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On the second of July in 1996, artist Mike Parobeck died from complications with diabetes in Key West, Florida. Mere days later at San Diego's Comic-Con, the news of his death would be met by his colleagues and admirers with disbelief and utter sadness. Even today, it is difficult to accept that he was taken from us just shy of his thirty-first birthday, just as he was beginning to elevate himself into one of the best draftsman in the field that he loved so dearly.
Throughout the early Nineties, as the over-rendered Image Comics art-style dominated the industry, Mike's art was a breath of fresh air. His work proved the adage, "less is more." With only a stroke of his pencil, he was able to say more than most, for his technique was as impeccable as his storytelling. His small body of work has left an indelible impression on all who have seen it. Those pages and images are filled with joyous energy and an exuberance of life that seemed to be lacking in the artist's very own introverted nature.
Born on July 7, 1965, Michael J. Parobeck grew up in Ohio and loved the comics of John Byrne, whom he referred to as being "the reason that I got into this field at all." He was the youngest of six children raised by his father, an accountant, and his mother, Lois. From grammar school to high school, Mike displayed artistic ability as he persisted despite a lack of fanfare.
Mike's mother, Lois Parobeck, recalled, "He was so good. But he had an art teacher in his senior year (of high school) that just could hardly give a darn about anybody. She was the art teacher, and she just more or less -- I think sometimes some of them think that they're so great, and they don't care. So Mike felt bad when she had that bad attitude. But I suppose that could happen to anybody, though. Then, when he went to Cincinnati art school, then he learned so much -- positioning, structure, all the stuff, shading, just everything he learned then -- and that made everything so much better, because I could see the difference from what he had in high school."
Parobeck enrolled in Commercial Arts at the now-defunct Central Academy of Art, a two-year technical school in Cincinnati, with the hopes of working in the advertising and design field. Upon graduation in 1985, Mike was determined to never return home and moved to Chicago to start his career in advertising.
At his first ad agency in the Windy City, Mike eagerly learned the craft in the mount room by prepping presentation boards for clients and meetings. He also found friends amongst other young artists at the agency, among them Momi Jahn. "I worked at an agency called Grant-Jacoby, as did my husband, and Mike started there as a beginning art director in what we called the bullpen -- a beginner place where you pick up the skills and you learn how to become an art director, and you assist the art directors watching your people, and that's how you learn," Jahn said. "That's where he started. I knew he was always interested in [comics]. He was always drawing characters. That was one of his trademarks. He was just always drawing characters like that, like the one he did of me."
After a couple of years, the young artist found a better position at Evans & Evans, a smaller ad agency which seemingly offered more opportunity. Mike also managed to handle freelance assignments from various advertising outfits on Michigan Avenue, including the well known Leo Burnett Worldwide.
Michael Franzese befriended Mike Parobeck at the Central Academy of Cincinnati, becoming one of his best friends. Like Parobeck, Franzese started his advertising career in similar fashion. "Mike was also very big on freelancing. He was such a great illustrator, and such a great artist, that he freelanced all the time," Franzese recalled. "He would work all night doing storyboards for other companies. If somebody would need to get stuff done, and they don't have enough illustrators on staff, they call in a freelancer. They give you a job, you go home and you draw it all night long, you drop it off in the morning and you make extra money. Mike did a lot of that."
Parobeck quickly developed a distaste for advertising work, feeling that it was mostly deceitful and misleading; he wanted out. This was the point where Mike started working towards breaking into the comics industry.
According to Franzese, "[Mike] was never content in advertising, because sales was not his strong point. Michael just felt that was weird. 'Why am I lying to people?' It's like, 'Well, you're not lying to them. You're merely trying to promote something.' He's like, 'Yeah, I don't like that.' So it never really sat well with him. A great story was, once we got a new business pitch on a Friday night to help out another agency. It was for a product, and everything had to be done by Monday morning, and that's all we thought there was to it. And Mike came to me and was like, 'I don't want to work on this.' And I said, "Well, why?' And he said, 'Because I haven't tasted the product. We're going to spend all this time trying to advertise this thing, and we don't even know what it is. We just have the basic write-up of what it is.' He had a real problem doing that. So I let him off the job."
One thing that Parobeck learned in Chicago was to stand up for himself a bit more, as Momi Jahn recalled. "I do remember, once, he got mugged. He came in to work, and he was all beat up. His face was swollen, he had a black eye and we were like, 'Oh, my God! What happened?' And he had been mugged. I can't remember what street corner he was standing on, waiting for a bus or something. He got mugged, and I guess he tried to fight off his attackers. I mean, he was a very soft-spoken man, but he was tough. You didn't fool around with him. He was a big guy, and he thought he could fend off these muggers, and he didn't; he got beat up, and he got his wallet taken anyway. That was so Mike. And he was just quiet about it. He didn't say anything. We're like, 'Oh, my God! What happened to you?'"
Around the mid-Eighties, Chicago was fast becoming a hotbed in the comics community, and Mike naturally gravitated towards that crowd. Many of these people quickly became friends and colleagues of the enthusiastic, young artist. Emerging comic book talent like Len Strazewski, Paul Fricke, Scott Beaderstadt and Brian Augustyn all befriended and encouraged the young artist to illustrate a short sequence, written by Strazewski and edited by Augustyn, for a 1987 charity book titled "Quest for Dreams Lost," a benefit for The Literacy Volunteers of Chicago. The opportunity to become a comic book artist was one that Mike would seize.
"In his earliest work, Mike was already showing all the strengths that would establish him as a terrific comic artist: clear, clean layouts, great senses of design and drama and accessible, attractive characters," Brian Augustyn said. "I could see his potential immediately -- his talent was so brilliantly evident, I'd have to have been blind to miss it, frankly."
While Mike made his portfolio stronger, Augustyn was hired for an editorial position in 1987 at DC Comics by Mike Gold. Soon after, Augustyn presented Mike's work to the attention of fellow editor Mark Waid -- always keen on his using new talent for his "Secret Origins" series -- and he, too, was quickly impressed with the "spot-on" storytelling. Mike made his professional comics debut in "Secret Origins" #37, illustrating a short story featuring Doctor Light, the first of several stories he did for the title. Being a consummate professional, you could see his progress with each passing story. Rather quickly, he landed a new series called "El Diablo" with writer Gerard Jones and inkers John Nyberg and Paul Fricke. The El Diablo character was Rafael Sandoval, a Latino city councilman, who, through his masked persona, fought to protect his constituency from crime and injustice.
"When he got the 'El Diablo' job, we were having drinks one night and he said, 'Oh, I'm leaving for San Antonio tomorrow,'" Michael Franzese remembered. "I said, "Oh, what are you doing in San Antonio?' And he was going to San Antonio because that's where the 'El Diablo' comic took place, and he knew nothing about it. He stayed, I think, for three or four days. It wasn't too long, but he took a ton of pictures around town and did a lot of research, so that when he was drawing stuff, he could make sure it was correct."
Despite the nobility of the more realistic storylines and the animated artwork, the title never fully caught on with readers, nor did DC's marketing department ever really promote the series, a situation that ultimately led to the series' cancellation with its sixteenth issue. "Mike was nervous," recalled Gerard Jones about the artist's reaction to "El Diablo's" end. "Every new creator is, of course, but Mike seemed particularly plagued by anxieties about failure. Part of the problem was that the word was going around DC that his art was 'too cartoony.' I thought it was a grotesquely unfair criticism, and I think it had as much to do with office politics and the opposition of some editors to Brian Augustyn's approach as it had to do with Mike's art. But word of that reached Mike, and he came to feel that he always had too much to prove. When 'El Diablo' was canceled, he got angry at the readers and at DC, but mostly I think he blamed himself. Brian and I told him that it did pretty well for what it was, but his confidence was rocked. His anxiety seemed higher from then on."
"Inside the DC offices, the response was not positive," Augustyn, his editor, remembered. "Mike, being ahead of his time, puzzled many of the powers that be, and many of them thought Mike was a counterintuitive choice in the days of heroes with giant thighs, tiny feet and heavy cross-hatching. On the other hand, I was never told to use Mike, I was never told to make him draw more 'fill-in-the-blank.' There was often shaking of the head and clucking, but they mostly left us alone. It needs to be said that on most of Mike's projects with me, he was the right guy and got appropriate support from on high. Then Editor-in-Chief Dick Giordano liked Mike's stuff on 'El Diablo' a lot. Group Editor Mike Gold and Dick Giordano thought he was perfect for .The Fly.'"
Parobeck's demeanor quickly rebounded when he was selected to be the penciler on a revamped "The Fly" for DC's new Impact imprint. The Fly, a vintage Archie Comics character created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, was licensed by DC for their short-lived !mpact imprint in the hopes of attracting new readers with accessible stories that had none of the "grim and gritty" approach that was commonplace in 1991. Mike's artwork was nicely matched with Paul Fricke's inks; together they evoked the kind of wonderful sense that the editors wanted. The writer of the series was his good friend Len Strazewski, a fellow Chicagoan, and the two would regularly meet at a convenient eatery to discuss their latest stories.
"It was always great, because he would spread pages out on the table, and we'd have lunch, and put the pages out and I always had the same experience, Strazewski said. "I would look at the pages and go, 'Wow! Mike, this is very good! Tremendous! Where did you get this?' And, he said, 'Well, in your script.' I realized that I would write something like, 'The Fly buzzes around the office building,' and Mike would just, sort of, creatively interpret this stuff in such a lively and imaginative infused way that was like, 'Yeah. I did say that, Mike.' But there was no way that I could have visually conceived what he did. We didn't plot so much -- I mean, I wrote full script -- but his ability to take a script and to just infuse it with his own style and imagination was tremendous."
Initially, the sales of the !mpact books were met with success, but internal company conflict and the declining sales in the months ahead would lead to the end of the entire project. Again, Mike didn't handle the news well. Strazewski added, "Mike took everything extremely personally. And in many ways that was his...I want to say downfall, but in many ways that's what killed him in the long run. It's that Mike was extremely sensitive about his work, and when things did not go well, for whatever reason, he took it on himself. The idea of canceling a title that he had as much fun as 'The Fly' -- it was a blow to Mike, absolutely."
Prior to "The Fly," Mike had penciled two issues (#3 and #5) of a 1991 "Justice Society of America" miniseries, the success of which brought him back to launch an ongoing "JSA" series in 1992, written by Strazewski with inks by Mike Machlan. While his art style continued to evolve, the Justice Society characters benefited from his style, royally. He used his Berol 4H pencils to make that Golden Age group larger than life. He gave them bigger proportions that evoked the feel of Dick Sprang's work, a style that Parobeck emulated in his 1992 "Elongated Man" miniseries. Parobeck illustrated the team in a way that made the heroes look like they could finally hold their own against their younger counterparts. No longer were they simply "the senior citizens" of DC, they were finally characters who could hold their own alongside their modern equivalents and who were their superiors when it came to experience.
The book was well received by the fans, yet according to Strazewski, that wasn't the case inside DC. "Remind Mike Carlin of that. He was the one who pretty much single-handedly nixed the series. And his argument was that we shouldn't be doing stories about senior citizen heroes. I discussed this with Mike many times over the years since then. I think he was wrong; sales were always good on that book. I think there's been some slander circulated that the books didn't sell -- that's absolutely untrue. Those books earned royalties for every issue. There were ten issues, every issue earned royalties."
When "Batman: The Animated Series" premiered on Fox Kids Network in September of 1992, the most natural result on DC Comics' side was the comic book tie-in. DC debuted "Batman Adventures" alongside the television show with a cover date of October 1992. Ty Templeton and Brad Rader, the pencilers of the first six issues, successfully set the direction of the series. "But then I needed a new penciler starting with issue #7," Scott Peterson, the editor of "Batman Adventures," said. "The series was originally designed to be a miniseries, but it was so good and so well received that Paul Levitz decided to turn it into an ongoing monthly as soon as the first issue came out. I looked around for a new penciler, and Mike had just finished his previous gig. I thought he'd be the perfect guy for the job, so I offered him the slot and he accepted; he seemed particularly pleased that Rick Burchett was already the regular inker. It was going to be a week or so before Mike got the first script, but two days later I got a bunch of pages from him -- he wanted to show me he could adapt to the style. He already had the job. And yet he was still auditioning. That's the kinda guy Mike was."
For most artists, it would seem a daunting task to draw in a style that wasn't their own -- someone forgot to tell Mike that. He enjoyed the challenge and enjoyed working on the book, so much so that he once said, "As long as they'll be putting out the book out, I'll be there." Right from his first cover on issue #5, he embraced the style that Bruce Timm had set for the show by infusing it with his own, which ironically was very similar to what he had been doing for years. "Batman Adventures" paired the penciler with Rick Burchett, Mike's favorite inker, who brilliantly brought out all the mood and rich characterizations from the pencils that he was given.
"At the time, it was a pretty radical departure," Burchett said. "A straight adventure book with a more iconic, designed feel to the art. All I knew was that I was having a ball. Everyone on the team was a joy to work with. I really don't know why the team clicked. That's something you can't manufacture. Maybe it was because we understood the material and realized that this type of art could be used to tell practically any kind of story you wanted to tell. We never intended the book to be just for little kids. We wanted older readers along for the ride, too. We didn't talk down to anyone."
The book was a breath of fresh air for comic book fans tired of the grimness and gimmicky fads that the main Batman books were going through. The "real" Batman that everyone loved was in those elegantly crafted "Batman Adventures." The stylized stories conveyed the imagination and adventure people expected from a Batman book. The sales for the title were always steady -- Mike wanted the book to succeed so much that he would draw two fully-rendered sketches for the best letter writers of every issue, something he did through the entire time he was on the book. For three years, the stories that Kelley Puckett wrote for Parobeck and Burchett to present were always fun. In time, Mike's interpretation of the animated Batman became the standard, appearing on countless licensed products throughout the Nineties.
In terms of his output, the perfectionist was a prolific workhorse that averaged seven to nine pages over his five to six day work week. Between Batman and licensing assignments, he managed to do art for other DC Universe books like "Robin," "Justice League Europe" and "L.E.G.I.O.N.." Despite not having the best of networking skills, he managed to do an issue of "Wonder Man" and two covers for "X-Men: The Early Years" for Marvel Comics -- his only chance to do work with his favorite team of characters.
In regard to who he was taking influence from during this period in his career, the line art of Jaime Hernandez became an undeniable influence in all of his DC work. From Alex Toth, he learned the importance of economizing and simplicity, never over-rendering his figures or designs. During his lifetime, he could count fellow artists like Kelley Jones, Brian Stelfreeze, Matt Wagner, Alex Ross and George Pratt, as fans of his work. Mike even took the time to help other young artists -- including an up and coming illustrator named David Mack, with whom he would correspond with, offering letters of advice and encouragement.
"He was pretty much a loner," Franzese said about his late friend. "But I think that's something that you have to watch. I was thinking about this after the last time we talked; there's probably a few things that I think Mike would want people to know about him. Because sometimes, that lonely thing, it's bad for you. When he was working at the ad agency, there was always somebody to talk to. When he was doing the comics, he was basically locked in a room 24 hours a day, just drawing the comics, and it became so very insular that I think he -- not that he hated it, but it was one of those things, like, I think he always dreamed of the Marvel bullpen, when it was six or eight guys, or back in the day when Neal Adams and those guys used to share studio space. So you could work and draw all day long, but there was at least somebody there to talk to if you wanted to. I think that he worked alone, but it was very -- I won't say disturbing, but I think his own sensitivities, being so much of a loner, I think it got to him. He wouldn't pay attention. He wouldn't eat properly. He wouldn't do things for himself because he would get so into his own little world."
Behind his self-deprecatory humor and anxiety, Mike was also dealing with severe childhood trauma. As a result of that pain, he buried himself deeper in his work and spent too much of his time alone, bottling up his anger and regret. Everyone who knew him remembers Parobeck as being a tall, handsome man, who was slightly athletic and slender, but painfully shy. Although he had girlfriends, most of those relationships were sadly doomed from the start. Then, he started becoming thinner, more frail and lethargic, and it wasn't until he had a severe episode that he finally sought a doctor for help. Midway through his "Batman" run, Mike Parobeck was diagnosed as having Type 1 diabetes.
"He had noticed that his vision was going," Franzese said. "He was getting a lot of headaches and his vision was going. So we went and we got him glasses, and the glasses helped for a couple of weeks, but then he just started to notice other things. And, finally, I think what happened was he had passed out somewhere, like, literally walking down the street and falling over. They got him into the hospital and figured [it] out, and I ended up getting a call that day, that he was in the hospital and his blood sugar, was, like, one. Which is an exaggeration, but it was so low that he couldn't move, so he ended up passing out. They got him into the hospital, they got him loaded up and his sugar was high, so they had to bring it back down. He was gone about a week -- I think a solid week, week-and-a-half -- in St. Joseph's Hospital here in Chicago as his doctor tried to regulate his diet and figure things out for him.
"That's when he was diagnosed with diabetes. And he seemed pretty good there," Franzese continued. "He seemed like, 'Oh, you know what? I gotta change my life; I gotta learn how to eat correctly, because I have this disease.' A couple weeks later, we were talking one night, and he started drinking heavily. And I'm like, 'Dude, with the diabetes, you've got to kind of watch your drinking.' And then he went off on a big tear about how his life was screwed up, and every time he tried to get going somewhere, something would happen, and he was constantly screwing up his life. Look at the diabetes as an example. And I'm like, 'But diabetes isn't caused by anorexia or any emotional problems you have. You didn't do it. It's just a fact, your pancreas shut down.' Even the doctors had told him that. But he couldn't buy that. He thought it was his fault that he was sick. It was kind of a weird thing."
The news of his illness crushed the young artist. He told all his friends he had diabetes, but didn't always take care of himself nor adhere to his doctor's advice. Every day, people cope with Type 1 by taking their insulin, checking their blood glucose levels and adjusting their lifestyle, but Mike had a hard time juggling his new medical disorder with his personality issues. He wasn't suicidal; he was just naïve enough to believe it would never catch up with him. As his outward appearance worsened, his friends would tell him to take care of himself, but he'd either change the subject or shrug his shoulders. Sadly, even his work began to suffer. It wasn't right. He was having a hard time drawing even the simplest things. Mike decided to move to Key West, thinking that perhaps the warmer climate and a change of scenery would help make things right.
"I knew he wasn't in great shape," Scott Peterson recounted, "but I guess none of us realized he was quite as bad as he was. I've never been clear in my own head whether or not even Mike himself knew for sure. I spoke to Mike a few days before he died, so when he didn't answer the phone, I wasn't totally surprised or worried. I just did what I always did, which was to leave a message. He always got back within an hour or two, though, so when I came in the next morning and hadn't heard from him, I tried again and still got no answer. I called a friend of his down in the Keys that I'd spoken with a few times before, and she and her boyfriend drove over to Mike's place and found him. I'd just gotten back from lunch with "Shadow of the Bat" artist Dave Taylor and his wife, who were visiting from England, when I got the call. I couldn't believe it. Mike's friend was trying to tell me what happened, but she was crying. That pretty much let me know right there."
"Unfortunately, work and his personal demons seriously interfered (or were allowed to interfere) with Mike's necessary self-care, said Brian Augustyn. "He didn't eat often enough, didn't stay on top of his sugar-levels and insulin injections and didn't worry enough about what he was doing to himself. By that time, he was living in Key West, Florida, and far away from most of us who would have helped him be more dedicated. Who knows exactly what combination of carelessness, disease and personal trauma contributed to his too-early death. It was a tragedy, with long, deep roots into Mike's shadowed past."
Paul Fricke told me that Mike was once invited to a convention in Texas where he was the only headliner of the show. He spent the entire weekend giving everyone who came up to see him a free, fully rendered sketch. Most comic book artists would see this as a nightmare, but Mike loved every second of it. For him, it was a blissful experience and a pleasant surprise to know that the artwork that he worked so hard on had so many admirers. That weekend reenergized him. He loved his fans and in return gave them everything he had within his work. His final comic was "Batman and Robin Adventures Annual" #1, which came out several months after his death, in November of 1996.
Had he remained alive, he would have seen the outpouring of admiration from his fans. He would have seen how popular his books are among parents and younger readers who discover his "Batman Adventures" work anew everyday. How beloved his art is by all whom so thrown it a passing glance.
Looking back, Augustyn said, "It turned out that Mike was right all along and a genius after all. I'm glad that worked in the end -- especially as early critics became fans. And Mike did pave the way for a return to a more 'cartoony,' more fun art styles. Mike Weringo, Humberto Ramos, J. Scott Campbell, Ed McGuiness, Mike Oeming and about half the working artists today have proven a lighter style to be popular and viable. Not necessarily that Mike directly inspired any of them, but his instincts and talent were ahead of their time, alas."
Mark Waid added, "There are very, very few comics creators whose actual body of work is surprisingly small in comparison to their influence on those who came after them. Art Adams is one; Steranko is another. That's a good group to be in."
Here we are, fifteen years after his death, still talking about Mike Parobeck's outstanding accomplishments. These facts alone are a testimony to his legacy, and Mike was that and so much more. Mike was a dear friend to many, the type of person who got more joy out making others happier than himself. Despite his somberness, his work brought a lot of smiles to readers all over the world. Michael Parobeck and his art have become a friend to all.
Since his passing, Mike's proud mother has been awestruck with the appreciation that has remained for her son's body of work, telling me, "I've got a picture on my wall, just above me. When he was down to Cincinnati, he went by Independence Lake. Mike had a way of sitting, that he would put this leg over on top of the other leg when he was sitting on the ground or whatever, and he's sitting by the beach and looking out into kind of the dark. You know how you see a little bit of light, usually, when you look out, because people living there have lights on and everything. And he's got his red hair, and he's got his light green trunks. I didn't know whether I was going to keep that one or not. I framed it because, to me, that's Mike."
His mentor, Brian Augustyn, related this anecdote. "Before we -- my family and I -- left Chicago for the East Coast and DC, a whole bunch of us went to Old Comiskey Park so that I could see a last White Sox game as a local fan. The White Sox were and are my all-time favorite baseball team. Mike came along, and in the eighth inning of a sparsely attended, who-cares September game against some forgotten team, Mike chased down a foul ball and walked it back and plunked it into my hand. It remains one of my most treasured possessions. That was Mike; he'd go way out of his way to make sure that you got what you wanted or needed."
Michael Parobeck was a comic book artist completely devoted and true to this graphic medium. He always gave readers his best with the hope that his work would uplift their spirits. Franzese explained, "To him, it was all about drawing comics. When he was in it, it was the middle of everybody breaking out, the guys from Image, the ultra-violent books, and he hated that. It's why he liked working on 'Justice Society.' He's like, 'You know, they punch somebody, they go down, the fight's over, boom, you move on. Nobody's out to kill anybody. It's not all dark and dismal.' He thought that, for kids getting into comics, they should be lighter. You could have a point to them, but they shouldn't be so violent. And now it's sort of his deal. If he wanted to do anything else, it was to reach children through his work and show them that life could be good."
Very special thanks to Michael Franzese, Paul Fricke, Momi Jahn and Lois Parobeck for sharing their memories of Mike in this updated article. Special thanks to Brian Augustyn, Scott Peterson, Len Strazewski, Rick Burchett, Gerard Jones, Mark Waid and Fabian Nicieza for all their help in the original 2006 edition.
Copyright: George Khoury


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I have received some comments that I seemed to be advocating for stiffer criminal penalties for offshore cheats. I thought I would use my blog to give the nuance I actually intended. I simply was saying that the discrepancy in sentencing in the two classes of cases seems inconsistent.
The particular quote that has drawn attention is:
"The cases involving offshore bank accounts are drawing lighter sentences than other criminal tax cases," said Mr. Townsend, who practices at Townsend & Jones LLP in Houston. He calls the discrepancy "troubling, because cheating is cheating."The point I was making is that, based on my understanding of the law (particularly the Sentencing Guidelines), the difference should not exist. I will give an example:
Assume a taxpayer cheats on his taxes without any offshore involvement. Say he skims from his wholly owned corporation and thus evaded tax of $500,000 without any extraordinary means to hide the evasion. The Government charges him with either evasion or tax perjury. He pleads guilty, with the Government agreeing to maximum reduction for acceptance of responsibility. These are the only sentencing factors under the Guidelines. The Guidelines calculations are as follows: Base Offense Level - 20; reduction for acceptance of responsibility - 3; offense level for the Chapter 5 Sentencing Table - 17; sentencing range per the Sentencing Table (with no criminal history) - 24-30 months.
Now compare that to the offshore cheater. This taxpayer socks sufficient money in a foreign account (that may or may not have been taxed before) that then earns in the account sufficient income to generate a U.S. tax of $500,000. The Government charges him with either evasion or tax perjury. He pleads guilty. These are the only sentencing factors under the guidelines -- except that because a foreign account was involved the sophisticated means enhancement likely should apply. SG 2T1.1, Application Note 4 says (emphasis supplied):
4. Sophisticated Means Enhancement.— For purposes of subsection (b)(2) [the 2-level sophisticated means enhancement], "sophisticated means" means especially complex or especially intricate offense conduct pertaining to the execution or concealment of an offense. Conduct such as hiding assets or transactions, or both, through the use of fictitious entities, corporate shells, or offshore financial accounts ordinarily indicates sophisticated meansWith all other things equal, the sophisticated means enhancement makes the offshore cheater's Offense Level for the sentencing table 19 for an indicated sentencing range of 30-37 months.
It is true that the Booker sentencing regime makes the Guidelines calculation of sentencing ranges advisory only. But, they are advisory. Advice is still advice and does reflect the considered judgment of the Sentencing Commission over a number of years after detailed study, including in particular how tax crimes should be sentenced. The "advice" the Sentencing Commission has given is that offshore cheaters should generally get, if anything, a higher sentence that onshore cheaters. Even if the onshore cheating has sophisticated means, the indicated sentences should generally be the same. This does not take into account various individual characteristics that sentencing judges may consider under Booker to vary from the guidelines ranges, but in the aggregate those factors should smooth out and there should, in the aggregate, either be little difference between the onshore cheater and the offshore cheater or the differences, if any, should be against the offshore cheater because of the sophisticated means enhancement.
Yet, the observation of the bar, including my own observations, is that offshore cheaters get a better deal.
I could speculate about why that phenomenon occurs. Maybe in a future blog I will. But for present purposes, I just wanted to lay out the phenomenon and note that there is no reason apparent to me why there should be lighter sentences for offshore tax cheats. As I said, cheating is cheating.
Now, back to the point of whether offshore cheaters should be treated the same as onshore cheaters. As best I see it, assuming the Guidelines calculations are made correctly, there should not be better treatment under the Guidelines. The difference should be in the Booker variances. In the aggregate, those variances should not be significantly disparate unless the Government just chooses to prosecute offshore cheaters with better Booker factors than onshore cheaters (a phenomenon which I doubt). So, the bottom-line sentences should be brought into rough conformance. That can happen by moving offshore cheaters' sentences up or moving onshore cheaters sentences down. Either way works.
I reserve the right to argue for onshore cheaters I represent that they should get the lighter sentences that the offshore cheaters get. Or, if I represent the offshore cheaters, I will argue that they should get the same lighter treatment that the other offshore cheaters have gotten.
I will state finally that I think DOJ Tax has been complicit in the existence of the phenomenon. As I said, I won't speculate why that occurred, but I question whether it sends the right message to the general public that some forms of tax evasion are better than others. And, I suspect that in the aggregate, the demographics of the offshore cheaters that the Government prosecutes are different than onshore cheaters who the Government prosecutes. Is that the right message to the general public?
Addendum 5/13/13:
I thought I would add some data to the key point I make above that sentencings in offshore cases in the IRS's latest initiative post UBS are lighter than general tax sentences. The following sentencing data are from the U.S.. Sentencing Commission's 2012 Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics, here. The statistics here are based on the primary offense category. The data is for cases where tax offense is the primary offense charged. If some other federal offense is the primary charge, the data appears under that category of offense.
1. There were 608 tax cases in FYE 2012. (Some tables say 605.)
2. Guilty Pleas are achieved in 93.9% of the tax cases; 6.1% went to trial. See Table 11, here.
3. Tax cases with imprisonment - 64.3%, broken down as follows: Prison only - 54.2%; Prison/Community Split Sentence: 10.1%. Table 12, here.
4. Tax cases with probation 35.7%, broken down as follows: Probation and confinement 16.2%; probation only 19.5%. Table 12, here.
6. The Length of Imprisonment for Offenders in Tax Cases is: For all tax cases: Median 23 months and mean 18 months. For Category One Criminal History Offenders: The same median and mean. Table 14, here.
7. Tax cases sentenced within Guidelines range: 36.9%. Table 27, here.
8. Tax cases with 5K.1 downward departures. 13.6%. Table 27, here.
9. Tax cases with downward departures with Booker. 2%. Table 27, here.
10. Tax cases with below range with Booker. 33.6%. Table 27, here.
So, the question is whether the above data is consistent with the conclusion that offshore cases receive better sentences. There are perhaps two factors that make comparison of my data in the spreadsheet more complicated.
First, some offshore sentences are included in the Sentencing Commission data, so my data about offshore sentences alone may not be directly compared. But the number of offshore sentences in the Sentencing Commission data is very small, so I think a fair comparison can be made.
Second, in many cases, my data does not have all of the sentencing factors (both Guidelines factors and Booker factors). But, I do have the bottom-line sentence. I realize that at least some of the defendants in offshore cases might qualify for 5K1 departures by assisting in building cases against their enablers, so they might get both 5K1 and Booker.
As noted in paragraph 4 above, tax cases with probation (including probation only and probation with home confinement) are 35.7%. My comparable statistic for offshore sentences is 48%. (I have revised my spreadsheet to include some statistics related to these issues.) More strikingly, the length of imprisonment for category One Criminal History offenders in paragraph 6 above is median 23 months and mean 18 months. My stats for all offshore cases (including guilty pleas and verdicts and including enablers as well as taxpayers) is mean of 13.8 months and median of 0 months. And for guilty pleas for taxpayers only, the mean is 5.6 months and the median, not surprisingly is 0. I think this is too stark a difference to be accounting for by considering the complicating factors above.
Although these are not head-to-head comparisons, I believe the data is consistent with the general practitioner perception that sentencing of offshore bank tax cheats are materially lighter than for onshore tax cheats.
One explanation for the phenomenon that offshore cheaters get better treatment might be that this has been a game which is most egregiously exploited by the very rich. Sure, there are a lot of minnows and near rich in the game with varying locations on the spectrum from innocent to guilty. But the very rich do it best because of their easy access to the enablers, banks and their minions, who enable them.
Along this line, a guest blogger on the Jonathan Turley Blog has an interesting analysis stating the obvious -- the most egregious offshore offenders are the very wealthy who always get better deals than the rest of us. Lawrence E. Rafferty, Tax Havens For the Wealthy, But What About the Rest of Us? (Jonathan Turley Blo 5/12/13), here. The phenomenon of the wealthy getting better treatment, of course, is not unique to offshore tax cheating, but it does seem to be a phenomenon in offshore tax cheating, at least in the stratosphere of the amounts involved.
Which reminds me of a famous misquote about the rich. The misquote is a reputed exchange between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway as follows:
Fitzgerald: The rich are different from you and me.
Hemingway: Yes, they have more money.
A Fitzgerald short story actually began with the following:
Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different.For more detail, seen this following from Quote/Counterquote, here.

subset: commoncrawl


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Monday, 15 March 2010
Don't Step On His Brown Suede Boots
39 comments:
Nice piece, but a lot of the above simply isn't true. Tod's did not exist whilst Steve McQueen was alive (it's brand from the 1980s launched by Italian firm Diego Della Valle) and the boots he wore in the 60s/70s were Huttons Original Playboys. Hutton invented the style and method of manufacture in the 1930s. They were made in England but hugely popular in the USA and Scandinavia. The company went bust in the 70s, but the Original Playboys name was licensed first by a Swedish company and then by a Danish one which still exists today. During the 80s and 90s their shoes were made by White and Co of Earls Barton for export only to Scandinavia due to legal problems with the Playboy name but were sold in the USA and elsewhere as 'Players'. Sanders and Sanders did not make 'official' playboys and have only been making their version of these shoes/chukkas for a few years. The originals (and the Original Playboys brand now made in Spain) use the goodyear welt construction process and a special method to bond the crepe soles to the uppers. The Sanders are not goodyear welted and the soles are cemented on to the uppers. The Sanders are great shoes, well made in the UK at a great price, but they were not worn by Steve McQueen, I'm afraid.ReplyDeleteReplies
- Anonymous15 April 2012 at 05:47
can u be more specific about who and were in Spain one can get the so called original playboys. I bought my first pair, (lo cut in saddle coloured grained leather) in 1970 in NYC. The shoe store named LefCourt, located on Madison Ave and 47St.(no longer in business). I know they were English but am not sure of the name. I went back and bought four other style of playboys from LefCourt before I got my first pair of what I've always called "Bullitt Boys" from Churchs on Madison Ave and 48 St. That was in 1971. I never spent more than $50.00 a pair back than. Today thanks to you I found Sanders but the price is more than I can pay. I been making do with G B X and R J Colt and they are a far cry from the English shoes I got back in the day. Thanks for the info and learning there are young guys today who see true class as well as cool in what Steve McQueen brought to American culture.Delete
Damn. The world of Steve McQueen clothing is rife with myths. Especially with me perpetuating them! (I should note and name sources.) I'll put up another post when I can with updates based on your info. Thanks so much.ReplyDelete
A modern classic design Clarks Lillian from Clarks is, This nicely fashioned leather clog has contour footbed for added comfort. Using advanced fit technology, Bacco Bucci builds premium comfort into every shoe. Clarks EnglandReplyDelete
- Anonymous28 July 2010 at 17:27
Nicely put Weejun. Like McQueen..theres only one Playboy original.ReplyDelete
The Bronx
- Anonymous7 August 2010 at 15:51
Wow, how do you know so much about this? I just knew I liked his boots in Bullitt.ReplyDelete
Great observation about Daniel Craig's Bond persona.
Gosh he is hot!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous16 August 2010 at 21:35
Well, not sure if you know about a company called GBX? Make a great inexpensive product:ReplyDelete
$55 to $60 CANNOT be beat. And they're comfortable.
- Anonymous23 August 2010 at 13:59
From what I have heard, the GBX version are not the best of build quality. Not a bad cheap fix if you're not looking for durability, but if you want a shoe to last mor than a summer, better to pay for the Sanders.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous18 September 2010 at 16:10
Hi there,ReplyDelete
Well done on a most interesting blog.
Do you think you could provide info on those beige corduroy trousers McQueen wears in many of the Claxton and Dominis shots?
- Anonymous18 September 2010 at 17:01
Drakes of London are selling a cardigan based on the one McQueen wears in the Claxton pictures above.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous12 January 2011 at 18:01
Agree with the comments above: the Sanders chukkas are not the originals as seen in Bullitt, but come closest with their quality build, their styling and that authentic crepe sole. The George Cox boots have imitation crepe - their soles are made out of composite rubber which resembles crepe but ain't. The Sanders chukkas can be purchased directly from Sander's website for £145 - but this style is now known as the Hi-Top and here's the link: http://www.sanders-uk.com/products/Hi---Top-176.phpReplyDelete
See "Interim Post #2" (August 2010) for further information.ReplyDelete
that's shoes are my favorite shoesReplyDelete
are these shoes or trainers?ReplyDelete
this is really very best blog i really like itReplyDelete
I Love Those Shoes Collection. :)ReplyDelete
- Anonymous23 June 2011 at 21:29
I think the great thing about Steve McQueens style is that you dont really need the exact brand. His style is easily adaptable in almost any time with similar styles.ReplyDelete
That's the kind of stuff! Thank you.ReplyDelete
I'm in my mid 40's in the New York area. I knew very little about Steve McQueen or his style until coming across this blog and then googling afterwards. I was looking for information on the chukka boots of my youth when I stumble here and I am impressed. I remember growing up a close family friend had a part in the Thomas Crowne affair and always spoke highly of mr McQueen. Through the information here I now own a baracuta g9 and two pairs of chukkas, one knock around pair of cheap GBX playboys (that I love) and a pair of Church Ryder iii's. Im not trying to emulate Steve McQueen and even if I never could pull it off, I just really like those classic's and the Church Ryders and the baracuta are quality. My job requires me to carry a firearm so who knows maybe I will switch to a bullitt style shoulder holster. Thanks for your labor of love this blog is really informative!ReplyDelete
I'm flattered by this, thanks. I'd say you have the right spirit about this Steve McQueen style thing too. The only people who really seem to get it wrong and take it too seriously are those who hate the idea of anybody with an interest in Steve McQueen style, in fact. Anyway, thanks again.ReplyDelete
Sorry to piss on everyone's back and forth about Steve McQueen's shoes but ... any South African over 55 will tell you that various styles of those shoes were commonplace back in SA - made in SA from about a 15th of the price to 10th of the price. Some believed that they were an off-shoot from the British soldiers circa WWII - except that their origin was the Hottentot (Khoi) from South Africa - long before WWII. Did I hear that they are being sold on this side of the ocean for $300.00!!! Today (2011) - back in South Africa the more dressy Veldskoens go for about $40.00 and the more traditional style for about $20-$25.00 ...ReplyDelete
Hey, thanks. I've googled Veldskoens and they look like a great alternative to Clarks desert boots (that should probably read Clarks look like a great alternative to Veldskoens as they came first!). I'll post on this when I can as a suggestion for a further bit of footwear, anyway. Cheers again.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous20 October 2011 at 17:49
Mark McNairy makes some wonderful chukka boots with interesting twists such as colourful soles. They are actually made by Sanders and Sanders I think in Northampton in the UK but that normally means high cost and high quality!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous13 January 2012 at 09:25
I noticed a web site called "the king of cool" is selling replicas of the shawl collared cardigan.ReplyDelete
Made in super soft-to-touch breathable fake-suede microfiber. Utilitarian, practical and stylish. Insole is padded for foot comfort and perforated for moisture absorption/transmission in hot climates. Rugged, double thread stitch-down sole construction. Beautifully finished with corduroy rear and tongue lining and Clarks Shoes Sale reinforced heel lining. It comes in sand, brown and black.ReplyDelete
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- Anonymous22 April 2014 at 03:36
I found this site while I was google searching for British mod styles. I recently found a pair of McQueen style boots made in the UK by Delicious Junction. They're 89.00 Pounds & come in four colors Black, dark brown, tan & stone, they're called the 'Bullitt' collection. Very comfortable & well made. www.decliciousjunction.co.ukReplyDelete
- Anonymous20 June 2015 at 05:10
ijust recently bougth a pair of crepe sole circa 1960s 70s on ebay, the sole was hard as rock but I heated the sole with a blower and like magic the sole turn soft as new,the cost was about 90 pounds including shipping,i haded posted on facebook in AMADOR MERCED RIVERA (page)after heated the sole turn like the old playboys; the manufacturer is TIMPSON Fine Shoes made in UK SIZE 8. I THINK I FIND THE REAL DEAL ,You guys better see them in my facebook page or send me a message in box. in the 70s I haded 2 pair, lo cut yellow and black and the chukkas brown,there said inside original playboy made in England with the british flagg as logo. today I have 4 pairs.RJCOLT,COX,ROUNDERS AND TIMPSON.Those shoes are the most versatile with any clothes including suits, im from Puerto rico but I lived in NYC IN THE 70S,in my 20s I have 64 years and I still wearing that style of shoes,congratulatios guys for your comment about these magnificent shoes,sincerely yours Amador.P.S.i like this pageReplyDelete
- Anonymous11 October 2015 at 14:23
Delicious Junction crepe soled chukka's now going for £60 on ebay in the UK (also available in brown): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Delicious-Junction-60s-Thick-Crepe-Sole-Suede-McQueen-Playboy-Chukka-Boot-Black-/311321003832?var=&hash=item487c2d8738ReplyDelete
Great info,i have the book by william claxton and the pics of steves chukka boots are identical what sanders are selling nowadays.ReplyDelete
They may not be mqueens actual boots but ill still buy them,their around £170 and can be found in john rushtens shoes store in londons wimpole street near oxford street.
Sanders are probably the best english shoe makers of today,a company still owned by the sanders family,like many other they are still handmade using machinery from 100 years ago!
True class.
Churchs are a top english shoes,although i dont like the idea that prada now own them,but thats the way they have boosted themselves worldwide. But to me,an origional authentic brand like that shouldnt be mass marketed i think it looses that something special about itself,its name becomes mainstream.
For that reason ive stuck with sanders for the oast few years,and i know all about wearing brogues,as a queens guard in london city i march everyday in my sanders brogues.
I bought a pair of breamor highland sanders brogues from a retured major in the british army,who bought them in 1992.that makes them 24 years old and still in daily use,and that 24 years of marching!
I still handpolish them to a mirror shine everyday,you cannot beat true british quality for shoes,the best in the world
If anybody wants to see pics let me know i can email them or see the pic on my instagram page
This blog is truly extraordinary in all aspects.ReplyDelete
suede boots
Sanders Chukka Boots are Wonderful . I have had a Black Leather pair for 10 years .ReplyDelete
- Anonymous16 August 2017 at 19:38
I'm looking for pair of British Walker Playboy slip-ons, circa 1960s. They were black, large wraparound crepe sole. They had an elastic patch on each side at ankle height. Smooth leather (very simple styling. They are still available. I had a chat session months ago with the BW people, and they actually sent me a link. and lo and behold it was them! Of course i lost the link, and forgot the Style name (these things happen with 'old age'). Just had a chat with the BW people, and now they cannot help. Can you?ReplyDelete
Interesting and amazing how your post is! It Is Useful and helpful for me That I like it very much, and I am looking forward to Hearing from your next..ReplyDelete
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Unique Book Form Table
Table designed by Mitch Steinmetz different from another table. The concept offered on this table form table photo albums and a place to store goods. This concept is attractive in terms of ideas, form and creativity. With this table you will be reminded of your past, Hoping the past is fun for you to remember that beautiful moment. As evident in the Keeps books open on the cover page in the book there is a room that serves as a storage area.


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A Lancashire farm childhood and family life helped inspire former Garstang High School student Catherine Simpson to achieve a lifetime's ambition.
This week a jubilant Catherine is celebrating the publication of her debut novel "Truestory", launched at Waterstones bookshop in Edinburgh last Thursday.
Local family and friends travelled north to celebrate Catherine's success. The proud author said: "It feels amazing - half wonderful and half terrifying. I'm 51 and when I've wanted to be a writer all my life for it to suddenly come true when you are 51 is quite hard to believe!"
She added: "I wrote as a child, but I didn't show it to anybody. Then I became a journalist because that's one acceptable way to write for a living."
But in her 40s she took up creative writing seriously, studying her craft and attending courses, including an Open University course and then an MA in creative writing at Edinburgh Napier University.
Although her home is now near Edinburgh, with journalist husband Marcello and her two daughters, her Lancastrian roots are never far from mind. She was brought up on a Winmarleigh dairy farm, attending Winmarleigh school, the local High (now Garstang Academy) and Preston's W.R.Tuson College.
Catherine then worked as a civil servant before retraining as a journalist at Preston Polytechnic, later taking a degree in journalism in Birmingham.
She returns to the north west regularly to see family and friends and said: "The Lancashire landscape and farming life provided a lot of the inspiration for the novel."
But she stresses it is also: "a work of fiction inspired by a daughter."
The book recounts the tale of a boy with autism who refuses to leave the isolated Lancashire farm where he was born and interacts with the world through his computer. He dreams of one day leaving and following his map all the way to Lancaster.
Catherine's daughter Nina, 20, a student, has Asperger's Syndrome. Although she is adamant her fictional character is not Nina, she says she drew on her experience of parenting a child with Asperger's to write an authentic story: "You can be very intelligent and very academically successful but you can still be challenged by other things."
Catherine also acknowledged: "Farming can be a lonely life – and with my character having autism, he is doubly cut off. The novel is upbeat, though, because no matter how trapped we feel, there are always always ways to escape."
Growing up in the countryside Catherine recalls did feel remote: "But in reality it was only two miles from Garstang. It was a great feeling of being miles from anywhere. These hedgerows almost seemed to grow together at the top, massive elms and ash trees. It was very green - overgrown hedgerows and the endless fields to play in. I was brought up in a village where every farm had a friend or relation on it. I was one of lots of cousins."
The opening chapters of her book won a Scottish New Writers Award in 2013 and she has been listed in many writing competitions.
Catherine's short stories have been included in anthologies and magazines and she has performed her work at a number of festivals, including the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
The book costs £8.99 and is published by the Saltire Publisher of the Year, Sandstone Press.
Both Nina and her other daughter Lara, 17, have, she says read the book with approval. Now Catherine, who is at work on her next book, has another, very local ambition: "I'm hoping Garstang library will get it in."


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Hot Water Music - Moments Pass
Post-hardcore 7" vinyl (1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th press?)
No Idea Records (1999)
I don't remember how much I paid for this.
Buy locally
I have not reviewed my copy of this record yet.
1: Moments Pass
2: Another Way
Last updated: 12/18/2011
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High School Sports
CC: Highlanders impress at SCISA state preview
Host Heathwood Hall had a solid performance at its own Highlander Invitational cross country meet on Oct. 1. The meet served as a preview of the upcoming independent school state meet on the same course with most of the top teams in attendance.
The Highlanders boys finished third behind championship contenders Wilson Hall and St. Joseph's, scoring 91 points, while the girls team came away with a fifth-place performance.
Burk Knowlton headlined the Highlanders effort with a sixth-place finish with a time of 18 minutes, nine seconds. West Summers (12th, 18:40), Landon Sanford (16th, 18:53), Preston Frankstone (28th, 19:45) and Ian Buckley (29th, 19:52) provided the scoring support.
Brooke Grice was at the head of the Highlanders girls pack, finishing 12th in 21:51. Catherine Ivey (24th, 23:10), Casey Roth (28th, 23:21), Virginia Kluiters (45th, 25:37) and Sara Williamson (48th, 25:48) did the rest of the scoring on the girls side.


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Tag: Books
Life Log #02: Fulfilling Dreams, Reading WeirdnessThis week is a strange one. One of my dreams has started to come true. Today, the people secretly indicted by Robert Mueller turned themselves in, revealing that major members of the Trump administration may very well have committed serious crimes against the United States. A lot of us have been waiting for this moment, and it's just the beginning. I'll continue to hope this cascades into something great; otherwise, this is a good start. Having one dream come true also reminded me of another dream I fulfilled earlier this year. As you may recall, I attended Worldcon 75 in Finland. On the way, I decided to make some stops in Germany and Sweden to visit friends and go on some adventures. One of those adventures was riding this beauty: Read More
The Downsides to Owning Way Too Many BooksYeah, I know. There's no such thing as "too many books," except when there is. As I mentioned recently, I've been slogging through Stephen King's IT on a mission to get a fuller picture of the story we've been told 1.5 times in film. When I say "slogging," I mean it. For all that I enjoy about the book, there are so many things that I don't, most notably its massive page count and glacial pace. It comes back to that "big books" problem, which I've talked about before (probably on Twitter somewhere) -- albeit in a somewhat different context. In brief, I've avoided books over 300-350 pages for years simply because I work so much and read too slow. With all that swirling around in my head, I decided to put IT down for a bit to put my brain into something else. All of this leads me to my topic for today: Read More
SF and Food: The Future Shall Be FedWhen I think about representations of food in science fiction, I'm struck by the fact that a lot of science fiction simply washes over the issue of production and distribution. Food is almost always "around" in SF literature. After all, most SF characters have to eat something from time to time (though they never poop). However, very little of the genre actually directly addresses the future economics of food, and even when it does, it's usually a cursory glance. The one exception might be the dystopian genre, especially Soylent Green (1973). Since dystopia and starvation go hand in hand, the genre is naturally concerned with food. Read More
Life Log #01: My Back Isn't Broken and Media ConsumedCurrently Reading: IT by Stephen King (pg. 380 of 1184) Currently Watching: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Season 1) Mood: Pleasantly Unperturbed I had an appointment with a physical therapist today -- the first of two. For the past two weeks, I've been out of commission from some sort of exercise-induced back injury. Nothing serious. Just a little localized pain and noticeable tightness. Rather than ignore it, I used the free healthcare options I have on hand to get expert advice on what is going on. And the verdict? My back isn't broken, my spine is in working order, and all I've done is sprained the lower back muscles. This is partly due to general weakness in the core, back, and thigh regions. That means I need to do more focused exercises to build those areas up so they aren't being pulled about by all the other bits. Or something like that. Read More
Thoughts on Years of Reading (Mostly) WomenBack in 2015, roughly 92% of the works I read were by women. This was mostly intentional, as The Skiffy and Fanty Show hosted a women-centric (and non-binary friendly) theme throughout 2015.[note]If you count the works I assigned in my classes, the total comes out to roughly 55% in favor of women. The dramatic shift from 92% to 55% can be blamed on the relative absence of female writers during the periods in which my courses have focused, and so some of my courses swing in favor of men (though not by a massive margin; I didn't actually read that much in 2015, so it's not that hard to swing things in the other direction).[/note] In 2016, the numbers were less skewed, with 61% of works by women. Including my teaching numbers into this list is a bit too complicated, so I won't bother including it here.[note]Complicated primarily because one of the courses I taught focused on "Queer Autobiography," which includes numerous works by people with gender identities that are difficult to classify without making assumptions. If you count LGBTQ+ as a factor, at least 22% of the works I read were by people in that category. For all the numbers in this post, I went with easily accessible information about identity for what I hope are obvious reasons.[/note] Obviously, having a more "open" year for reading meant my numbers were more fluid. But even with that fluidity in place, there's a clear indication that my reading habits have changed. So, here's what I've learned from the past few years: Read More
Five Faves: Fabulous Worlds of SF/F (Guest Post by Helen Lowe) #MonthofJoyI believe worldbuilding is the characteristic that most distinguishes SF/F from other styles of literature. All other genres rely on the reader's understanding of the world as it is or has been. In SF/F, the writer must first build the world—a process that includes environment, geography, history, politics, culture, and religion, as well as technological and/or magic systems—for both the story to exist and the reader to engage with it. And as an avid reader of SF/F, as well as an author, there is nothing that rocks my reading and SF/F-loving world quite like a truly fantastic bit of worldbuilding. So in the spirit of #monthofjoy here are five of my favorites – although there are, of course, many, many more. Note: I should add that I am deliberately excluding both Middle Earth and Narnia, simply because they are so well-canvassed in the zeitgeist, but you may take it as read that they're definitely right up there for me. Read More
Five Faves: Diana Wynne Jones Novels (Guest Post by K.V. Johansen) — #MonthofJoyWhat, only five? How? Which? Rapidly writing down the first that come to mind without thinking about it: Howl's Moving Castle, Archer's Goon, Deep Secret, Conrad's Fate . . . Tale of Time City. Or maybe Lives of Christopher Chant. Or Hexwood . . . Or . . . It's impossible to describe the genius of DWJ's writing and do it justice. I tried in a non-fiction book once. Here, I'm just going to give an emotional reaction. Suffice it to say, Jones is a master of effortless characterization, her plots (ohhhh, her plots) are intricate and unpredictable, her worldbuilding infinite in its wonders, and the subtle psychological dramas that underlie it all are awe-inspiring. I don't think there's a single one of her fantasies that I haven't read at least twice; most I've read so many times I've lost count. Sometimes I need this book or that like it's an essential nutrient I've been starved of, and when that happens, I always find something new in it. Read More
Five Faves: Space Opera Books — #MonthofJoyIt's Five Faves time! Throughout the month of June, I'll be diverting attention away from the things I'm supposed to be doing in order to spend a little time babbling about the things that I love. This feature will do exactly what it says: list five of my favorite things in a category. Most of the lists will be "on topic," which is to say "related to SF/F in some way," but some lists will be on my other ancillary interests, such as reptiles, books of theory, pies, and...wait...pie? Oh my god, I love pie! Anywho...today's post, as the title suggests, will list 5 of my favorite space operas. I will use the following criteria for this list:
- Books will be taken to mean "narrative fiction at novel length" rather than the broader definition we use today. Comics and graphic novels deserve their own list anyway. That means no movies either.
- I'm using my personal definition of space opera. I'm happy to talk about that definition at another time, but for now, I just want to share some things I love!


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The Intern
70-year-old widower Ben Whittaker has discovered that retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be. Seizing an opportunity to get back in the game, he becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site, founded and run by Jules Ostin.
2hrs 1min long
M Offensive language
Robert De Niro
Nat Wolff
Anne Hathaway


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Josephine white leather mules
Fitting Comments +-
Select a size for more specific fitting information.
Description +-
Art imitates life and also inspires our contemporary mules. With a habit of turning strange into elegant, we turned Josephine into a wearable long-term staple. She's made from smooth Italian calf leather and features a pointed toe and an elegant heel curved to the back. Embrace the modern feel with an oversized shirt and straight-leg trouser.
Designed in LondonHandcrafted in Spain
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Calf Leather UpperCalf Leather LiningMemory Foam InsoleNatural Leather SoleHeel Height 6cm
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EU over 120EUR free EU under 120EUR 12EURRest Of The World25EUR


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The International Space Station (ISS) races across the sky, seen in two overlayed long exposure images, followed by the space shuttle. STS-124 is on its way to rendezvous and deliver much need supplies (including a new toilet). A very good image and if you take a look at the APOD page you can see labels for some of the objects in the picture.
APOD: Chasing the ISS
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When medication and other treatments are unable to relieve symptoms, hysterectomy is often recommended to provide a more effective, definitive and long-term solution for excessive menstrual bleeding. If you are considering or your doctor has recommended a hysterectomy, you are not alone – one in three women in the U.S. will have a hysterectomy before turning 60.
A minimally invasive approach to hysterectomy, da Vinci hysterectomy, combines the advantages of conventional open and minimally invasive hysterectomies – but with potentially fewer drawbacks.
For patients, the benefits of da Vinci hysterectomy may include:
- Significantly less pain
- Less blood loss
- Fewer complications
- Less risk of infection
- Less scarring due to small incisions
- Shorter recovery time
- A faster return to normal daily activities
- And in many cases, better clinical outcomes
It is performed using the da Vinci Surgical System, which enables surgeons to perform surgical procedures with unmatched precision, dexterity and control.
The da Vinci Surgical System
Imagine major surgery being performed through the smallest of incisions. Then, imagine having the benefits of a definitive treatment – but with the potential for significantly less pain, a shorter hospital stay and a faster return to normal daily activities – as well as the potential for better clinical outcomes.
Only the da Vinci® Surgical System overcomes the limitations of both traditional open surgery and conventional laparoscopic surgery. da Vinci is a breakthrough surgical platform designed to expand a surgeon's capabilities – and for the first time – offer patients a minimally invasive treatment option for complex conditions.


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Ohio Head & Neck Surgeons Inc
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Ohio Head and Neck Surgeons also hosts a full-service allergy laboratory for allergy testing and immunotherapy treatments. Located in Canton, Ohio, we are the largest group Otolaryngology practice between Cleveland and Columbus.


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Below is all you need to pass your Cisco® certification exams in the FIRST TRY! Our Cisco® braindumps and sample questions are the best as they are updated regularly with the changing of Cisco® Objectives.
100-105 Exam Dumps 9-Nov-2019
100-105 ICND1 - Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1
Questions: 671
The download link will be sent to this email address.
The free sample exam contains the first 4-6 pages of the exam questions.


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Tesla motors presented their newest car model on March 31, 2016. This isn't an fully autonomous car, but a semi self-driving car with advanced cruise control. The question remained is when will we have an autonomous car? According to Re-code's editor J. Bhuiyan it can happen soon:"If it's not the personal car ownership model, it'll happen way, way faster, 10 so or so years that these cars will be on the road and the mass market will experience them and have access to them." In this article we explore what challenges lies ahead, their possibilities and in what development phase scientist are currently in.
Bhuiyan spoke with Recode's K. Swisher and The Verge L. Goode about how this emerging technology can change things on many fronts including the truck industry and how people travel by car. They said that you currently have big companies like General Motors, Google, Uber, Tesla and a load of start-ups that focus on making the autonomous car possible. And you have smaller companies that solely focus on the brain or eyes of the vehicle with some sort of partnership.
At this moment the Tesla car have the biggest share in the car market with semi driving cars. However, Google has the most experienced data with this self-driving vehicle. Uber owned truck company Otto has made it's autonomous drive on the highway, however a human must assist it to make it their. Google and Ford want to minimize the risks for human interference with the system, by making cars fully autonomous. Thus, you minimize accidents already with advanced cruise control. some services already give over the air updates to fix your car.
The algorithms gives you safety in the (semi) self-driving car and it learns to deal with complicated obstacles on the road. It doesn't work flawlessly, because manufactures still ask questions. Other problems are for example how to navigate through snow. Researchers explore on area's as lasers, lidars and GPS navigation technology to solve these route-blocks. For example Uber took his fleet of failed driving cars to Phoenix Arizona (USA), where there are no special permits or licencing required to test these cars. On top of that Uber partnered up with the University of Arizona for research on self-driving and mapping technology as of august 2015.
Self-driving vehicles can't measure puddles or even a filled- in pothole or deal with unexpected collision. How does it measure the reaction? Google and companies develop more precise laser based and other technologies. Automaker Mercedes-Benz has already a car on the market that can detect barriers, incoming traffic, roadside trees, guardrails and keep the car on track even on roads without the white lines. The Swiss federal technology institute in Lausanne (EPFL) developed an algorithm which can operate self-driving vehicles in multi lane traffic, high-speed under real life conditions. It's a combination of WiFi system, which communicate with other vehicles and cost driving assistance devices. EPFL said it fakes 15 years before most cars are equipped with this technology.
Second challenge is to map roads accurate. Solutions such as map scan go out of date, because road conditions change. Google bubble-shaped self-driving cars rely on three dimensional maps combined with sensor reading to find their way on the road. The car manufactures share a couple of main technologies such as mapping and standard communication from car to car. Otherwise, they don't let any info out, because of the fierce competition. Lasers and lidars help in the process of detecting government signs. It's no solution to traffic.
Another dilemma is when humans show unpredictable behavior: like having a heart attack or falling asleep behind the wheel. Through biometic technology autonomous cars have this life saving capability. Ford already has patents and systems that detect when a driver is in an agitated state and take the incoming call. This take-over time with safe autonomous cars is crucial for safety. Researchers from the University of South-Hampton found that drives reacted 25.7 seconds when they where distracted and then have to take over the car wheel. A former Navy SEAL J. Brown drove in a Tesla model S when he collided with a oncoming truck. The car manufactures initially took the blame, but when the report came out Brown didn't take any action to avoid the accident. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration placed the responsibility for the accident for the most part on the driver. Automakers wouldn't escape liability claims when their system fails in a crash. In semi self-driving cars you still are responsible behind the wheel.
Lastly, if the technology is running smoothly governments need to regulate laws. Do you need a license to drive one? Would it limit the autonomous car to serve the disabled or elderly? Many of the manufactures plead for guidelines and that this will be updated regularly. For example truck drivers aren't needed anymore at one point, because jobs can become obsolete until trucks care fully autonomous. "Autonomous vehicles have the potential to save life's and increase economic productivity. But these benefits won't be realized unless the public has incredible assurance that such systems are save and reliable," said A.J. London, professor at Carnegie Mellon University (USA). Nothing is in vain because according to the Fleet Management Company's report: USA would annually save 300 Billion dollar in GDP lost to traffic accidents. Although USA lawmakers and federal agencies have a hard time to oversee these autonomous vehicles, they still made guidelines with a 15 point safety checklist for automakers.
It seems that driver-less vehicles are on the rise and it many positive/negative sides to it. Jobs that require drivers can become obsolete, such as taxi, truck industry and in public transportation. On the other hand people can travel more independently, such as the elderly and the disabled. And large traffic jams and accidents can become a hurdle of the past. With this new technology comes responsibility and governments need to regulate fore seeing obstacles, such as safety precautions, who can travel independently and who is liable when things go south. Autonomous cars are still in the development stages for now we have advanced cruise control.
Coming soon


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Act Regional
Goal 1: Act Regional
Implement a regional asset based S.M.A.R.T. Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), which expands public, private and non-profit collaboration with a common strategic vision. The region will achieve a good to excellent rating for best practices in regional CEDS and collaboration by the end of 2019.
Strengthen and expand regional collaboration by creating and beginning to implement a regional best practice, performance metric asset-based S.M.A.R.T. CEDS with integrated county strategies that is annually updated.
- Assist county strategy teams with the development, updating, and implementation of economic development strategies for Logan, Mason, Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford counties integrated with Focus Forward GP (CEDS).
- Continue and enhance performance metric-based prioritization process for selection and support of projects included in and connected to accomplishing Focus Forward GP goals.
Build the capacity of local and regional leaders to collectively and collaboratively lead and manage regional economic development strategies and goals.
- Develop an economic development education program that will build the capacity of regional leaders to collaboratively guide, manage and lead the regional economy.
- Map and share accessible data services and resources with local community economic and workforce development entities and their clients.
Expand regional economic development volunteers and raise appropriate funding to sustain the implementation of Focus Forward GP (CEDS).
- Develop and launch a communications strategy to promote Focus Forward GP (CEDS) regionally.
- Share quarterly briefings on the progress of regional economic development efforts with all stakeholders in collaboration with economic development partners.
- Establish and share performance metrics to communicate the effectiveness of regional economic development initiatives.
- Establish an annual regional event to share and celebrate accomplishments.


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Yes I read it! I also read this one from Guenther's Vomberg page erected to my honor.
Cry Babe cry! You should thank me for my efforts helping you make new friends from the lowest of the low life community, criminals like Christopher Bennetts, and Paul Petrea. My question to you: When you met with Christopher did you ask him about the picture below if is a fake or not? Guenther Vomberg-Christopher Bennetts-Paul Petrea
And this one: The documents are public and obtained from a court of law in Cebu, the pictures were published on the Sunstar newspaper Cebu edition. Are these pages fake ? Did you ask him?
And Paul Petrea? Are you going to bring him as a whiteness in the trial? you know what Guenther, as soon as you get the whitness stand here in France, as soon the court will read your statements in the living in Cebu forums, as soon as the court know who owns the forum, you lost the case moron! On the spot! Before your family and friends in Germany see who Paul Petrea is, I have a message for you:
No one other than 4-5 members of your favorite forum, all on my wall of shame, sent a message supporting you. Niet! Nada! No one! I sent mails with copies of your statements to the coastal guard and the Knights. Of course, I wasn't expecting a reply sympathetic to me, but out of 450 mails I was hoping some one will come to your defense, some one saying something good on you. Nada! Zero!
Everything you and your few, very few,4-5 are posting on Evan Iliadis, doesn't affect him..If by now you have not gotten the message, how thick skin Evan is, then wait until you see how many blogs will be erected to your honor…
Excuse me? Did I hear Cyber troll? No Sir! Parasites in the Philippines cleaning specialist! Here comes your friend Paul Petrea:
Let me know if these documents are fake ok?
to your left,is your friend Paul Petrea with a girl in her 16. You always knew that but you didn't care..
You have read all kind of racist, vulgar, inhuman treatment and actions, you have even offered me you "under ground" collaboration that I declined on the ground that you couldn't be sincere flocking for nearly 3 years with those scumbags. You could only be the same.
Now, you are out of the closet, where you belong. To the scumbags club. Back to the subject, You knew Paul Petrea has published pictures shaving the girls private part , you knew what Bob Ward, one of the most respected member in the forum whitenessed and said about the cruelty of this animal Paul Petrea. You did nothing
When he raped her, she was barely 17, Paul came on line with the statement blow proud for his act, you were among the first to "help him" Here is his statement
And your answer was?
Are they genuine documents? Yes or no? How about this one below? Were you fooling people that you work for the Philippines government? Is the document below fake? Yes or no?
Your entire original facebook site has been saved and notarized by attorney in the Philippines. It shows that you were impersonating a Philippines government employee while you were just a scumbag looking for glory on a forum owned by a criminal pedophile.
What was the reason of this lie? Were you selling "influence" to other foreigners in the Philippines? A scam that is on the trend there? Take a look and look and let me know ok?
After Evan Iliadis revelations you have made many corrections, as many permitted by the little sanity still left in your brains, the bulk of your "intelligence" being managed by the mythomaniac behavior or still hoping to scam some people.
In a comment you posted on one of MattWilkie's blog you stated again your crap about being a PH government big shot..Let's take a look. You noticed? I don't care much what your comment says about me, only what you said about you.
Wow! Guenther a public person? Any one who will insult Guenther Vomberg is insulting at the same time 40.000 Knights of Rizal, 23.000 Philippine Coastguard Volunteers and an unbeknown to me number,( but in cebu City there are only ~40 ) of Kiwanis Club Members.Bwahahah!!!
only 40 members in Kiwanis club in Cebu? It looks since you joined the club went bankrupt! Who wants an ugly German like you there?
Folks, please do me a favor. Go to the site where Guenther made the statement.You'll read more than that you'll have a big laugh! I guarantee it!. The site I will direct you shortly belongs to Matt Wilkie one of the few supporters Guenther left with, and is HIS original site, not a downloaded and saved copy. He also is a resident on Evan Iliadis wall of shame and a close neighbor and friend of Guenther. Here is the link. Update Feb 5th. The Link removed, Matt Wilkie erased Guenther's statement. So no mre Guenther "public" man! We can now insult him freely without automatically include all mentioned above!…
Enjoy your moron and his mythomania. Unless are proxies, to which I don't bother to figure out, many Germans IPs are coming to this blog. I feel very sorry if any of you is part of his family living in Germany, the best they can do for you is to bring you back to Germany and reintegrate you to the "normal" and real world style of life before is too late.
That's for today. I'll be back with more on his other friends, all part of the low life, sexpats and scammers of Guenther's environment.
Just one last question to Guenther: Did you cry to Google today?


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Research Project
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (B)
AbstractWe have examined for expression of the liver glutatione-dependent enzyme in relation to abnormal copper accumulation in a novel mutant rat (LEC) in which liver injury occurs and then hepatocellular carcinoma spontaneously develops. We have found that the copper concentration gradually increased up to 49-fold, but then decreased about to 20-fold in LEC rat liver as compared to that in age-matched normal rat. Levels of reduced glutathione were increased in LEC rat liver with age. The activity of glutathione S-transferases was unchanged, but that of selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase decreased in LEC rat at the old age. We have found that relative expression of the glutatione S-transferase 1-1 was about 2 to 5-fold decrcase, while that of glutathione S-transferase 2-2 was 5 to 8-fold increase in the elution profiles from chromatofocusing in LEC rat liver. The levels of the subunits of glutathione S-transferases in rat liver cytosol were determined by Western blotting. The r
… More
esult shows that the relative content of the Ya subunit is about a half through the life time, while that of the Yc subunit is somewhat lower at the age of 1 month, but then 2-fold higher in LEC than in normal rat at the ages of 4. A corresponding decrease and increase in poly (A) RNAs coding for the Ya and Yc subunits were also observed by Northern blotting, respectively. Southern blot analysis showed no gene amplification for the Yc subunit. Our data suggest that the overexpression of glutathione S-transferase 2-2 is due to a selective regulation of the transcription stage for the YaYc gene family by abnormal copper accumulation in LEC mutant rat.LEC rats appear to have a decrease serum IgG content in spite of normal levels of IgM and IgA, and the IgG deficiency is controlled by a single recessive gene which is designated as Igsr-1 (Matsumoto et al. 1989). We recently found that LEC rats have a markedly decreased number of CD4^+ T-cells due to arrest of maturation from CD4^+8^+ cells to CD4^+8^- cells in the thymus. It might be supposed that MHC class II antigen is not expressed in the thymus, but the antigen was expressed in LEC thymus which showed hypoplasia of the medulla (Agui et al. In press). However, there was a possibility that a dysfunctional mutation in MHC class II might cause a defect in positive selection from CD4^+8^+ to CD4^+8^- T-cells. Furtheremore it is of interest to investigate a relationship between helper T-cell deficiency and the selective IgG deficiency (Igsr-1), because low IgG level could be a consequence of the helper T-cell deficiency. Therefore, before LEC rats can be used as an animal model for studies on immunodeficiency, their novel mutation must be genetically characterized. In this study, we carried out genetic analyses of this T helper immunodeficiency using F_1 and backcross progeny of LEC and normal (either WKAH or BN) rats to determine if a single gene is responsible for the deficiency. We also carried out linkage analyses on the gene for this immunodeficiency and several loci including Igsr-1 and RT1 loci.In conclusion, recombinant and congenic strains for hepatitis and immunodeficiency genes must be useful for studies on mechanisms of hepatocellular carcinoma in relation to immunodeficiency. We are now making CXA recombinant rats with 14F generation and third congenic strain with 4N generation. These new strains will be established during further 1 year and must be very useful for the studies described above. Less
Published: 1989-04-01
Modified: 2016-04-21
User Guide
Terms of Use
Attribution of KAKENHI


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We may not look like Gwyneth Paltrow—or shop like Gwen—but, dang it, we can detox like her.
The actress shared her "tried-and-true, all-time best detox tips" for the New Year, because, a) everyone and their mothers are currently thinking about new ways to refresh, and b) who wouldn't want the A-lister's luminous glow?
In typical goop fashion, there are a few attainable tips anyone can do with a trip to the local farmers' market. Then, there are the less realistic ones—like invest in an infrared sauna—but, luckily, the actress provides solutions for things that may be out of reach. No at-home steam room? Use the one at the local gym—it may inspire a workout, too!
Oh, Gwyn...always thinking two steps ahead.


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Back Home Frederick County Maryland - Md. - A-Z Directory ("A"= Attorney "C"= Church "R"= Restaurant) Add Your Business
Like any bona fide classic, the Barbara Fritchie Classic flat track motorcycle race has stood the test of time. Started in 1922, the Fritchie is held at The Great Frederick Fairgrounds and is the oldest running dirt track half mile in the country. For race info see: BarbaraFritchieClassic.com
CLICK HERE to download the above photos from flickr!
CLICK HERE for a full-screen slideshow (Non-Flash iPad viewable).
CLICK HERE for the photos on facebook (please tag with names).
Click Here for my 2013 race coverage!
About the photographer: Craig Shipp - http://CraigShipp.com - is a New Media pioneer to learn more follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/CraigShipp or friend him on facebook at http://facebook.com/FrederickNews (friending will allow you to tag the photos with names so your friends can find them) - you can also check out his flickr photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/areaguides/collections/
Photos can be downloaded from flickr in various sizes (free account required). To do so visit the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/areaguides/collections/
Then click on the collection and then the set to find the photo. There are also links from my articles direct to featured photos.
After you've opened the set click on the photo you want. Then click on the little magnifine glass (+) just above the right side of the photo. This takes you to a larger view and then in the upper right you will see a "View all sizes" link. (Note: You need to be logged into flickr to see these links - flickr accounts are free)
The View all sizes link brings you to a page where you can click on various size links from Square (75 x 75) all the way up to Original. Click on the size you want and then click on the link to download that size and save to your desktop or your pictures folder.
If the picture you want is needed in a high-quality .tiff un-compressed format e-mail me and I can make it available to you at no cost for personal use.
PS: Many of my videos can be downloaded from vimeo (Free account required) http://vimeo.com/craigshipp/videos
"Events define our life - if not captured, preserved and shared in photos did they ever happen?" Craig Shipp


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iTunes U revamp
We've just finished updating the iTunes U site as well as the Texas A&M store on iTunes U. The store gets new graphics and a consistent set of branding for all of the albums and a cleaner, lighter look.The site gets a new layout and added functionality as we try to bring more of what's in iTunes U to the site for people to see. We're starting with the top downloads, but hopefully will be able to pull out other feeds of titles and topic areas.
But what the new site does is set a foundation of design for one of the projects on our slate. It's tentatively titled "Podcast Central" (I wanted to use "Rasputin" but I found out that Favreau and Co. are using that codename for Iron Man 2), but it would be a central point to feed in podcasts from different places and venues. This would allow us to highlight videos from iTunes U, our and other A&M youTube sites and playlists, MediaMatrix feeds, KAMU streams, departmental podcast RSS feeds and more — and have it appear and be highlighted on this site.
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- Coding
- Design
- Mobile
- Marketing
- Web
- Cheat Sheets
- Deals and Free Stuff
All posts in Resources
Coding - Javascript - jQuery - Resources
11 JavaScript Libraries for Your Development Toolbox
If you are in web development or web design, you can never have too many fonts, images, or JavaScript libraries. No matter how many you have, you are constantly searching for fresh stuff. Fortunately, the choice is really overwhelming but this makes it harder to pick the ones you really need without cluttering your design/development toolbox with stuff you rarely, if ever, use.
Top Remote Collaboration Tools For Your Team
With the dawn of the internet, collaboration and team-work has gotten easier day by day. Gone are the days when collaborative efforts were visible only within the walls of a formal office. Instead, more and more businesses and ventures are now shifting to distributed teams, with various members of the team located all across the globe, and each member working directly from his or her home.
Ultimate Guide To Bootstrap Resources
If you haven't heard about Bootstrap, start by reading our Boostrap 101 post or visit the Bootstrap website. If you want to see what can be done with Bootstrap, visit these sites: Bootstrap Expo and Built with Bootstrap.
6 Best Text Editors for Programmers
With so many IDEs (Integrated Development Environment) available today, it's kind of strange that many programmers don't use them but code with a text editor instead. A text editor looks so primitive in comparison to even the worst IDE, so why do programmers love text editors so much?
7 Awesome jQuery Plugins For Your Next Big Project
In this post, I have put together some of the most popular and useful jQuery plugins for you to use in your upcoming web projects. So without wasting any more time, let us check out the plugins!
8 Plugins to Secure WordPress
WordPress can be very secure, if you know how to do it, but it can also be a hacker's delight, if you leave doors wide open. Very often exploits happen because of WordPress plugin weaknesses, not because of weaknesses in WordPress itself but this isn't much of a comfort when your site gets hacked.
Choosing The Perfect Web Host: Top 5 Options for 2014
When it comes to creating a website, web design and development are not the only considerations that you need to bear in mind. In fact, proper design and code is just one side of the story. The other side includes things that are equally important — web hosting and domain names, for instance. Choosing the right web host is very important for the overall health of your online presence.
15 Best WordPress Tutorials for Beginners
WordPress is a relatively easy to use CMS (Content Management System) but when you are a beginner, every task looks daunting. To help you deal with the challenge, here is a list of 15 great WordPress tutorials for beginners.


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To activate your Mark One:
- If your Mark One is connected to the internet please disconnect it.
- Sign in to your Eiger account
Navigate to the Settings Page
- Navigate to https://www.eiger.io/settings?s=profile
- Or click the Settings Menu Button in the top right and then select Settings
Navigate to the Printer Settings by clicking on Printer in the left sidebar.
- Click Add Printer
- In order to register your printer you need to enter the following information:
- A Name for your Printer
- The Machine ID and Access Key for your printer can be found:
- From the label on the back of your printer
- OR On the included welcome card that came with the printer
- OR on the info screen of your printer
- Once you have entered this information click Add Printer
- Connect your Mark One to the internet. Instructions to do this can be found here.
- Once it has connected it will appear in you Eiger account.


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Virus Killer
Protect your computer from viruses with Avast Pro. According to research Avast is the most popular Antivirus solution. Avast free is also popular among many. Its a trusted security solution for your computer that helps you get rid of spam, malware, adware, spyware, trojans, unwanted software, malicious websites and viruses. Avast just launched 'Summer Savings Special' and is giving away one year of free protection with Avast Pro Antivirus and Avast Internet Security.
Protect your computer from viruses with Avast Internet Security. Last week we posted GiveAway for Avira AntiVir Premium Security Suite. The results will come at 18, Sunday 2010. By looking at the interest we could not help but purchasing another virus killer and Internet Security suite for TechMynd's guests right now. We have promised that we will offer atleast one GiveAway every week. Here is Avast Internet Security 5.0. The latest Avast Internet Security 5.0. This is more powerful than Avast Free AntiVirus and Avast Pro AntiVirus. This time we have got 3 license keys for 2 years of ultimate protection. That means 3 lucky winners will get this security software to use for two years for free.
You will love Avast Internet Security 5. Subscribe to TechMynd's newsletter and comment this post to enter in a chance to win this giveaway. Avast Internet Security is worth $114.95 for two year. Get it free from TechMynd. Results (3 lucky winners) for this giveaway will be announced at 25 Sunday 2010.
Protect your computer from viruses with PC Tools. Get powerful free protection against malicious virus infections. PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition is a great virus killer and provides world-leading protection against viruses, worms and Trojans with rapid updates and IntelliGuard real-time technology. Download PC Tools AntiVirus absolutely Free.
While Combofix, SDFix and 'Smart Virus Remover' can remove this newfolder.exe virus from PC completely but a guest asked about how he can remove it manually. Here are instructions and methods to remove NewFolder.exe completely from your PC without using any antivirus program.


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RARE opportunity to own one of only 22 Historical Homes located in the City of Bonita Springs. Built in 1925, this CHARMING 3 Bedroom, 1.5 Bath, HISTORICAL home with Cedar Wood siding is located steps from the Imperial RIVER and comes with shared DEEDED GULF ACCESS!! This home qualifies for FREE Grant MONEY from the Bonita Springs Historical Society to make improvements to the home each year - how cool is that!!? *I'm happy to give you the details for the simple process, just ask!! Old Heart Pine floors in the main area of the home and a working fireplace! Whole House Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System!!! New Air Conditioning unit installed about 1.5 years ago. Flat Section of the Roof was re-roofed in 2019!! SamSung stacked washer/dryer!!! Metal Roof!! Located in a perfect spot, walking distance to the soon to be revitalized downtown Bonita Springs. Close to Shopping, Restaurants, and the Beach!
The source of this real property information is the copyrighted and proprietary database compilation of the Southwest Florida MLS organizations Copyright 2019 Southwest Florida MLS organizations.. All rights reserved. The accuracy of this information is not warranted or guaranteed. This information should be independently verified if any person intends to engage in a transaction in reliance upon it.
The data relating to real estate for sale on this Website come in part from the Broker Reciprocity Program (BR Program) of M.L.S. of Naples, Inc. Properties listed with brokerage firms other than Premiere Plus Realty Co. are marked with the BR Program Icon or the BR House Icon and detailed information about them includes the name of the Listing Brokers. The properties displayed may not be all the properties available through the BR Program.