with your kids, and maybe even earn some bragging rights in the house.
Patricia Vance is president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), a nonprofit organization that assigns age and content ratings for computer and video games. She is an interactive media expert and mother of two. For more information visit www.ESRB.org.
© 2008 Entertainment Software Rating Board. All rights reserved.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Arizona Fall League begins its 27th season on Tuesday, October 9. The Bowman Hitting Challenge at Sloan Park will be held on Saturday evening, October 13. The 13th annual "Fall Stars Game" will be played at Surprise Stadium on Saturday evening, November 3, before a national television audience. And the season will conclude with the twenty-seventh annual "AFL Championship Game" on Saturday afternoon, November 17, at Scottsdale Stadium. During the season, games are typically played Monday through Saturday at 12:35 p.m. and 6:35 p.m.
Individual game tickets are available for purchase the day of the game at the stadium box office (cash and credit cards: Visa and MasterCard only accepted). Tickets go on sale beginning one hour prior to game time. Gates open one hour before game time as well. Game times are 12:35pm and 6:35pm (exceptions noted on our schedule).
The Arizona Fall League utilizes selected Cactus League venues located throughout the metro Phoenix area. Please visit our Stadium Information Page for detailed information and directions:
East Division
West Division
Fans who purchase a 2018 Arizona Fall League season pass can attend as many games as you wish at every stadium, and sit anywhere (general admission) all season long!
Season Pass Prices:
Once you purchase a season pass, you should receive it via USPS within 7-10 business days. Please contact the AFL Office with any questions at 480-990-1005.


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Let me start out by thanking the likes of Lau, ScoopG, Kathryn and the others whose inputs I've used in putting this together!
The idea is for 3-4 of us who live in Manhattan to spend a day feasting on Flushing's best! We were thinking of just walking and eating small portions at different places. We'll eat anything so no problems there, it just has to be delicious and extra points if everything has different flavors. None of us speak any Chinese BTW (but I'm thinking about Double Dragon which is a discussion for another day ;). I also came across some restaurants during my research that I'd like to visit (probably some other time).
I'd be thankful for any advice on my choice of places and dishes, things I may have missed, etc.
It seems like a very large majority of this comprises of dumplings and noodles. Is there something that I could add to this for some variety?
1. White Bear:
- Wontons in hot oil and frozen dumplings for home
2. Flushing Mall:
- Temple Snacks: Gua Bao
- Yong He: Xian Dou Jian, Fan Tuan, Sao You Tiao, Dan Bing
- Ah Zhong: Dan Bing
- Shaved ice at the juice and shaved ice stall
3. Golden Mall:
- Lanzhou hand pulled noodles (Any dish recommendations?)
- Chengdu Heaven: Dan Dan noodels
- Xian: Been to the East Village branch loads of times so low priority
- Wang-Zheng's halal snacks
4. Nan Xiang
- Xiao Long Bao
5. Corner 28
- Roast duck buns (People seem to have a mixed response to these so relatively low priority)
6. Fu Run
- Muslim lamb chop
7. Nan Shian Dumpling House
- Soup Dumpling
8. Chiu's
- Fried dumpling
9. Soy Bean Chan (The Flower Shop)
- Tian Dou Tiag
10. Xin Jiang BBQ Master
- BBQ Kebabs
11. New World Food Mall
- Beautiful Memory desserts (Mango Pancake)
- Lao Ma Mala Tang: Mala Xiang Guo (Medium Spicy)
1. Tong Sam Gyup Sal: This looks awesome. Can't wait to try their pork belly. Also, has anyone tried their beef intestines? Is there an easy way to get to this place from Flushing?
2. M&T: I haven't looked into specific dishes yet except the 'Sea Intestines'
3. Imperial Palace: Crab rice, crisply whole chicken, Peking pork shops, braised fish, pea shoots in crab sauce
4. Canton gourmet: Garlic crab and garlic chicken
5. Main Street Imperial Taiwanese ( Bei Gang): Cong Ting Tou, one of the Putzs, three cup 'something', oyster omelet
Would it be possible for us to club maybe one restaurant with the food tour or would that be torturing our stomachs?
Thanks a lot guys!! Cheers!!


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A former night club outfitter, Joe Manus specializes in eco-friendly furnishings through his Atlanta-based Shiner International. Highlights include the Mood Bed, a rocking structure with carbon steel frame, and the Maltese Coffee Table. Manus' CNC produced chairs are also noteworthy. (via Core 77).
A selection of Shiner furniture falls after the jump.


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We can help you prepare for a new career; upgrade existing skills; meet licensure, certification, or continuing education requirements; or simply improve yourself. Courses are offered both in-class and on-line. If you represent a business, we can create customized training for your employees. We also offer enrichment courses for gifted and talented students in grades 3 through 9.
Tell us why you rated the page this way (optional).


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Mar 3, 2009 at 12:31 pm
awesome garage.............................geno
Jan 10, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Great garage - the concept cars in the slide show are awesome!
Nov 1, 2007 at 9:15 am
Welcome to NASCAR FANS, JR fan, hope he has a better weekend in Texas than last. My drive had a bad weekend to, Stewart but I think Truex was robbed to, thanks again for joining.


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We're kicking off November with a double dose of awkwardness! Up first, we have wacky family pet photos, showcasing the very special (and seriously strange) bond some families have with their precious pets. You can expect skunk cuddle buddies, parakeet portraits, and the proudest puppy owners…ever.)
And because there's no better way to get in the spirit for the upcoming holiday season, we bring you cheesy Christmas cards, ugly sweaters, and more embarrassing holiday photos you have to see to believe. (Photo #5 features one very hot-to-trot Mrs. Claus—don't say we didn't warn you.)
So sit back, laugh, and thank your lucky stars that it isn't your family.
For more awesome awkwardness, visit awkwardfamilypetphotos.com or pick up their new book, Awkward Family Pet Photos!


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Members directory code
I've done a version one of the code for the new members directory:
Image here:
This is very much a concept not a set version. The CSS is at the bottom of the file – I've also commented out or removed (if needed) CSS that I've done changes to (for instance submit buttons).
Few points to kick off the debate:
1. Do we want to have as a li or a dl?
2. Do we want things like 'generic' classes and specific ones ie; member-title item-title?
3. I removed the role=main as most themes assign roles – seems potential duplicates if we also add
4. Do we want a prefix ie; buddypress- or are we going to use a #buddypress
5. Where possible I am using things like % and this includes for fonts. I think best to avoid any exacts like px – if we have to a rem could of course work.
6. I added in a style for the submit / button but we need to consider if we do that or leave that up to defaults be they browser or theme.
Thoughts welcome and feel free to poke the code around and suggest changes via gist.
Argh, blimey. We need to see the CSS just for these changes. How did you get this working with trunk, btw? Child theme of bp-default?
I did this in Twenty Twelve in the end as had a child theme issue (reported on trac). It was using trunk.
Just CSS in gist:
@karmatosed thanks for the hard work.
1. Re: Do we want to have as a li or a dl?
=> IMHO UL. Why do you want to change it to DL?
2. Re: Do we want things like 'generic' classes and specific ones …
=> I would prefer that we retain the classes or ID's already there. If devs want to add some more classes, that's fine with me.
3. Re: I removed the role=main as most themes assign roles – seems potential duplicates
=> I agree.
4. Re: Do we want a prefix ie; buddypress- or are we going to use a #buddypress
=> my choice #buddypress plus classes representative of component and component sections
5. Where possible I am using things like % and this includes for fonts. I think best to avoid any exacts like px – if we have to a rem could of course work.
=> I would leave font-sizes to theme defaults, except to make the font relatively smaller where wanted or needed, [edit] simple just like CSS transferred via BP Template Pack plugin
6. I added in a style for the submit / button but we need to consider if we do that or leave that up to defaults be they browser or theme.
=> Other than placement of button (right, left or center) I suggest leave that up to defaults in theme
Thoughts welcome and feel free to poke the code around and suggest changes via gist.
=> Haven't had the time to compare the before and after, I need patch/diff to see what's changed. Thank you for all your contributions
List structures: To li or dl ?
The li structure is time honoured but partly as many aren't that familiar with how a dl can be used so it's not out of the question to use a dl, previously we had lists such as activity stream chucking out a huge amount of non semantic aggregating elements using a dl construct may help lend some better meaning to inner elements in loops. It needs looking at and seeing if the generated elements do make sense in a dl, if dt's and dd's do convey a better meaning and useful structure for styling with.
Should not necessarily retain classes as they were, bear in mind we are moving forward free of the constraints of backpat there will be the default theme still selectable if wanted. classes do however need, still, the principle of generic class and specific class to allow for maxim flexibility so you might have 'bp-lists' as well as 'bp-members-list' style some generic properties for all lists and add some specific rules targeted to members list.
Font sizing needs to carefully considered, by and large we mustn't fall into trap of setting any sizes this is where inheritance is still massively relevant and we must be using – as expressed in OP – relative sizing (not sure that we can even risk rems in this situation) . By way of an example of why this aspect is important: recently had to counter a plugin that was adding elements to the post content, the authors had thought it ok to set that element with an explicit px font size – however if they had thought things through they should have realised that they could have no idea what font sizing approaches or sizes set in any given theme thus their fixed size essentially resulted in a broken post layout and had to be countered or overridden – pointlessly.
In this process it's perhaps important to view two aspects as invidual tasks, that is you have markup / structure and then visual styling. The structure needs to be worked up first and be able to demonstrate suitable semantics, and a element flow and be then shown to fit to a given parent structure albeit unstyled then visual styling applied to make that structure have a sense of layout.
Not sure where or how the '#buddypress' fits in that prefixes all the selectors?
I do think first order of the day ought to be to re-factor the stylesheet 'sections' into something that makes better sense for this new iteration esp given we won't be needing to worry about providing styles for things like WP elements.
@Hugo: Why do you think a rem is a risk? A em is a risk yes but a rem? I ask this more opening up the debate than against anything you're saying.
I do think from the feedback though that removing font-sizes full stop is a far better approach.
https://gist.github.com/3748782 is the latest revision then taking this in mind and your comments @mercime
We do need to consider do we do borders / colours or do we even leave those to one side? We have errors / messages and other things we probably need though.
@Hugo: If you look at legacy theme which is what is in trunk – it is wrapping in a #buddypress so using that. I don't think refactoring is the first order as we're redoing everything. What has been suggested by Paul and I think rightly, is that I take this back into legacy and build up from there clearing everything down. That's what we're doing here not refactoring the old. If you've not I'd suggest looking at the legacy theme though that doesn't style WordPress defaults (if you look into the CSS it's only calling ones it uses). I think we'd be very much doing it wrong if we did.
A rem references the root element, using it might just as easily conflict with a theme as a fixed size, using a true relative measure such as em/% as you mentioned would be the only safe way of adding font sizes as it would respect what ever the parent might be setting or at least be relative to whatever the parent might be setting, however I would agree with you, ultimately not setting font sizes at all is safest path to take although we probably know that certain elements such as meta are nearly always down sized.
Clearly there is a little confusion here – likely on my part but also with the nomenclature in use – Yes there is an id="buddypress" in the members index template in the legacy folder but I do not see that running 2012 and looking at members dir so now not sure what I'm looking at or really what the term 'legecy' is actually referring to.
Ignore paragraph about my confusion found that ID couldn't see wood for the trees
– That's what we're doing here not refactoring the old
never said anything about re-factoring the old but you have placed that gist example up so I'm commenting on that – I utterly disagree with re-factoring the old as that was never the plan! this has always been about the opportunity to move forward but we've all understood that those who have been at all involved?
re-factoring is a sensible order of the day as it denotes and sets out what is in the stylesheet and where and needs to be done afresh for theme compat.
I am running legacy templates and yes agreed that clear down legacy and build anew is order of day but that's why I was a little confused by the gist stuff.
As for styling anything other than BP stuff one can't, yes there won't be any need for WP styles but that is sort of point in theme compat we now are only concerned with styling BP to best fit to a generic theme.
@Hugo – that's why in my last 2 gists I've just put pure CSS separate.
@karmatosed, re CSS and members-loop.php
1. first thing I'd add is `#buddypress ul { list-style: none; }`
2. Based on more than 80 WP themes we've "template-packed" so far, you don't need to append #buddypress to all (or almost all) of selectors present in https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/bp-template-pack/tags/1.2.1/bp.css some of which are also used in your gist
@mercime: we are using the legacy theme though that uses #buddypress as the id. I'm not basing it on template pack. What is in gist is from the legacy theme that has a id wrapper #buddypress.
@karmatosed I know very well that you are using the legacy theme which has added div#buddypress and are not basing it on the template pack.
The BP template files transferred to WP theme folder via BP Template Pack plugin have generally the same HTML structure with its ID's and classes (except new #buddypress) as that of the legacy theme. Therefore it was logical to deduce and to recommend, after helping with the implementation or around 80 template-packed WP themes, that there was also no need to append #buddypress to all the elements within the legacy theme to the stylesheet.
@mercime: hmm I think #buddypress .element is fine. We may have crossed wires as prefix doesn't mean just that it could be #buddypress-elementname. If we're talking selectors I think we should have that.
@karmatosed Here's an example of what I mean
`/* members directory */
#buddypress ul.item-list{
display: block;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
#buddypress #members-list li.item-grid{
border: 1px solid #f1f1f1;
display: inline-block;
float: left;
margin: 0 2% 1% 0;
vertical-align: top;
width: 48.65%;
#buddypress .member-avatar{
float: left;
margin: 0 3% 0 0;
#buddypress #members-list .member-single{
padding: 1rem;
overflow: hidden; /* temp fix */
#buddypress #members-list li.item-grid:nth-child(2n+2){
margin: 0 0 1% 0;
`/* members directory */
ul.item-list {
display: block;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
#members-list li.item-grid {
border: 1px solid #f1f1f1;
display: inline-block;
float: left;
margin: 0 2% 1% 0;
vertical-align: top;
width: 48.65%;
.member-avatar {
float: left;
margin: 0 3% 0 0;
#members-list .member-single {
padding: 1rem;
overflow: hidden; /* temp fix */
#members-list li.item-grid:nth-child(2n+2) {
margin: 0 0 1% 0;
@mercime: What if in the CSS of the theme there was #members-list as a class. We need to have #buddypress to ensure even if there is it won't be the one we're referring to. We have to encounter for any theme.
I'd suggest using the least specific selectors, and only make them more specific if and when it's needed. The classes themselves will probably be prefixed to minimise any name conflict.
All classes could/should be prefixed with 'bp-*' with #buddypress in reserve for where there may be further need of adding 'weight'
I think prefixing with bp- does sound a better option then. Just having raw really won't work I think we all agree now. I'll add that to the next update.
suggest rather than writing raw CSS, you work in LESS, or better still SASS — will make it much easier to work with BP styling — supporting factoring out into different files / template, easier separation of colours / layouts / typographic, etc, colour (and font) schemes (i.e. using variables for the colours, which might be a real boon for basic BP themers) .., but most importantly given the nature of BP (and this discussion)… it deals much better with nested selectors.
You still have CSS files churned out that 'non-savvy' devs can work with, but also provide a much more useful set of files for those who can.
Note: of the major frameworks out there — Twitter Bootstrap provides LESS files, whilst Zurb Foundation provides SASS / SCSS. They really are the future for high powered CSS work and definitely the way BP should be going to support development on future versions of the platform.
Roger, not as easy as it seems. We have a bot that minimises our CSS + JS files on commit (shared with WordPress core, and bbPress core, and other Automattic projects). AFAIK, it doesn't support LESS etc. That's one technical reason why we couldn't do that immediately. Another reason is the core team has never discussed if we want to use LESS etc in BP; it might be worth something asking us after a dev chat sometime.
I also suspect you're overestimating the amount of markup that we'll end up with. I might be underestimating, but we'll find out soon
@djpaul – the LESS or pref SCSS compiler (e.g codekit) produces CSS files for you — you then include the CSS files in the theme (along with the original SCSS / LESS).
Given you have the CSS files for committing, would there be any issue with the Automattic bot for minimising?
I don't like the idea of that workflow. It wouldn't stop someone changing the CSS directly and forgetting to update the LESS file. I'd prefer to write LESS, and have the CSS generated and minified in a post commit hook.
It's the way Twitter bootstrap, Zurb Foundation, 320 and up, Compass, etc. provide the files.
It's up to the user / developer how they work on their own site — if they want to use SCSS they can, if they want to stick with CSS they can. You've provided them with both in the default set of files – and they can work how they see fit.
[Edit: of course, they should be working in their own themes anyway, and not overwriting the default set of files, so not sure there's any issue]
- The topic 'Members directory code' is closed to new replies.