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The semester is coming to an end, and if you are looking for new housing for the summer or fall, there are many leasing options in Bryan and College Station that can answer all your leasing questions and point you in the right direction.
Aggieland Apartment Finders
Located on Texas Ave., Aggieland Apartment Finders helps college students and other residents find housing by providing a variety of options in apartments, houses, duplexes. townhomes, and condos. All of the options ensure you will find exactly the type of housing that fits your lifestyle. Aggieland Apartment Finder has a number of leasing agents and is a free locating service for all rental properties in College Station. They will ask some questions and make suggestions of what areas of town might work for you. Aggieland Apartment Finders stays up-to-date on the specials being offered around town and will even negotiate prices to save you the hassle.
Aggieland Leasing
Located on Holleman Dr., Aggieland Leasing has announced they are now leasing for this fall. Aggieland Leasing has been leasing rental property in College Station for 32 years and is known for their house and townhome properties, but they also offer apartment leasing. Unlike Aggieland Apartment Finders, this is a leasing agent that does own their own properties. This is a great option for anyone looking to cut out the middleman.
At Home Properties
Located on Texas Ave., At Home Properties Real Estate Services will help you find rental property or help you manage the property you already own. In terms of rental property, At Home Properties can find you a house, duplex, fourplex, townhouse, or apartment in either Bryan and College Station. On their website you can find links to utility and cable companies as well as local news that will assist you in making Bryan/College Station your new home.
Whether you choose to go directly to the apartment complex or your choice or choose to find a leasing office to help, Bryan and College Station both have living options for all types of lifestyles. Check out some of these local businesses and find your next home!


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Dell Precision T1600: Workstation Classby Dustin Sklavos on May 2, 2011 4:55 PM EST
- Posted in
- Systems
- IT Computing
- Dell
- Intel
- Xeon
- Precision
- Workstation
- Enterprise
Build, Noise, Heat, and Power Consumption
Happily, we're now in the disciplines where a machine like the Dell Precision T1600 is designed to excel. One of the nicer things I've found in working with a lot of Dell desktops, and it's something I'm pleased to see has very much carried over to the T1600, is how easy they are to service. The T1600's chassis is extremely easy to open and work inside, and for a small tower it's remarkably spacious and well-organized.
The side panel is held on with a latch that's both secure and simple to use. Once you're inside, you're met with a very basic assembly and a traditional ATX enclosure style. Cabling could be neater but generally speaking I found the Precision T1600 easy enough to get into and work with.
Given the combined power of the processor and graphics card at just 142 watts, Dell doesn't have to do much work to keep the chassis cool. As a result, even under heavy load the T1600 was whisper quiet and inaudible under ambient noise. The stock cooler on the Xeon E3-1270 doesn't have to work very hard, and as you'll see the heatsink/fan unit on the Quadro 2000 is more than adequate for keeping it cool.
Idle and load temperatures are relatively frosty. The peak temperature of the Quadro 2000 is reasonable and even somewhat low, while the E3-1270 (read in HWMonitor as an i7-2600K) stays very cool even under the stock fan. The readings on the ECC memory are also telling: idle and load temps are quite low, and the DIMMs have no trouble cooling off once the system idles.
UPDATE: Power consumption listed below.
28 Comments
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Michael REMY - Monday, May 2, 2011 - linkgood test but why use old cinebench 10 instead the lastest 11.5 release ? Reply
mastard - Monday, May 2, 2011 - linkWhy were there no test of workstation type applications? Quadro cards are not optimized or intended for games. Reply
JarredWalton - Monday, May 2, 2011 - linkDustin ran SPECviewperf11; if you have any other specific requests for tests, let him/us know. Reply
RandomUsername3245 - Tuesday, May 3, 2011 - linkI'd be interested in seeing tests of pro level graphics cards (Quadro & FireGL) in Solidworks and Autocad.
**I'd also be very interested in home-grown benchmarks for these programs (perhaps based on CAD models provided from academia or industry) since we've seen both Nvidia and ATI cheat in past benchmarks for gaming cards.** Reply
Stuka87 - Monday, May 2, 2011 - linkAm I the only one that has never heard of the E3 series Xeon chips? Are they a replacement for the 5600 series, or where do they slot in compared to previous gen Xeons?
And yes, Dell RAm is laughably expensive. They wanted $430 to go from 4GB to 8GB in my M4500. I bought 8GB from Crucial instead for $97. They also have crazy prices for SSD's.
It would been nice to see some benchmarks from workstation class applications that make better use of the Quadro. Reply
DigitalFreak - Monday, May 2, 2011 - linkNo, they're the replacement for the Xeon 3000 series single socket processors. The 5600 series will be replaced by the E5, but not until Q4 this year. Reply
Stuka87 - Monday, May 2, 2011 - linkOh, and a small typo I believe on page 2 after the specview scores:
"Quadro 2000 produces scores at least to three times higher than a GeForce GTX 480 would under this test." Reply
Twirrim - Monday, May 2, 2011 - linkDon't know if it counts for this model range but the 3400 series of workstations are pretty hefty, the heaviest workstations I've ever had the 'pleasure' of lugging around anywhere. They put me in mind of the weight of a decent sized CRT monitor rather than a workstation. That said the build quality is very high on them and the devices do look like they can take a serious beating. Reply
smilingcrow - Monday, May 2, 2011 - linkI was surprised how basic the heatsink is on this compared to an Optiplex 980 which is a mere business class desktop and not a workstation. That Optiplex has a much larger heatsink and uses a larger fan so potentially could run even quieter.
You didn't seem to give any actual power consumption figures which would be useful especially at idle. I did read that the P/S efficiency is poor but actual measurements are more useful than just quoting the minimum rated efficiency. Reply
dragonsqrrl - Monday, May 2, 2011 - link4GB of RAM is a bit low for a system running 64-bit Windows 7, especially considering its intended to run memory hungry workstation applications. Running Maya, Houdini, After Effects, Premier, or even Photoshop, I personally wouldn't go with less then 8GB of memory in a new system. Most of these applications could easily eat up ~3GB of RAM running a single instance with a moderate workload. Hope it's not ridiculously expensive for the 8GB upgrade, it's hit or miss with Dell sometimes. Reply

subset: commoncrawl


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For the new folk who have recently learned of the treasure that Forrest Fenn has hidden out there somewhere and are all charged up to begin the search, let me tell you what its been like for those of us who have been at it for a while.
It starts off simple enough. You read Forrest Fenn's Memoir and pay some extra attention to the poem. You find a few addresses in the text thinking it's obvious that he put the treasure where he used to put other things. You make assumptions like, "It's hidden in the cemetery in Truchas, New Mexico" or "It's in the Red River just before its confluence with the Rio Grande." You begin a search of Wikipedia to find just where it is that gypsies hang out, or you try to make any and all numbers in his Memoir into geographic coordinates, and then you take out old maps from long ago trips to look for "Brown" as a street name, a park name, a town name, a county, but to no avail. And if you are really into it, you buy new maps but nothing has changed.
You go to REI and dream about all the stuff you will need to wade the freezing Fire Hole River and then you discover that the Fire Hole River is relatively warm. And then you say "Aha!" and look at the map to find that the warm Fire Hole River meets the Gibbon River and say "Aha!" "The warm waters halt!" and then you discover that the Gibbon River also comes through a geyser basin.
You make plans to go "out there," "up there," or "in there." Your plans get more and more specific because your current theory seems to everybody but your spouse to be without fault. And then you find that where you wanted to go April 1 is still covered with 100 inches of snow.
All of us have been there. And because of these very high highs and excruciating lows I personally began to dream "treasure dreams" but most of them were not the kind where I find anything. They were about the hundreds of caves scattered around the Yellowstone Caldera—virtually all of them filled with poison ethers and I try to figure out just how I could get in and out of the exact cave where the treasure is hidden in the 15 seconds I can hold my breath.
They were about the recent deaths of hikers in Yellowstone due to a bit of carelessness and hungry grizzlies that turned into nightmares about me looking for all the world like Hugh Glass, the
Mountain Man who lost his scalp and half an ear and got several exposed and broken ribs in an encounter with a mommy grizzly. Left for dead by his "friends" he survived and, all alone, walked, limped and crawled through a few hundred miles of wilderness to a safe haven but, unlike Hugh, in my dream I roll into a river, float a ways down stream and end up in a pool full of piranhas.
The stress was getting to me. My adrenaline was flowing. I couldn't sleep but when I did sleep my dreams got even more intense and creative but all of them gradually fell by the wayside until but one remained to be replayed over and over. It did, however, include 'pay dirt' and it went like this:
As the virtual purple curtains open with the roaring MGM Lion looking exactly like a grizzly, a voice welcomes me in and invites me to sit back, relax and enjoy the show. But then, dressed in the tattered leather clothing of Lewis and Clark, I am shown wading the thunderous current of the Yellowstone River, its waters reaching to just above my nipples (or armpits for the Southern Baptists) and its temperature reaching to just above freezing. Once across, I wave off an up-elevator full of people wearing three cornered hats and lapel pins that read, "Don't tread on me!" Instead, I climb the steep, rocky slope on my own, prickly-pear cactus tearing at my moccasins. I find the treasure chest under two-feet of snow just minutes before the other guys (who now all appear to be wearing black spats and war paint) get there. The treasure is inside a small cave resting in an outer wooden box that I carefully open. I lift out the brass chest, dry a tear or two from my eyes, sniffle a couple of times, and wipe my nose on the pajama sleeve of Agent "99" who looks exactly like my sleeping wife. Then I replace the treasure with the still warm ham and cheese croissant sandwich that Forrest Fenn had insisted I carry along.
"That'll show them who in this town has the real 'sleuthiness' "99" whispers in my bad right ear, her lips just barely brushing the long hairs that now grow from my earlobe and, as always, I don't hear a thing.
Hang in there dreamers new and old. Our time is coming.


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Brake Repair & Services
Gainesville Transmission can service your brakes to keep your car stopping safely. We service the Gainesville area, including surrounding areas such as Oakwood, Flowery Branch, Alpharetta, Buford and Cumming, and are here to help keep your brakes working properly. We are qualified to repair and service all domestic and imported vehicles using parts that are equal to or exceed the standards of those parts originally used by the manufacturers.
Gainesville Transmission Repair can evaluate your brakes in quickly with our expert brake technician, giving you an estimate of any repairs needed before beginning any work. Some indicators that your brakes are in need of repair or replacement are:
- Squealing, grinding sounds when coming to a stop
- Soft feeling brakes, having to press down harder to stop
- Pulling to one side or shaking when stopping
- Taking a longer distance to stop the vehicle
- Brakes sticking or are touchy or grabby
- Having to press brakes to floorboard to get to function
Don't take chances. Our expert brake maintenance is a safety requirement you shouldn't ignore. The ability to stop quickly is paramount to your safety as well as anyone riding in your vehicle. Protect your life and your assets with properly maintained and working brakes.
Gainesville Transmission encourages you to take your brakes seriously, as they are one of the most important parts of your vehicle. We provide top of the line brake parts along with new brakes that work like they were intended to when the vehicle was new. We have a variety of products to choose from with various pricing schedules.
Gainesville Transmission Repair offers installation of new brake shoes and pads with various warranties to fit any budget. Our brake maintenance includes lubricating and adjusting your parking brakes and pads on the drum brake assembly.
Services for Brakes include:
- Warranty on all Brakes
- Bleeding and Adjusting Brakes
- Rotor and Drum Resurfacing
- ABS Diagnosis
- New Brake Hose
- New Master Cylinders
- Brake Line Replaceent
- Caliper Replacement
For better stopping power, Gainesville Transmission Repair offers premium brake pads with an enhanced warranty. Choose from Ceramic brake pads which blend ceramic with copper fibers embedded into the pads. Ceramic brake pads are quieter, make less dust when stopping keeping your wheels cleaner, and last longer than semi-metallic pads. However, these type of brake pads cost more than semi-metallic and can cause more wear, especially on heavy towing. We also offer Semi-Metallic brake pads with metallic fibers embedded that provided a good grip in cold weather environments and are less expensive than Ceramic brake pads.
Brake Fluid Replacement
Gainesville Transmission Repair can replace your brake fluid and clean the master reservoir and flush your brakes to keep your brakes in top working condition. Aging brake fluid needs to be replaced. Changing your brake fluid helps extend the life of your brakes. Gainesville Transmission Repair services Gainesville, GA and it's surrounding areas such as Oakwood, Flowery Branch, Alpharetta, Buford and Cumming.


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My cousin and her little son came over from Melbourne for a week-long visit. I got to catch up with her a little tonight... while playing Monopoly - the Disney Pixar version. Oh boy, that game really gets people's blood pumping. I love how when my cousins are together we often end up playing boardgames, mahjong, gin rummy, etc... Gotta love the family bonding through gambling and game tactics.
It's come to a close for the month of posts... I do apologise for the sporadic postings. The week without the internet connection at home really threw the progress out of whack. Looking back at the past month, even though I have been trying to not do too much, there still was quite a bit happening and I had discovered and learned some new things ie making cheesecakes, reignited my interest in Australian film, love the new albums by The Vine Band and Hillsong, I actually like watching the Tour on tv, etc...
Things I'm looking forward to this weekend:
- Going to watch the Wheelcats play.
- The Bledisloe Cup is being played in Auckland.
- Spending time with my Melbournian relatives.
- Feast... the monthly event that church encourages everyone to get involved with by inviting others to share a meal with you... my connect group will be having a feast I mean fiesta!
- Youth on Friday night... gotta love the young generation get passionate for a cause.
- My friends getting married... Mark and Kayi in Wales, and Alison and Drew in Colorado!
received in july - this beautiful japanese tea container from sydney


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Welcome to night 9 of the 4th annual Attack of the 14 Nights of Halloween Giveaway. Stop by our MAIN GIVEAWAY POST and enter to win a $250+ Prize Pack full of frightfully good treats from 7 spooktacular shops. In this post you will find details on how to earn extra entries with our Murder Mystery Scavenger Hunt & Halloween Movie Marathon and test your movie knowledge with the Guess the Movie Game. Make sure to visit us each day during the giveaway so you do not miss out on any of the fun!
|Boo Necklace
Purchase any item(s) from Laughing Vixen Lounge through October 31st and get 10% off your order. Use code OCTOBER10 at checkout.
$1 from each sale at Laughing Vixen Lounge goes to support the Joy Cinema. A single screen theater in Tigard, Oregon that has been in operation since 1939. Purchase from LVL and help keep the classic cinema experience alive. See full fundraising details and the Joy's story HERE.
Murder Mystery Scavenger Hunt
Our scavenger hunt works like a game of Clue. Every day you will be looking for clues to a different part of the mystery ~ Settings, Suspects, Rooms, Weapons and Escapes. They will be hidden (at the top of the description) in a listing inside one of our participating shops. On each daily post you will be given a hint as to where the clues are hiding. Once you find a clue go to the MAIN GIVEAWAY POST and take the daily entry on the Rafflecopter widget. Today's entry will be at the top of the entry list while all past entries will be at the bottom of the list.
*Make sure you are finding today's clue! Submit the wrong clue and it will not count. They have dates. Shops have more than one set of clues hiding there so pay attention.
*You may start the Scavenger Hunt at anytime during the giveaway and find past clues.
*You can earn 5 extra entries in the giveaway for each set of clues found.
*Please only post clues on the Rafflecopter widget. Anywhere else and they will be deleted.
Scavenger Hunt Special Giveaway!
Keep a list of the clues you find. On October 31st and November 1st you will be able to use the clues you found and submit your guess of how the murder happened. 1 random winner from any correct guesses will win a $50 Gift Certificate to Laughing Vixen Lounge and a $30 Gift Certificate to Deep Midnight Perfumes. If no one guesses correctly then 1 random winner from all submitted guesses will win their choice of Photo Pendant/Keychain from Laughing Vixen Lounge ($15) and a $15 Perfume Sampler Set (your choice of scents) from Deep Midnight Perfumes. Full details on how to submit your guess will be listed on October 31st. You do not need to find all of the clues to submit a guess but the more you find the better your guess.
Clue for October 26th
A murder has been committed! The body of Miss Death has been found at Raven's Perch Manor. Detective Heathmoor needs your help collecting the clues of the crime. Can you solve the mystery?
Night 9 ~ You will be collecting clues to the weapon of the crime.
Tonight's clue is hiding in Deep Midnight Perfumes.
Need a little help finding the clue? An angel's transportation.
***The hint above is to help you find which listing the clue is in. DO NOT answer the above clue. Your entry will not count.
***The clue is not on this page.
|SPIDER CIDER Perfume Oil
Attack of the 14 Nights of Halloween Movie Marathon.
Follow along with us for 2 full weeks of classic spooky movies. This year we celebrate "Classic Thrills Through the Years". Watch the face of horror as it changes from one decade to the next. Find some great watches for the season and receive EXTRA ENTRIES at the same time! On each daily post there will be a review of the next movie in our movie marathon. Leave a comment on the post with your opinion of that movie. Once you have posted go to the MAIN GIVEAWAY POST and take the daily entry on the Rafflecopter widget. Today's entry will be at the top of the entry list while all past entries will be at the bottom of the list. Comment on all movies in the marathon and receive an EXTRA 20 ENTRIES at the end of the giveaway.
*You may start following the Movie Marathon at any time during the giveaway and post comments on past daily posts.
*Each comment will earn you an EXTRA 5 ENTRIES.
*Comment on each movie to earn an EXTRA 20 ENTRIES at the end of the giveaway.
*On October 31st or November 1st you must use the Magic Phrase (revealed on October 31st) and use it to unlock the entry on the Rafflecopter to receive the 20 entries. You must have commented on each movie.
Guess The Movie Game
Think you know your scary movies? Try your luck with this fun little game and receive EXTRA ENTRIES just for guessing. Each daily post will have a clue to the next night's movie. Leave your guess on the Rafflecopter widget, on the MAIN GIVEAWAY POST, for an EXTRA 5 ENTRIES in the giveaway. You do not need to be right just give it an honest try.
*Guesses must be made the same day as their clue to receive the entry.
*Entry will reset 24hrs after your last guess.
*Make sure you are leaving a guess for that day's clue. Guessing for a past clue that has already been posted will be deleted.
* Please only post guesses on the Rafflecopter widget.
Tonight's Clue ~ Typing... type... type...... type....
Classic Thrills Through the Years ~ 1970s
Night 9 ~The Amityville Horror
Tagline - "For God's Sake, Get Out!"
Directed by Stuart Rosenberg (Cool Hand Luke and Brubaker) and released on July 27, 1979 by American International Pictures (rated R). When the Lutz family (James Brolin and Margot Kidder) moves in to their dream house they have no idea the Hell that awaits them. As strange events start to happen the family is desperate to save their house and their sanity.
When something seems too good to be true it probably is. So when George and Kathy Lutz are offered their dream house at a huge discount something is probably wrong. And there is! The family before them was brutally murdered in the house. The Lutzes decided they can live with the history and purchase the house. It does not take long before they regret their decision. The Lutz family lived in the house, also known as "High Hopes", for only 28 days. Their experiences there will become the stuff of horror legend.
Much has been debated about the accounts of what happened at the house at 112 Ocean Ave in Amityville, NY as told by the Lutz family. What is true? Unfortunately the brutal murders were real. 13 months before, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot and killed six members of his family in the house. His defense was an insanity plea saying he heard voices. Yes, the Lutz family was a real family who purchased the house in 1975 after the DeFeo's. In 1977 the book The Amityville Horror, written by Jay Anson and based on the recorded accounts told by George and Kathy Lutz, was published and become a huge bestseller. George and Kathy maintained their story, changed on some accounts for the book and movie, was true and did happen to them. They both took a lie detector test and both passed. Their son, Daniel, was interview for the documentary "My Amityville Horror" and insist that it all happened.
|The Real Amityville House -1974
Now days the consensus is that the story was fictional. One of the most damning accusations came from William Weber, the defense attorney for Ronald DeFeo Jr., who claimed in a People Magazine article in 1979 to have had a meeting with the Lutzes where they "created" the story over many bottles of wine. According to the Lutzes they met with Weber hoping to find out more about the events that had happened in their house. They agreed to tell him their story thinking that their experiences in the house may help his client receive the medical help he needed if, in fact, he had been under the influence of the presence in the house. But when Weber wanted to enter into a book deal with them that included part of the profits going the Ronald DeFeo Jr., the Lutzes declined. Could it just be hard feelings and greed that led to the claims that it was all a hoax?
There is an interesting site that has tried to show an accurate account of what happened to the Lutzes and sort out what did not take place. If you are curious you can find it here. It does provide some interesting information. What sticks in my mind is how even the children, now grown, have never waived from the events being true. And for both George and Kathy to pass the lie detector test if it was a hoax is pretty impressive.
|The Real Amityville House - 2005
Whether or not the story is true it made for one heck of a good horror story. The movie may be a bit dated by today's standards and might not be as action packed as people are used to but do not let that fool you. It is a great haunted house story with all the chills needed to give you the creeps. But if you really want to get the full freaked out experience then you have to read the book. It ranks right up there with the Shining as a story to not be read at night!!!
The movie spawned many sequels but none of them are really worth the watch. In 2005 there was a big budget remake with Ryan Reynolds and Mellisa George. At the time the makers of the film were boasting how they were going to be faithful to the book in their adaption. While Reynolds and George were great in the roles, and the movie had a good retro look, it varied greatly from the book. Sometimes so much it just made you shake your head in disbelief. Hollywood needs to remember that simple can be more effective than over the top.
The Amityville Horror is currently available to rent on Amazon and Vudu and should be available on most DVD services.
Take a look at the original trailer.
Some trivia about the movie.
1. Due to all the unwanted fame the book and film had brought upon the real house in Amityville, the current owners have replaced the "evil eyes" windows with normal rectangle-shaped windows.
2. At the time of its release the film was one of the highest grossing independent films of all time and American International Pictures' biggest hit.
3. While shooting the scene where Kathy is startled by the red eyes in the window, director Stuart Rosenberg wasn't impressed by Margot Kidder's reaction. According to Kidder, Rosenberg then tried to hold up a "a day-glo orange stuffed velour pig with glass eyes" in an attempt to startle Kidder. She said the result was only hysterical laughter, not fear.
4. Stars James Brolin and Margot Kidder visited the real Amityville house as part of a publicity junket.
5. Contrary to popular belief, Lalo Schifrin's score for this film was not the legendary rejected score composed for The Exorcist. The rejected Exorcist score has subsequently been released on CD and is completely different in every respect.
6. The outdoor scenes of the movie were not filmed in Amityville, Long Island, but rather Toms River, New Jersey. Local police and ambulance workers played extras.
7. This film's theatrical success was followed by two theatrically released sequels - Amityville II: The Possession an official sequel/prequel; Amityville 3-D, not an official sequel; and five direct-to-video low-budget sequels released from 1989 to 1996.
|Cute 'n Spooky Halloween
Small Photo Pendant - Style H


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Climb up Helvellyn
This weekend was the longest day, so my father and I decided to climb Helvellyn. Not of course a normal hike up, no we decided to hike up in the evening so we could watch the dawn rise on summer.
Hiking up England's third highest hill overnight is not as crazy as it sounds, until about 1am it wasn't really dark, the sun set about 11.30pm but it never got really pitch dark. Until about 1.30am when the wind picked up the cloud descended and we said that's it time to hide behind rocks before we do something daft like fall off the hill.
About 3.30am the clouds and winds lifted and we saw an absolutely glorious sunrise with about 20 or 30 other people on top of the hill. Helvellyn's eastern side is a very, very steep slope and the view goes for a very long way. Would do it again, but next time we'll head up a bit later so we have less time hanging around on the top of the hill.


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Planning for the Future for American Scienceby Caroline L. Herzenberg
Decision and Information Sciences Division
Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne , IL*
The investment of time and effort in looking ahead and planning for the future can be a very important one for science and for scientists. Because accomplishing our work takes so long in comparison with that of most other individuals in our society, and because our work as a whole is a cumulative enterprise, it is important for us to examine science policies and future directions. We may also need to revisit past issues, as they may remain and present themselves in new and different frameworks in the future.
Science and reason
Science results and is constituted from the application of reason to the world around us. At present, science is the discipline in which reason has the freest play. Since the Enlightenment, there has been consideration that in the future this aspect of science may be expected to further rationalize other disciplines and areas of human activity. (6) Science has greatly influenced public policies and programs in the United States, but has not led to the developments of the types anticipated by American progressive thinkers like John Dewey, who expressed the hope that the operation of cooperative intelligence as displayed in science could be a working model for the union of freedom and authority which might be applicable to political and other activities. (7) Attempts to deploy the cooperative intelligence of science as a model for rationalizing the development of other areas of culture, economics, politics, and society have not achieved comparable success, and have elicited considerable antagonism. Science has not become the prototype for all human common action. However, use of scientific approaches and methodology within the present domain of the sciences continues to be widely accepted.
Problem solving with science
Science is of intrinsic importance in advancing our understanding of the natural world. It is also a superb method for problem solving for society. In looking at the future of science, we therefore need to address questions such as those recently put to the scientific community by Rep. Vernon Ehlers:(8)
|'What are the most important intellectual challenges rising over the scientific horizon in the next half century? What will be the biggest problems facing our nation and our planet in the future, and how can science and technology help overcome or avoid them? What should our scientific and technological enterprise strive to be 10, 20, or 50 years from now? And what changes do we need to make in our present system in order to get there?'
The scope of the present paper, however, is much more limited. In the politically and socially conservative society in which we live at present, the possibility of immediate or radical restructuring of the research and development system seems unlikely and perhaps undesirable. In any consideration of the reorganization of science policy, we must be careful to avoid the danger of the reorganization destroying those very characteristics (such as originality and spontaneity, independence of thought, and the open sharing of knowledge) which are essential to the progress of science.(9) However, there are modifications of the present system which could go a great deal of the way toward improving the scientific enterprise and the contributions of science to societal goals and problem solving.
Attitudes toward science
Science is receiving a mixed report card from the rest of our society. While there is substantial support for science today, there have also been unmistakeable demonstrations of science's unpopularity. A mainline example, particularly painful for high energy physicists, was the demise of the Superconducting Supercollider. An entirely different take on the unpopularity of science and technology has appeared in the manifesto of the Unabomber. And even the distinguished literary intellectual and politician Vaclav Havel is quoted as stating that 'technical civilization.....has reached the limit of its potential, the point beyond which the abyss begins'. (10)
At different times and locations and among different segments of the populace, science has elicited hostility; during this century, notably because science has been identified in the public mind with the carnage of wars and the threat of future wars. Science has also acquired unpopularity because it has been instrumental in the development of a civilian technology that systematically widens the gulf between the rich and the poor.(11) A contributing reason for the recent qualified reception of science is the perception that science commonly has the effect of providing technological conveniences for the rich more frequently than contributing to the provision of necessities for the poor. Physicist Freeman Dyson has commented astutely on this: 'During the last forty years, the strongest efforts in pure science have been concentrated in highly esoteric fields remote from contact with everyday problems. Such efforts are unlikely to do harm, or to do good, either to the rich or to the poor. At the same time, the strongest efforts in applied science have been concentrated upon market-driven projects, that is to say, projects that are expected to lead quickly to products that can profitably be sold. Since the rich can be expected to pay more than the poor for new products, market-driven applied research will usually result in the invention of toys for the rich. The failure of science to produce benefits for the poor in recent decades is due to two factors working in combination, the pure scientists becoming more detached from the mundane needs of humanity, the applied scientists becoming more attached to immediate profitability.'(12)
A further and more intrinsic reason for the chilly reception of science by non-scientists is science's role in the creation of innovations that challenge our current concepts of ethics and morality, particularly in the biomedical sciences. Legitimate fears of the public and ethical issues related to science need to be addressed more fully by scientists.
Science Education and Popularization
|As a more and more technological society, we need a scientifically literate and numerate citizenry. Scientific illiteracy can act to impede and hamper the progress of our society.(13) The discouraging results of the performance of U.S. students in the recent Third International Mathematics and Science Study may help to alert Americans in regard to the need for improvement in science education in this country.(14)
We as a nation must attend to the renewal of our scientific talent as generations age and others take their place. This will involve interesting and educating a new generation in science, and also removing remaining irrelevant sexist, racist, and other barriers and encouraging inclusion of the diversity of our population in the scientific professions.
We also need understanding friends for science. To help ensure widespread understanding and acceptance of science, we need to improve and extend science education, and support various means of popularization of science, including museums and science in the media. It would be desirable for science to become widely accepted as a legitimate end in itself, not just as a means for enhancing national capabilities for the conduct of military or economic warfare.
Careers in Science: Difficulties and frustruations faced by scientists in the current system of conducting science in the United States
Scientists and scientific workers typically invest many years of education and training into becoming professionals in their fields, and look forward to productive and fulfilling careers in science. However, the National Academy of Sciences has reported that half of Ph.D.s never get into the career they trained for, and at least half of all Ph.D.s end up in nontraditional careers that often underutilize Ph.D. education and training.(15) (16) For a number of years now, new Ph.D.s have experienced great difficulty in locating professional employment past a postdoctoral appointment. These newer generations educated and trained in science but facing underemployment and unemployment should not be lost to the scientific enterprise.
Less frequently recognized is the fact that capable scientists who are already working in scientific careers are also frequently forced out of science. Evidence has been reported that suggests that, in some fields, science career half-lives are now only about a decade.(17) (18) Scientists can involuntarily lose a career in science through various hazards that are built into the science culture, often as a consequence of the interruption of funding; the way that scientists must compete for funding in the United States is in some ways unhealthy to both science and scientists.(19) This involuntary loss of capable scientists from the profession certainly constitutes an enormous waste of talent and money, and a drag upon the progress of science.
While this loss of scientifically educated personnel from the practice of science may have the long range effect of colonizing other professional fields with scientific modes of thought, in the short range it is extremely disruptive of the lives of scientists and of progress in science. Our colleagues in science are too valuable to society for them to be subjected to casual economic triage: efforts should be made to prevent the loss of both beginning and career scientists from the profession. Our nation should make the best use of the contemporary surplus of highly educated and trained scientific workers by, if necessary, setting up a contemporary analog for scientists and scientific workers of the WPA, the former federal agency charged with instituting and administering public works in order to relieve national unemployment during the late 1930s and early 1940s.
A further new and undesirable phenomenon relating to scientific careers in this country is that scientific workers are being proletarianized. Many scientific workers (like other wageearners) are being circumstantially forced to accept low salaries, which is certainly undesirable from the point of view of the economic health of the profession. This also will have a longer term effect of postponing the retirement of scientists whose reduced savings from lower incomes will not enable them to retire as early as in the past, thus decreasing the professional opportunities for newly trained scientific workers. Scientific workers are being deprived gradually of their autonomy, and find themselves more and more constrained by management; the administrative intensity level - the ratio of administrators to scientists - seems to have been rising. We must attempt to rethink and redesign the management and administration of science in such a manner that it is not such an inhibiting factor to the conduct of science.
Conserving Science
To help provide for the enduring continuation of robust scientific research in this country, we need to ensure a healthy social, political, and economic environment for the conduct of science. We need an environment that will enable students to pursue studies in science to the extent of their abilities and interests; and, for those with the abilities and the disposition, to be able to look forward to careers in science following completion of their studies. We need an environment that is conducive to the conduct of science and will actively support science so as to enable scientists to engage more productively in research and teaching, without being subjected to unnecessary unproductive peripheral activities such as expending large amounts of time pursuing an inadequate number of grants or being eliminated arbitratily from the scientific workforce. We need to examine how to develop a sustainable science culture.
To promote the health of science, we need to retain to the extent possible an open system of knowledge rather than have it replaced by a property system of knowledge.
Science to what purpose?
In the broader social context in which scientific research takes place, a major aspect of science amounts to the process of acquiring, validating, storing, and distributing human knowledge about the world. We need to make provision for suitable mechanisms in each of these areas.
We need to focus on science for science's sake, as well as for problem solving. Federal science policy should enable both fundamental research to add to humanity's store of knowledge, and applied research addressing human needs. As has been emphasized recently, the proper role of federal science and technology policy is to foster research and development that serve the public interest.(20)
Democratizing science policy
During the past 50 years or so, policy in regard to the direction of science in the United States has been the province largely of government and industry with some funding and direction supplied by foundations. While we live in a political democracy, there has been no democratic mechanism for citizens to have input into the direction of science and technology. While a subset of scientific leaders have been called in to provide advice, few other individuals who might be expected to be affected or who might have different perspectives have been invited to participate in science policymaking. As has been discussed recently, there are a number of problems with exclusively elite, insider approaches to sciency policy making.(21) A more widely participatory approach to science policymaking consistent with democratic principles might contribute to more social responsiveness and social responsibility in science policymaking.
We should engage the citizens who will become beneficiaries of applied research in decisions affecting the future of applied research, not just rely on peer review and elite decisionmaking. Such decisionmaking about future directions of applied scientific research - societal technical problem solving - needs to be made as democratically as possible.
In addition, much more attention needs to be given to coordinate more successfully the autonomy prized by researchers with constraints consequent upon the management of science and science policy decisionmaking.
We have a relatively homogeneous consensual value environment in professional activities within science, and efforts may need to be made to help the culture of science to survive and fluorish within the pluralistic competitive value environment of democratic public policymaking.
Further reflections on science in the U.S. at present
Science appears to be seen by the majority of our citizens as a minor activity, out of the mainstream, and as such, is low on their lists of priorities. We need as a society to address major priority needs while also keeping science visible and viable above non-priority activities such as the exposition and consumption of trivia, and antiscientific trends.
We as a nation need to support science in universities, in industry, and also in national laboratories. Large laboratories are important for cross-fertilization of ideas in interdisciplinary research, and with many scientists in coordinated research, they offer the possibility of developing new specific knowledge rather rapidly, as was done in the case of the Manhattan Project and in the case of NASA's Apollo program.
Some science policy questions/issues for further consideration
We suggest that science policy evaluation and formulation should address the following questions:
- What is/should be the proper role for science and technology policy?
- What types of scientific knowledge should we as a society seek out?
- How should we decide what types of scientific knowledge should be pursued with funding - how should such choices be made?
- By whom should such choices be made? What input should scientists have?
- What role should democratic decision-making have in planning for science and technology policy?
- Who should direct and manage research? What should their guidelines be?
- What mechanisms should we use to apply new scientific knowledge?
- How do/should we decide whether to apply new scientific knowledge (for example, when knowledge is acquired that was not specifically sought out)?
- By whom are these decisions made? What input do/should scientists have?
The future
It is of course a possibility that civilization might collapse in a world-wide disaster, and with it science, but apart from this calamitous outcome, it would appear that science would tend to endure under most known forms of government and economic organization. Competitive nationalism could hardly be expected to forgo the technological advantages, both military and commercial, accruing from scientific research. And capitalist economies, while they may not interact with science and scientists in an optimal manner, may be expected to protect at least some aspects of science and some subset of scientists and scientific workers because of the profitability of new technologies and the products of research.(22) It thus seems highly probable that some manner of practice of science will continue indefinitely. However, the nature of the scientific enterprise in the years ahead is in part being determined here and now, and its specific characteristics will reflect our contemporary actions in this area.
Some Recommendations
A range of useful policy suggestions have been made for science in recent years; we would like to add or emphasize the following recommendations:
- Direct federal science policy for federally funded applied science toward addressing public needs and enhanced social welfare.
- Support policies to enhance openness of research information and freedom of discussion and knowledge.
- Democratize science policy.
- Make science and technology policy developed on behalf of the government both explicit and open for public discussion.
- Expand and improve public science education, both formal and informal.
- Develop young 'friends of science,' by involving the public and particularly kids in helping participate in science related activities in whatever manners possible.
- Make provision for full employment and utilization of trained scientific workers in scientific and technical fields, by creation of a current analog of a WPA if necessary.
- As job security and adequate continuing research funding are critical to freedom of inquiry in research, support and enhance tenure and make provision for tenured positions in scientific employment where they do not now exist.
- Improve the status and benefits of postdocs and technicians, and support arrangements for temporary and part time faculty to be absorbed into regular faculty status.
- Enhance the social, political, and economic environment in which science is conducted - provide an encouraging and stimulating economic and social environment for the conduct of research.
- Improve and develop a strong infrastructure for the conduct of scientific research and for science education.
- Develop scientific management policies and methods that promote the release of scientists from the frustruation of micromanagement and abusive and inhibiting administrative restrictions.
- Continue to expand human diversity within the science community, especially within the leadership ranks.
- Develop new funding mechanisms for science to minimize wasted time and effort and to achieve greater efficiency.
- Develop longer term funding mechanisms for science both to ensure continuity of research and to contribute to enabling rapid response to new research areas without prolonged delays to obtain funding.
- Make provision for analysis of the consequences of foreseeable new scientific progress and for examination and public discussion of ethical issues that may arise from new technological developments.
In closing, we suggest that the above recommendations be implemented in our present system of scientific and technological enterprise in order to achieve improvements that will contribute to and enhance the capability of the system for advancing knowledge and problem solving for our society in the future.
References and Endnotes
- Vannevar Bush, Science, the Endless Frontier (Washington DC: Office of Scientific Research and Development, 1945).
- U.S. Congress, House Committee on Science, National Science Policy Study chaired by Rep. Vernon Ehlers. On the WWW at this URL.
- Vernon J. Ehlers, 'The Future of U.S. Science Policy,' editorial in Science; on the Web at this URL
- U.S. Congress, House Committee on Science, National Science Policy Study chaired by Rep. Vernon Ehlers. On the WWW this URL
- Daniel Sarewitz, Frontiers of Illusion: Science, Technology, and the Politics of Progress (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1996), p. 171.
- It may be noted that as humans we possess minds which exhibit not only rational and conscious properties, but also we are the possessors of a great deal of unconscious capabilities and knowledge. These not only contribute to the process of discovery in science, but have an enormous role in human life. The role and future of science can not be presumed to be fully satisfactorily addressed without taking into account these aspects of life also; however, they are beyond the scope of the present inquiry.
- As discussed in Yaron Ezrahi, 'Haldane between Daedalus and Icarus,' p. 65 of Haldane's Daedalus Revisited (ed. Krisha R. Dronamraju)(Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995).
- Vernon J. Ehlers, 'The Future of U.S. Science Policy,' editorial in Science; on the Web this URL
- J. D. Bernal, The Societal Function of Science, p. xiii (Cambridge, MA: The M.I.T. Press, 1967).
- Quoted in Arthur Kantrowitz, 'The Wholesale Transformation of Ignorance into Fear,' The Scientist, p. 9, February 2, 1998.
- Freeman Dyson, 'Daedalus after Seventy Years,' in Haldane's Daedalus Revisited, ed. Krishna R. Dronamraju, p. 57 (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1995).
- Freeman Dyson, op. cit., p. 62.
- Norman Augustine, 'What We Don't Know Does Hurt Us. How Scientific Illiteracy Hobbles Society,' Science, Vol. 279, p. 1640, 13 March 1998.
- Gerald Wheeler, 'The Wake-Up Call We Dare Not Ignore,' Science Vol. 279, p. 1611, 13 March 1998.
- Sowers, Arthur E. 'How Safe Are Science Careers for Scientists?' The Scientist, February 2, 1998.
- http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/grad
- Arthur E. Sowers, 'The Short Career Half-life of Scientists,' as of 3/16/98, on the WWW at this URL
- Arthur E. Sowers, 'Contemporary Problems in Science Jobs,' on the WWW as of 3/16/98 at this URL
- see 15
- Daniel Sarewitz, Frontiers of Illusion: Science, Technology, and the Politics of Progress (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1996), p.171.
- Richard E. Sclove, 'Better Approaches to Science Policy' (editorial), Science Vol. 279, No. 5355, p.1283, 27 February 1998.
- J.B.S. Haldane, Daedalus or Science and the Future, p.6 (New York: E.P.Dutton & Co. Inc., 1924)
Affiliation for identification purposes only. The ideas expressed here are those of the author and do not represent the position of Argonne National Laboratory.
Note: Part of this paper was originally published in the 'Physics & Society', Vol. 28, No. 1, January 1999. PhysLink.com sincerely thanks the editors of this publication and the author, Caroline L. Herzenberg, for giving us the permission to publish this paper on PhysLink.com.


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Monday, January 5, 2009
Daddy's Girls Episode one; "New Beginning" (watch it here)
I enjoyed it very much, I couldn't wait till 10:30 tonight. It's up to you to speed up the process or not. I loved it, and can't wait to watch next weeks episode. I am watching it AGAIN at this very moment. A lot of questions about Angela and TK's break up were answered (somewhat). I stayed interested. Very good first episode. I am going to keep my mouth closed until everyone has a chance to watch it, and then I will open up and comment.
4 comments:
- iM.R0Ni said...
so i see ur blog title and im like "hmmm...im gonna read this" then i get here and u ahve the freggin video posted. for a min i sat here debating to either watch it now...or wait until 10:30. did this for about 15-20secs. and finally gave in to watch it. uggh!
it was worth it tho. and i will be watchin it again at 10:30 haha.
- January 5, 2009 at 9:13 PM
i actually liked it too. im surprised they spent so much time though talkin about angie & terry. i didnt follow their relationship
- January 5, 2009 at 9:42 PM
- JOFre$h said...
aww you might be the greatest. Just came home and forgot to dvr it. Show was great, I didnt know my son tk deaded her cause she wasnt giving up the goodies. Now only if you could post the city, I'd be straight.
- January 5, 2009 at 9:59 PM
- dauché said...
I shall post the CITY now; lol.
& yes the ep was very good.
didn't think they'd touch the tk ang topic much
but they did and i am actually kind of glad they didn't
cut it like other shows would...
- January 5, 2009 at 10:11 PM


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Holbox Mexico Caribbean Island is Quintana Roo´s northernmost island. This spectacular island is one of Quintana Roo´s best kept secret – a tranquil refuge perfect for nature lovers with perfect white sandy beaches located in the carribbean sea.
Holbox in the Mayan language means "black hole". It is part of the Yum Balam ecological reserve on holbox, separated from the mainland by the Yalahua Lagoon. It can be reached by a combination of minibus and ferry from Cancun, or by small plane directly from the airport.
More here > http://mayanexplore.com/top_places_det.php?m=58&c=4


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One enjoyable aspect of writing this blog is the number of emails I receive from people who either give me information or ask for it. In this post there's a bit of each.
A short while ago I received an email from Jeff Oates asking for information about the Robin Hood pub at Cwmffrwdoer. He says:
"I recently discovered from the 1911 Census that my Great Grandfather Oliver Richards born 1869, lived in the Robin Hood Public House, Cwmffrwdoer, with his wife and 10 children. A few weeks ago I managed to find and photograph the ruins of this pub. I have learned from several sources, that the pub was still open in the 1950s, but I have been unable to find any photographs of it. I would love to hear from anyone who may have such a photo or indeed any memories of this pub."
If anyone can remember anything about this pub please email me (firstname.lastname@example.com) and I will pass on the information to Jeff.
Another email came from Harold Clarke who had some interesting information about the Donkey Steps which from time to time have had several mentions in this blog. He says:
"With reference to the park gates I did first get told of the blacksmith committing suicide over missing one bunch of grapes when attending George Street School and have heard the same story many times. I would think it correct.
The Donkey Steps that have always gone by that name as long as I can remember are not the true Donkey Steps. These are buried under the Road surface and were a series of long shallow steps so that the horses pulling the drays up the Bell Pitch well all the way from the Globe Hotel could be hitched one behind the other with extra horses being brought in at the bottom. This put them on relatively flat ground which enabled them to be pulled up the very step gradient. I am trying to find a write up on this in one of my books. I am sure I still have it.
The picture of the Masons pub brought back a conversation, many years ago with my father who said there were two pubs long gone from the end of Broadway. I am sure one was the Masons, I might remember the other some time. My father would have been familiar with this part as he was born in Nicholas Street.
I am sure in the back of my mind there was an air raid shelter on the end of Broadway also a Static Tank same side as the houses but if I am right it would have been one of the first removed after the war as I do not remember playing in or on this one as we did at the bottom of Broadway and the Circle Brynwern"
If any visitor has a picture of the Donkey Steps I would very much appreciate a copy to add to my ever-growing file of photographs of Pontypool.
Tags: Donkey Steps, Robin Hood pub


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Cubs at Rockies Tickets
Colorado Rockies are now going up against the long time World Champions Chicago Cubs for a thrilling baseball game. Both teams have been struggling for a long time now to grace their name with a World Series title and are determined to give their best in this season. Their forthcoming combat at the Coors Field can very well expected to be an exciting game. The hosts, Rockies, and the guests, Cubs, will continue their struggle to win till the last moment. Fans are already buying the Colorado Rockies Vs Chicago Cubs tickets in large numbers as they can hardly wait to see their favorite players live in action. Buy the tickets today and get to cheer for your favorite team live from the stadium.
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The Chicago Cubs have had an eventful 2016 season so far. The season's first quarter had its fair share of ups and downs and the Cubs' fans are enjoying the topsyturvy ride. The Cubs started the 2016 campaign as the hottest team in the MLB; they hit the ground running and got off to their best start since the 1907 season. Helped by the efforts of players like Jake Arrieta and Dexter Fowler, the team established a significant lead in the National League's Central Division and looked to be cruising to the playoffs.
However, the team met with several speed bumps, mostly in the form of injuries. Jason Heyward and Kyle Schawber were both sidelined and squad's depth and the team's mettle were tested during the opening weeks of the season. The team's results were poor in the latter half of the opening quarter, but their good start means that they are still in a very good position.
As it is, the Cubs have finished the first quarter with a 29-13 record, which is currently the best in the MLB. The team leads their division with a six game lead over the second placed Pittsburgh Pirates and statistics are suggesting that they will be the only team to cross the 100 win mark this year.
If the Cubs can maintain this form till the end of the season, they can very well win their first pennant since 1945 and reach the World Series once again. Only time will tell if that does actually happen.
The forthcoming baseball game between Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs is already the talk of the town. The Coors Field will be packed with fans cheering their favorite team to victory. Get your Colorado Rockies Vs Chicago Cubs tickets and get to the stadium to watch your favorite players live in action.
The Colorado Rockies belong to the National League West Division and are a Major League Baseball team. Their best record so far has been in 2007, in which they won 21 out of 22 games, reached the World Series finals but lost to the Boston Red Sox. That same year, they also won the American League Pennant. The team came into being in 1993 and happens to be the first Major League team from Denver. The name 'Rockies' signifies the geographical location of Denver to rocky mountains. They have played in MLB postseason three times as the Wild Card team. Their home ground is the Coors Field where they are all set to face the Chicago Cubs in an exciting game.
The Chicago Cubs are two times World Champions and have sixteen National League Pennants, three Central Division titles and two East Division titles in their record as well. The formation of the team dates back to 1870 and it is one of the only two remaining National League charter teams. Both the teams in the forthcoming match are geared to pave their way to victory and promise an exciting game. Get your tickets today and watch them play live.
The Chicago Cubs and the Colorado Rockies are going in completely opposite directions right now. The Cubs are the current MLB World Series winners while the Rockies have failed to make it to the playoffs for the last seven straight seasons. These two sides will now clash in the 2017 MLB season. They have faced each other 185 times with the Cubs just shading the head to head record. They have won 95 games as compared to the Rockies 90 victories. Will the Rockies be able to reduce the gap or will the Cubs extend it? It should make for compelling viewing.
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Is it time to stop voting on Tuesdays?
Ever wonder why Americans pick their president on a Tuesday?
The short answer is that it's the law: In 1845, Congress voted to standardize Election Day as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. (They included that "after the first Monday" part to make sure the election wouldn't be held on November 1, the date of the Catholic holy day known as All Saints Day.) Lawmakers chose Tuesday in order to give voters one travel day after the Sunday day of rest to get from their farms into town to vote.
It's a system that is hopelessly outdated today, argues Jacob Soboroff, executive director of a group called "Why Tuesday," which is trying to boost voter participation by moving Election Day to the weekend.
"In 2011, coming onto 2012, we will be voting on a day and in a way that was set for an agrarian society 160-something years ago," he said in an interview with Hotsheet. (See at left.) "Frankly it literally is just silly that we're still voting on this day when so many Americans are working two jobs, don't necessarily have time to make it to the polls before or after work."
A bill called the Weekend Voting Act seeks to move Election Day to the first weekend in November, allowing voters to cast ballots on either Saturday or Sunday. While the bill has its backers in Congress, it has not been introduced in the current Congress, and Soboroff acknowledges it is difficult to get lawmakers to take up the issue.
"There's not a lot of incentive for people in Congress to change it...except for the fact that is vital to the health of our Democracy," he said, noting that most of the men and women serving today were themselves elected on a Tuesday.
Soboroff rejected the notion that moving Election Day would benefit either political party, stating that "you do not have to be a Democrat or a Republican to be a working person that has two jobs or to be a single mother or to basically have a hard time getting to the polls."
He also said that while early and absentee voting helps address the problem, states have differing laws when it comes to early voting and many states lack no-excuse absentee voting. He calls the Weekend Voting Act a "national solution" that could potentially push voter participation from the 64 percent mark in 2008 up to 70, 80 or even 90 percent.
"If you look around the world, or at the top countries at the G-8, we rank dead last in voter participation... 138th, 139th out of 172 countries in the world. It's frankly shameful that that's where the United States ranks in voter participation," he said.
"Why Tuesday" is soliciting videos from the presidential candidates seeking their support for the push, and Soboroff will likely go on the road to pose the question directly to candidates who do not respond. In 2008, Barack Obama, Mike Huckabee, Hillary Clinton and others offered varying degrees of support.
"We shouldn't be holding our elections on a workday when so many people can't get to the polls because they do have to be at work," Clinton said in a video her campaign sent into the group.


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THR's Women in Entertainment Executive of the Year is the understated, once vastly underestimated player behind Universal Pictures' $6.7 billion box office in 2015. What's her knack? The studio chairman churns out a diverse slate (in more ways than one) and draws on a reserve of steel from childhood: "If you can get through that, you can kind of get through anything."
This story first appeared in the 2015 Women in Entertainment issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.
Donna Langley's husband is an acclaimed interior designer, but her office at Universal Pictures has not been transformed by him — or anyone else — into the opulent display of power and success that most studio chairmen consider their due. "Why bother?" she asks.
Nonetheless, her office in the corporate-beige-toned studio quarters on the Universal lot shows glimmers of a personal touch. The Florence Knoll marble-topped oval desk hints at a refined aesthetic. And in a nod to a love of nature dating back to her childhood on the Isle of Wight off the coast of Britain, there's a hollow bit of log filled with greenery by the window as well as a small Asian fountain with water trickling through a piece of bamboo.
Still, what hangs on the walls is mostly business: an autographed call sheet from Angelina Jolie Pitt's Unbroken, a cartoon celebrating the $41.5 million opening weekend of the 2014 Kevin Hart-Ice Cube comedy Ride Along and a caricature drawn by Seth MacFarlane on which the Ted director scrawled, "We all wanna be like you!"
That sentiment hasn't always been widely felt in Hollywood. Back when Langley was head of production at Universal, the job has been what she might call, with polite British understatement, "challenging." The studio passed through a revolving door of owners, from Vivendi to GE to Comcast, while she reported to an array of bosses. (Ron Meyer, then-president and COO of Universal Studios, had pushed for her to be named Universal chairman in 2009, but it wasn't until 2013 that she finally got the job.) Then there was the protracted run of costly misses, among them Land of the Lost (2009), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Battleship (2012), R.I.P.D. (2013) and 47 Ronin (2013).
"When you grow up knowing that you started off life somewhere else, it gives you this great sense of independence," says Langley. "If you got through that, you can kind of get through anything."
Inevitably, some asked whether Langley's taste was commercial. Some questioned how she was keeping her job. Everyone wondered how Universal could be fixed.
With those desperate hours finally behind her, Langley initially — and characteristically — deflects a question about how she endured them. "I like it the way it is today," she says, launching into an encomium on the virtues of Comcast ownership. ("They like our business. They understand our business.") But pressed on the experience of struggling, day after day, to salvage troubled movies, Langley, 47, acknowledges, "Obviously, it felt horrible."
It doesn't feel horrible anymore. Universal had a record-smashing 2015 thanks to a diverse mix of hit films that included Furious 7, Jurassic World, Pitch Perfect 2, Trainwreck, Straight Outta Compton and Minions (a near-perfect blend of franchise movies for a studio that used to have nearly none) as well as midbudget originals. By November's end, Uni's global box-office revenue reached a record $6.7 billion, blowing past the $5.5 billion set by Fox in 2014. All of which makes Langley, right here, right now, the most successful studio chief in town, overseeing about 2,000 employees and controlling the IP that is helping to drive profit in merchandising (Minions toys for Christmas) and theme park revenue (a new ride based on the Furious movies). For the first time in recent memory, Universal is No. 1 in domestic market share, nearing 20 percent, according to Rentrak, well ahead (for now) of Disney, with 12.7 percent.
But while Langley might know everybody in the business, she herself is not deeply known. She doesn't hold court in a booth at The Grill or make herself especially visible on the Hollywood circuit. Coolly chic, with a trademark mane of dark curls and understated outfits from Tom Ford, Armani and Margiella, she often seems as smooth and opaque as that polished marble in her otherwise generic office. But no one ever made a hit movie or achieved blockbuster results by being ubiquitous at industry events.
Elizabeth Banks, who made her directorial debut with Pitch Perfect 2 at Langley's urging, says the Universal chairman is not as staid as many people assume. "I love hanging out with her," she says. "I don't think she gets enough credit for being as fun as she is." When Universal hosted a private afterparty for Pitch Perfect 2 at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant atop the downtown L.A. Ritz-Carlton, Banks says Langley helped close it down. Universal production president Peter Cramer, who has worked for Langley for 10 years, agrees. "She's the best dancer in our creative group by far," he says, adding that he's witnessed Langley rock out with Rihanna and Meryl Streep.
Off the dance floor, Langley is known for maintaining a steady calm, even when angered. "She can communicate quite a lot with a look, but she's very sparing in the use of that weapon," says Cramer. "She knows when to get in, when to lay back, when to be forceful, when to be nurturing."
Says Compton's Ice Cube: "Everybody knows that she's running the show. She never has to scream or bark — she'll just tell you directly." (Earlier this year, at CinemaCon, he told theater owners, "Sorry, guys, some of you all don't have balls as big as Donna Langley.")
Langley with her former boss Stacey Snider at The Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment breakfast in 2014.
With films like Compton, Trainwreck and Pitch Perfect, Langley has shown an uncommon willingness to embrace diverse material in terms of race and gender and not to set her sights only on the usual audience demographic: young, white males. Producer Will Packer says Langley didn't blink at casting the film Ride Along with two African-American leads, Hart and Ice Cube. "She made it very clear she didn't want this to be a small urban film — urban in the way the industry sometimes compartmentalizes projects," says Packer. "You have a lot of talk in this town about how things should be handled. She actually gave the film the support it needed financially." The film grossed $155 million; a sequel is in the works for next year.
Trainwreck producer Judd Apatow also is a believer. He says Langley offers "the kind of helpful but respectful notes that make you want to fix things as opposed to ones that confuse you or shut you down emotionally."
Notes David Kramer of UTA, which reps both Banks and Ice Cube: "She gets a lot of repeat business. To me, that sends a signal that she's a great partner."
Sitting in her office on a warm November afternoon, it's clear that Langley is more comfortable talking with filmmakers than being interviewed about herself. Still, with her bosses at Comcast responding enthusiastically to the idea of a victory lap after a big year, she gives it her best shot.
She's been open before about having been adopted. Her biological mother was English and her father Egyptian. She used to pretend that her birth father was Omar Sharif but says she never felt a need to locate either of her birth parents. Her adoptive father spent most of his career designing radar systems for Great Britain's Civil Aviation Authority, while her adoptive mother was an activist who did volunteer work in foster care. Langley says her mother read about an adoption agency in London that specialized in placing children of mixed parentage and set out to meet the woman who ran it. That's when she encountered her future daughter, then about a year old.
"When you grow up knowing that you started off life somewhere else, it gives you this great sense of independence," says Langley. "If you got through that, you can kind of get through anything."
Langley and her older brother and sister were raised as vegetarians from the time she was 4. If the home economics class assignment was to bake a Swiss roll sponge cake, hers was made with "whole-wheat flour and molasses and honey, and it was really embarrassing and usually a disaster. So that was character building."
With 'Furious 7' star Vin Diesel (center) and NBCUniversal vice chairman Meyer — who calls Langley "the best rounded movie executive of anybody I have ever known" — in April.
When she was 7, the family moved from London to the Isle of Wight, a holiday destination for many Britons, off the coast in the English Channel. The schools were good, and it was a place where children could roam. "When I think back to my childhood, I just think of the word 'freedom,' " she says. "In the summers we spent all day on the beach." She was not particularly enamored of movies; instead, she developed a taste for nature that she now satisfies by having a second home in Ojai, Calif., a world away from Los Feliz, where she lives with her husband, Ramin Shamshiri, whom she met through mutual friends in L.A., and their two boys, ages 4 and 6. Despite a packed daily schedule visiting movie sets and meeting filmmakers, she and her spouse alternate school drop-offs and pickups.
After attending Kent College, majoring in art history, Langley moved to London, where some of her friends were working in media and entertainment. That world intrigued her, and in 1991 she and her closest friend, Tania Landau (now an exec producer working for Neal Moritz), decided to check out Los Angeles for three months. Nearly 25 years later, says Langley, "My mom is still waiting for me to come home."
Langley and Landau rented a house, and Langley landed a hostess job at Roxbury, a Sunset Boulevard hotspot that had an exclusive VIP room. It was there that she and Landau met rising executive Michael De Luca, who had just relocated from New York to become president of production at New Line. "They were so funny and smart and sharp and sassy," says De Luca, now producing the Fifty Shades of Grey movies through a deal at Universal. "You're a sucker for those accents, too." De Luca called Langley and Landau "the cuckoo Pigeon sisters," an allusion to a pair of giggling siblings in The Odd Couple.
De Luca brought Langley to New Line as an assistant to executive Lynn Harris as the studio was coming off The Mask and Dumb and Dumber. When she moved to the story department and then into a junior executive job, De Luca was impressed. Even then, he says, she had "a no-bullshit attitude." Because New Line, at that point, was not a first stop for shopping material, Langley had to hunt for emerging talent. The early training with De Luca "taught us how to find something, how to find a reason for it being," says The Revenant producer Mary Parent, who also was a young executive at New Line with Langley. Even after De Luca became Langley's boss, she and Landau felt comfortable enough to call and ask him to remove a dead possum from their garage. Black garbage bag in hand, New Line's president of production complied.
When Parent left New Line in 1997 for Universal, eventually becoming the studio's co-president of production, she lured Langley over to the lot for a job as a senior vp. By 2005, Langley was president of production and for the next several years survived an array of bosses: Stacey Snider left in 2006 and was replaced by Marc Shmuger and David Linde, who lasted until 2009. It was then that Meyer made his first bid to install Langley as chairman. Everyone has misses, he reasoned, but he believed she had leadership skills. He also had noticed that Langley had championed one of the studio's only hits of that hungry era, Mamma Mia!, which grossed $610 million.
Meyer went to New York to make his case with GE chairman Jeff Immelt and Jeff Zucker, then-CEO of NBCUniversal. They rejected the suggestion. (Neither man responded to a request for comment.) Instead they were intent on promoting Adam Fogelson, then head of marketing and distribution (and now chairman of fledgling studio STX Entertainment). Meyer — who calls Langley "the best rounded movie executive of anybody I have ever known" — left the meeting in anger. But Langley, for her part, says she never expected a promotion. "I hoped I got to keep my job, honestly, because those were really tough times," she says. "What happens when you're in the thick of doing triage every single day is you're not able to think about strategy, about moving forward with any momentum."
De Luca remembers a dinner with Langley around that time during which she discussed how Universal could cope with a lack of franchise material in an increasingly franchise-driven world. "You have to have something for everyone and not be afraid of hitting singles and doubles and not be afraid of originality," De Luca recalls Langley philosophizing. He believes the studio's current success results from the execution of that plan over a period of years.
Universal's performance had started to improve markedly when Fogelson was abruptly ousted in September 2013, and Langley finally got promoted to chairman — though she was, once again, reporting to a new boss. Comcast — having seemed all but indifferent to the film business since it had bought NBCU in 2009 — was ready to install its own man at the head of the studio: Jeff Shell, a Comcast veteran with zero hands-on movie-making experience, was named chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment. While Langley is responsible for overseeing movies and working with filmmakers, it is Shell who has the power to greenlight.
Langley was tasked with giving her new superior a crash course in the film industry. "I was a total pain in the ass," recalls Shell cheerfully. "Most of my questions were basic and very stupid. I started the job on Monday, and Donna said, 'We have a preview tomorrow night.' I said, 'What's a preview?' "
There are those in the industry who point out that many of Universal's 2015 hits — including Jurassic World and Furious 7 — were put into production when Fogelson was running the studio. Nonetheless, most, if not all, of the credit for several of this year's more challenging successes goes to the former Pigeon sister. No one disputes that she is the person who wooed and won Fifty Shades of Grey's EL James when all of Hollywood was chasing after the British S&M author. "There were other interested studios headed by women," James tells THR. "But given that Donna's British, I knew that we could speak the same language — and that she could make a good cup of tea."
To win James over, Langley yielded unprecedented control to the author, which surely was persuasive. But courtship still was critical. The studio put together a reel of Universal movies with strong female leads (Bridget Jones's Diary, Pride & Prejudice). And surmising that James might be feeling overwhelmed by all the Hollywood attention, Langley played her ace card: "I said, 'Can I make you a cup of tea?' "
Another decision that was all Langley: putting up $30 million to make Straight Outta Compton. The project had been dropped by New Line, which balked at that budget for a hard-R racially charged movie about the world of gangsta rap. But when its producers brought it to Langley, she saw its crossover potential. "I told her there was no way to make this movie without controversy," says Ice Cube, whose story (about the founding of N.W.A) is told in the film. "She was, like, 'I know,' which is what I wanted to hear. She was down to take whatever licks this movie would bring and didn't squirm or get squeamish."
Obviously, Langley can't take credit for rebooting the Fast & Furious franchise, but she was a key part of a team effort to pull Furious 7 through the tragic midproduction death of Paul Walker, leading to a franchise-best $1.5 billion gross worldwide. Production was halted; the Uni team took a pause to mourn, and then a strategy was devised for finishing the film with the use of challenging technological magic that included employing Walker's brothers as stand-ins for the late star. The final product was marketed deftly and respectfully, and the film's performance was surpassed only by the successful relaunch of another franchise: Jurassic World, which reached $1.7 billion at the box office.
"She's indefatigable about trying to make a film the best it can possibly be," says NBCU CEO Steve Burke. And Langley hasn't shrunk from subject matter — notably Fifty Shades — that could rattle a company like NBCU parent Comcast. "I think Donna was worried that maybe since we're a big, conservative, Philadelphia-based company that we might have problems with [certain] content," says Burke. "But if we're going to be in the motion picture business, we need to be all in and not screen every film in terms of what somebody might say about Comcast."
As Langley lays plans for the next couple of years — another Bourne movie (with Matt Damon back in the lead), another Furious sequel (to be directed by Compton's F. Gary Gray), another Jurassic expedition, two more Fifty Shades films shooting back-to-back, along with The Purge 3 and Ouija 2 (from Jason Blum's low-budget factory)and more Minions (from Chris Meledandri's Illumination, the very model of a fiscally responsible, reliable hit machine) — the big question is the obvious one: Can her hand stay this hot? Hollywood execs dream of reaching this point — and then almost instantly succumb to dread about what will come next.
"I actually think I have really broad, really eclectic taste," says Langley. "The accent tends to throw people off."
Some industry insiders, naturally, whisper the studio already has slipped, pointing to the less-than-stellar fourth-quarter box office from Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs and Angelina Jolie Pitt's By the Sea (which was, in the view of many, overly expensive at $30 million). Langley also is said to be on strained terms with Thomas Tull and his Legendary Pictures; a deal was crafted by Comcast in 2013, when the company had no financing partner (Tull's $350 million and enthusiasm for event movies proved irresistible). But the first three movies dropped into Universal's pipeline, Seventh Son, Blackhat and Crimson Peak — made without Uni financing — were bombs. "It's a little early in the relationship to make any conclusions," is all Burke will say about the partnership.
There also are questions over how Langley and Shell will fare as a team as he gains experience in the movie business. Will Langley chafe over guidelines that Shell has drawn up for the studio's slate — such as a $100 million cap on nonfranchise originals? Will it cause strain when he meets independently with major talent, as he recently did with Christopher Nolan?
Langley says Shell's strategy is not at all confining and is more a refinement of an approach that existed. Even if it's a bit more restrictive than that, a veteran producer who has known Langley for years believes she will gladly accommodate Shell's wishes. "She really gets that the studio is owned by Comcast and that's the culture she's in," he says. "She understands that Comcast has a very rigorous way of conducting things. She was also part of movies that were way over budget and lost a lot of money — Battleship, 47 Ronin, R.I.P.D. That group of movies was really painful. And she processed that it was not going to happen again on her watch."
Of course, a year like 2015 will probably not happen again either, as Langley's bosses are aware. "We are not looking at this year and saying, 'Wow, we figured out the movie business,' " says Burke. "We're not expecting to replicate it anytime soon or maybe ever."
Seated in her office at Universal, Langley says she believes that under Comcast's ownership, the team at the studio has finally had a chance to coalesce, enhancing its chances of success. And she takes care to be inclusive when she sums up the amazing year. "It's a collaboration," she says. "It's a collaboration between the studio and all of its wonderful filmmakers. It's a collaboration internally. It's a collaboration with the town, with our agency partners. It's all a collaboration and then, you know — no magic bullet. It's some strategy, some timing and some luck."


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Orthopedic Care in Elyria at Xcell Medical Group
Xcell Medical Group is a full Rehabilitation facility offering the best in Integrated Medical Services including Orthopedic Care in conjunction with Chiropractic Care, Physiotherapeutics, and Physical Medicine.
It is our mission to avoid Orthopedic Surgery for our patients by all means possible, focusing on complete musculoskeletal rehabilitation and care.
Combined Non-Surgical Orthopedic and Chiropractic Care is the conservative treatment of health problems without the use of sometimes addictive prescription drugs or surgery. We use more natural and less invasive forms of treatment with our patients. Our Doctors utilize advanced and traditional methods which are gentle, painless, and effective.
We quickly rehabilitate routine conditions as well as difficult conditions such as Slipped and/or Herniated Discs, Shoulder Injuries, Scoliosis, Arthritic Issues, Neck and Back Pain, Knee Issues, and more.
Since we have Dr. Jane Hoashi, MD, an Orthopedic Doctor on staff, we not only treat spinal conditions but conditions involving every muscle, bone and joint throughout the body.
Our office prides ourselves on accepting and rehabilitating difficult cases and preventing individuals from having unnecessary surgical intervention by providing non-surgical solutions for spinal and joint related conditions.
If on the off chance surgery is necessary, however, we advise patients promptly and refer them to the most qualified specialists in our community.
Xcell Medical Group in Elyria is Ohio BWC Certified to treat work-related injuries and are specialists in auto injuries and recovery as well.
Regenerative Therapy is a new Orthopedic Surgery alternative that we offer in our office.
We've found that this treatment option works best with Osteoarthritic Joints like knees and shoulders. A simple 30-minute treatment can help one to avoid costly and invasive surgeries, as well as longer recovery times.
For more information on this new revolutionary treatment option, see our Regenerative Therapy page or ask Dr. Fabian or Dr. Hoashi if you are a current patient.
You are also welcome to attend one of our "Stem Cells & You" events that we offer free twice a month at various locations in and around Lorain County.
Our free lunch and dinner talks are designed to give you the opportunity to find out more about Regenerative Therapy, how it helps the joints in the body, and to see and hear actual patient success stories.
You can also schedule a free in-office consultation to see if you are a candidate for this new treatment option. We are helping people get back to leading active lives without the need for prescription pain meds.
Xcell Medical Group has an over 90% success rate with Regenerative Therapy, helping many of our patients avoid undergoing costly, exhaustive, and invasive surgery.
Check out our article, "Knee Surgery or Regenerative Stem Cell Therapy", where we talk about how the two compare side-by-side.
At Xcell Medical Group, we always try to give our patients the most comprehensive information so they can make educated decisions on their healthcare treatment options.
Interested in Orthopedic treatments with Xcell Medical Group?
Find out more and schedule your consultation today.
New Patients Receive a Complimentary Consultation!
Same Day Appointments Available For Existing & New Patients!


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How to Save on Wedding Photography
Tips for Saving on Your Photos
Your wedding photos can be one of the more expensive costs of the wedding; on average a small wedding held on a Saturday can cost $2500. In fact, most couples underestimate the cost of wedding photos by 50 percent. Which means they spent twice as much than they originally budgeted. Keep that in mind when creating your wedding budget.
Of the various tips on how to save on wedding photography, hiring a student photographer often tops the list. Before you consider this option remember you'll only have one opportunity to photograph your wedding. Do you want to leave such an important event in the hands of an amateur? Granted, there are students out there with superb skills, however they tend to lack experience. Save yourself possible grief and have your wedding photos done by a professional.
There are many useful tips on how to save on wedding photography; some will save you quite a bit and others only a little.
Limit the photographer's time: sometimes the photographer's rate is based on time or the number of rolls shot. In which case consider having the photographer only take formal or complicated photos during the ceremony and have a skilled friend or relative take other photos during the reception.
Get a package: Instead of purchasing all the photos and other items separately order a package. If there's something not in the package that you'd like ask the photographer to consider exchanging it for something else without raising the price.
Don't automatically consider the cheapest package: often additional prints or different sizes are not included in the cheapest or smallest package - which means you could pay a lot extra to get them. Consider going with a more inclusive package.
Don't get all the extras: options such as the "deluxe" wedding album or custom framing pictures can make costs add-up quickly. Focus on purchasing only the photos. The album and framing you can purchase much cheaper elsewhere.
Get the negatives: unfortunately many photographers don't include the negatives with your photos. Ask if you can receive or purchase the negatives - you'll be able to get copies whenever you want and for much cheaper than most studios charge.
Have your guests help out: put disposable cameras on the reception tables and encourage the guests to take photos. Great for candid photos!


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Epson's new 44-inch and 64-inch models of the SureColor SC-B6070 are the first large format sign printers in the world to feature high-capacity ink tanks, which are capable of carrying up to 1.5 liters.
Designed for high-quality indoor signage printing, the ink tanks of the two new SureColor models use original Epson dye-based inks. These can be refilled even while the printers are in operation, whereas third-party ink tanks would require one to stop the printer's operation before they can be refilled. Refill packs contain 1 liter of ink.
Both the 44-inch and 64-inch SureColor SC-B6070 models are equipped with Epson's Micro Piezo Think Film Piezo (TFP) print head that is able to print at 720dpi in a single pass. It can deliver a 1440 x 1440dpi printing resolution with a speed of up to 69.5m2 per hour.
Additionally, the ink tanks have a filter that prevents contamination of the print head.
The 44-inch SureColor SC-B6070 sells for PHP 340,900, while the 64-inch SureColor SC-B7070 is available for PHP 799,900.


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Delilah and her friend Lyle grow worried after their fellow student fails to return in time for their graduation ceremony. Their friend Trent had left after finals to investigate a number of recent ghost sightings in Slate Rock, but failed to show up for graduation. After no clues show up during a forensic investigation a few weeks later, Trent becomes classified as missing, and Lyle and Delilah decide to conduct an investigation of their own.
Can you help Lyle and Delilah find what happened to their missing friend?
Back to Games/Adventure


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Legendary Tools: Nobility provides an alternative mechanic to alignment involving nobility points that track a character's behavior and a system of codes allowing individual players to emphasize their personal ethics.
This system was first seen in Legends of Excalibur, but is presented here as an add-on to traditional d20 fantasy classes.
This product also includes two new core classes (from LOE): the Knight and Noble along with a new Prestige Class version of the Paladin (most easily attained from the Knight core class).


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It was discovered several days ago at 16th mag., but now SN 2008Q in NGC 524 has risen to 13.7 mag. Supernova & galaxy are located in Pisces.
In other news combined meteor video & radio backscatter recordings are now online from one station in New Mexico, e.g. from a fireball last night. And here's another image of Chen-Gao from last night.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
13 mag. supernova in NGC 524
Posted by Daniel Fischer at 7:23 PM
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text: Social Pro Daily Subtitles Can Now Be Added to Videos on Twitter The social network will continue to support closed captions, as wellBy David Cohen|March 29, 2019 Subtitles can be viewed via the web, iOS and AndroidTwitterShare By David Cohen|March 29, 2019 Share Video publishers on Twitter can now include .SRT subtitles that can be viewed via the web, iOS and Android.Group product manager Matt Dennebaum said in a blog post that publishers have sought this feature for quite some time due to the fact that videos auto-play without sound in Twitter's timeline.Twitter will continue to support CEA-style captions that are enabled when people turn on closed captioning via the accessibility settings on their iOS and Android devices.Dennebaum pointed out that subtitles are different from closed captions, saying that Twitter defines them as transcripts of the dialog or audio in a video in .SRT files that are attached to videos via Twitter Media Studio, Twitter Ads or the social network's application-programming interface. For users, if the video they are watching contains subtitles, they can be viewed on iOS and Android if the sound on their devices is turned off, or on the web by clicking on the "cc" toggle. When videos are expanded, sound playback is enabled, so the subtitles will be hidden.For publishers looking to add subtitles, they can click on a video within their Media Studio library, select the Subtitles tab in the pop-up window, choose the language of their subtitles in the drop-down menu, click the upload button and add an .SRT file from their computer. Clicking the pencil icon enables them to update that file. Watch and follow what's happening with @GatorsMBK, @GatorsSB, @GatorsBB, & @GatorsGym in today's #GatorMinute.cc @MyGatorPass pic.twitter.com/hX4WwMxLSZ — Florida Gators (@FloridaGators) March 21, 2019 Okay but what's cuter, #Dumbo or @DannyDeVito's Trollfoot? pic.twitter.com/33Y1z98rMt— Twitter Movies (@TwitterMovies) March 28, 2019 Share https://adweek.it/2UgGDHf copy David Cohen David Cohen is editor of Adweek's Social Pro Daily. Adweek Adweek


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LaserMark 57-LM800DI Rotary Laser Level Review
CST/Berger's automatic self-leveling rotary laser is designed for interior and exterior use
The LaserMark LM800DI is an automatic self-leveling rotary laser designed for interior and exterior use. It has square dot, line, and rotary functions (level and plumb), a diameter range of up to 2800 ft. with detector, and is accurate up to 1/16 in. over 100 ft. It is equipped with a battery-level indicator and out-of-level shutoff. It comes with a kit that includes a detector, rechargeable battery, wall-mounting bracket, and remote control.