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On Sunday, NBC's David Gregory spent much of Meet the Press blasting Rick Santorum
for criticizing President Obama's "phony theology" of liberalism.
Earlier that morning, he appeared on the Today show to wonder if the GOP
was "comfortable" with that line of criticism and warned: "Does it want to reignite culture wars in America over these kinds of issues?"
On Monday's Today, fill-in co-host Savannah Guthrie followed Gregory's lead as she lead the top of the show with this proclamation: "Culture wars. Rick Santorum is trying to explain his comment that appeared to question President Obama's faith." NBC did not dare accuse the Obama administration of trying to "reignite" a "culture war" over the ObamaCare contraception mandate controversy.
Peter Alexander announced that Santorum was now "Facing a surge of
scrutiny to go with his surging poll numbers," and how "The Obama
campaign blasted the remarks as well over the line."
On Sunday's Nightly News, correspondent Ron Mott couldn't help but mock Santorum's effort to push back at the supposed controversy surrounding his remarks: "After saying the President's energy philosophy was based on a 'phony theology' Saturday, Rick Santorum had a real challenge, separating religion from theology, no less on a Sunday."
Mott later observed: "Each of the Republican candidates has voiced disapproval of the President's stance on energy and the environment. Only Santorum...has linked them to theology."
On Saturday's Nightly News, after playing a sound bite of Santorum's comment, Mott read a response from Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt: "The Obama re-election campaign quickly fired back, calling it, quote, 'Just the latest low in a Republican campaign that has been fueled by distortions, ugliness and searing pessimism and negativity.'"
On Monday's Today, Alexander included a sound bite of former Obama press secretary and current campaign advisor Robert Gibbs: "It's just time to get rid of this mind set in our politics that if we disagree we have to question character and faith."
Here is a portion of Alexander's February 20 report:
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Culture wars. Rick Santorum is trying to explain his comment that appeared to question President Obama's faith. As Mitt Romney deals with fallout over the sudden resignation of his campaign co-chair in a key battleground state.
CARL QUINTANILLA: Now to the presidential race and the comment by GOP hopeful Rick Santorum that's drawing heat from President Obama's campaign. NBC's Peter Alexander is in Salt Lake City, Utah, with details. Peter, good morning.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Decision 2012; Santorum Clarifies Remarks on President Obama's Faith]
PETER ALEXANDER: Hey Carl, good morning to you. President Obama's re-election team has largely focused its attention during the course of this race on Mitt Romney. But increasingly, it's turning it's eye to Rick Santorum, the latest example, a sharp back and forth after Santorum appeared to question the President's faith. Facing a surge of scrutiny to go with his surging poll numbers, Rick Santorum is trying to define himself before his opponents can make their attacks stick.
RICK SANTORUM: Someone who can clearly go after President Obama on issue after issue, draw a clear bright contrast, make him accountable.
ALEXANDER: But first, Santorum is trying to clarify this comment, questioning the values behind President Obama's energy policy.
SANTORUM: It's about some phony ideal, some phony theology. Oh, not a theology based on the Bible. A different theology. But no less a theology.
ALEXANDER: The Obama campaign blasted the remarks as well over the line.
ROBERT GIBBS: It's just time to get rid of this mind set in our politics that if we disagree we have to question character and faith.
ALEXANDER: On Sunday, Santorum argued he wasn't criticizing the President's faith, but his world view.
SANTORUM: As I've repeatedly said, I don't question the President's faith. I've repeatedly said that I believe the President's Christian, he says he's a Christian. But I am talking about his world view or his – the way he approaches problems in this country. And I think they're different than how most people do in America.
ALEXANDER: Santorum is also renewing the debate on another hot-button social issue, arguing that the President's health care overhaul requiring insurers to pay for prenatal testing promotes abortion.
SANTORUM: The bottom line is that a lot of prenatal tests are done to identify deformities in utero and the customary procedure is to encourage abortions.
-- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.


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Folk Songs
James Yorkston, resident of the East Neuk of Fife, returns in the company of The Big Eyes Family Players with a new album of traditional songs from the length and breadth of the Great Britain & Ireland and one tune from Galicia in Spain. After a decade which has seen folk music morph into nu-folk, mobile phone-ad folk, mortgage-folk, smoothie-folk and so on, Yorkston has reached back into the tradition of song and place and drawn a line in the sand.
"The idea behind this album of folk songs first surfaced around 2000 / 2001: To record an album of traditional songs for Fence Records of St. Andrews, to sell as a companion piece to my own work which they were then punting out to unsuspecting golfers. So I set to it, learning songs from cassettes and CDs by Anne Briggs and Shirley Collins, Jean Ritchie and Nic Jones, Eliza Carthy & Nancy Kerr; recording them to various states of success and undress. I also tackled a few Lal Waterson tracks – Scarecrow & Fine Horseman. Lal's songwriting of course I've revisited since. Alas, it ended up unreleased – Domino Records, in a rare lapse of good judgement, decided to offer me a record contract and the folk album got put on the back burner. Being miserly, the songs I'd recorded already, or had marked for that original traditional album, were mostly put on subsequent albums or EPs. So, this album here consists of 11 "new" tunes. New as in chosen and recorded especially for this record. But they're not new songs, by any means.
I picked up The Big Eyes Family Players somewhere along the way. Any touring musician will tell you – CDs from punters and fellow musicians seem to end up in your pockets at the end of every gig. At the end of every tour there's a least half a dozen CDs, CDrs, etc. One such CD I discovered was by Big Eyes; and lo-and-behold, I loved what I heard. I contacted the main guy, James Green, and we've been in touch ever since. When I decided to resurrect this traditional album idea, he was an obvious choice of partner in crime. I didn't want to work with my usual band The Athletes, but there was no slur there, they'll be back on board for the next James Yorkston album proper – I just fancied trying something different."
James Green began recording in Leeds as Big Eyes around the year 2000, with the intention of creating his own version of 'classical music' despite knowing very little about the genre. After writing a few songs/pieces on his own, he plucked up enough courage to try and get some help to play them. Nine years on, and now based in Sheffield, the group have become The Big Eyes Family Players. To date, TBEFP have released three albums: 'Do The Musiking' in 2006 (Pickled Egg); 'Donkeysongs' in 2008 (Rusted Rail); and 'Warm Room' in 2009 (Pickled Egg).
"JY asked me if I wanted to work an album of folk songs with him. I was thrilled at the offer and said yes, of course. It then occurred to me that I knew little about the folk tradition (a recurring theme) but threw caution to the wind and the rest is history..."
- Special London Show: Tabernacle: James Yorkston & The Big Eyes Family Players: 7th November
- October and November Tour Plus New Single
- James Yorkston & The Big Eyes Family Players: 7" Gallery
- Exclusive Footage Of James Yorkston Recording & Blog of 7 Inch Design
- James Yorkston: Martinmas Time: 7" Exclusive w/Haiku and Field Day Competition
- James Yorkston & The Big Eyes Family Players: You Tube Channel & New Album
- James Yorkston & The Big Eyes Family Players: Super Special Edition
This artist is a collaboration with James Yorkston and James Yorkston.


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San Francisco to Wuhan
Sat Dec 12, 2020-
Thu Dec 17, 2020
Round trip | Economy
*Prices have been available for round trip flights within the last 48 hours and may not be currently available. Additional baggage fees and fees for other optional services may apply. Other terms and conditions may apply.


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CeBIT Red Hat today announced version 5 of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), its server operating system - but at the European launch in CeBIT the talk was not of all the technology inside, such as Xen virtualisation and JBoss middleware. Instead it was all about partnerships, packaging and support. In particular, Red Hat will now work with application developers, both to offer co-operative support and to recommend other open source software.
On the operating system side, some of the biggest changes are in how RHEL is packaged. The flagship is now RHEL 5 Advanced Platform, which is licenced for an unlimited number of virtual instances on an unlimited number of CPUs and sockets, so workloads can be moved around the data centre as needed. It also includes a clustered file system and logical volume management but costs the same as the more limited RHEL 4 Advanced Server release, the company said.
"Our vision is a complete end-to-end platform to support the complete application lifecycle, all using open source licences and open source business models," said Tim Yeaton, Red Hat's senior marketing veep.
"We will no longer have Enterprise Server, that will just be RHEL 5 - a commodity server with four virtual instances," he noted. He added though that the company is also introducing a client version, called RHEL 5 Desktop and also featuring virtualisation, plus three complete packages of software, services and training aimed at specific application needs:
The data centre package will include everything needed to implement a data centre or migrate one to open source, and will be available in large and small versions.
A high availability database package will allow users to build reliable database systems, based on the likes of Oracle, Sybase, DB2 and MySQL. Yeaton said it works by using standard functionality, such as database migration tools, to achieve the reliability of clustering without having to buy database clustering software.
The high performance computing platform will include tools to help users build computing grids and move spare power around, for example by re-tasking engineering workstations as compute servers for overnight jobs.
According to Yeaton, building Xen into RHEL, and also adding support for quad-core CPUs, has improved its ability to support enterprise workloads. For example, he highlighted the option to run multiple apps in individual VMs on a server, instead of running them all on a single instance of the operating system, where a virus affecting one would also affect all the others.
He pointed out too that each guest operating system can have different patch or revision levels, which can make it easier to consolidate many small servers onto one.
Red Hat has also updated its systems management tools to treat virtual and physical servers as one. "Customers find it lets them manage five times as many systems," Yeaton claimed.
Hat Trick
The other two pillars of Red Hat's new business strategy are co-operative support and a partner federation. Red Hat's co-operative resolution centre is aimed at clients with complex systems on 24-hour support. It will take the lead in resolving the problem and work with the other suppliers involved to stop them passing the buck, Yeaton said.
He added that the partner federation, called Red Hat Exchange, came about because customers asked for advice on what other open source software they should consider.
"It brings together leading ISVs to build solutions using RHEL, JBoss and so on. It enables our partners to build their business much faster than they would on their own," he said. Among the software suppliers already on board are SugarCRM, Zenoss, MySQL, Openfire and EnterpriseDB.
Yeaton claimed that Red Hat's reliance on subscription revenue encourages it to improve customer satisfaction, whereas a revenue stream based on licence sales encourages software developers to add unnecessary features to justify upgrades.
He added: "There are fundamental things about the open source model that cause us to behave in ways that are a better fit for our customers." ®


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PD: Dunkin' Donuts Employee Added Mucus To Coffees
Coffee Shop Worker Charged With Fouling Cops' Coffee
A former Dunkin' Donuts employee has been accused of adding "nasal mucus" to the coffees of two Jaffrey police officers.
According to police, on June 19 two police officers went to the Dunkin' Donuts on Peterborough Street and ordered two cups of coffee from 20-year-old Christopher Hildreth.
Authorities said Hildreth grabbed two coffee cups, then went to the back room to make the coffee. The officers said in the affidavit that they found the behavior odd since they had ordered coffee from Hildreth before and had never seen him go out back to make coffee.
The officers were able to watch Hildreth from a store-front video monitor that shows a view of the back room, police said. The officers said they watched Hildreth put nasal mucus into the cups.
The officers did not say anything to Hildreth but later returned the coffees and contacted the manager to review the surveillance tapes.
The store manager reviewed the tape and terminated Hildreth shortly after viewing them.
Hildreth has been charged with two counts of attempted simple assault.


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63:36 minutes (14.56 MB)
Matt Montagne joins us on this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers. Matt has been a leader in putting together a 24-hour Earthcast in April the last couple of years at Earthbridges.net. Matt also helped us build the community and to launch Voices on the Gulf. Matt's students have also been building the Gator Radio Experience at his school, Castilleja School. Please join Matt, Peggy George and others as we try to build some curriculum together, looking toward Earth Day 2011. Here's the link to a Google Doc that Matt opened during this webcast: Missions Brainstorm.
Click Read more to see Paul Allison's description of why we might want to create curriculum missions for Youth Voices and to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.


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Cueto hits DL again with sore pitching shoulder
Heisey says he's closer to rejoining team
Right-hander Johnny Cueto went back on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a sore muscle by his pitching shoulder, the second time this season that the Cincinnati Reds have lost their top starter to the injury.
Cueto was scheduled to start the final game of a series against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. Instead, right-hander Pedro Villarreal was called up from Triple-A Louisville to take his place.
It was Villarreal's turn to start for Louisville on Wednesday, making him the first choice for the promotion. He made one relief appearance for the Reds at the end of last season.
Cueto was on the disabled list from April 15 to May 19 with a strained muscle by the back of his right shoulder. He made three starts after his return, going 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA. He allowed only one hit in eight innings of a 6-0 win in Pittsburgh on Friday, but told the Reds afterward that the muscle was bothering him again.
The Reds waited to see how his back felt in the next few days. They decided to put him on the disabled list again, hoping it heals completely.
"It's the same thing he had before," manager Dusty Baker said. "He felt it a little bit after he pitched in Pittsburgh. He told us after the game he felt it. It's not as bad as last time. We want to be precautious with it."
Baker said the Reds are optimistic that Cueto can return in two weeks.
"He doesn't have to go back to square one like he did the last time," Baker said. "He'll continue training."
The Reds also told outfielder Chris Heisey that he'll start a rehab assignment on Friday in Louisville. Heisey became the starter in left field after Ryan Ludwick tore cartilage in his right shoulder while sliding into third base on opening day.
Heisey pulled his right hamstring and went on the disabled list April 29. He was close to returning when he pulled it again.
"I just feel better," Heisey said. "I know it's better. Looking back, I probably rushed it. It's ready to play. It was no one's fault other than mine."
Heisey expects to play several games at Louisville, given that he's been sidelined for so long.


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Blast China
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Four of the Best Countries for New Moms
Expectant parents all over the world should consider moving to these four countries, according to Jonnelle Marte. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
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page 2By Jeffrey Rothfeder
Analysis: Lessons From Midsize Companies
Even for a fast-on-the-trigger startup, it was a gutsy step. A year ago, before FRISA Wyman Gordon, based in Santa Catarina, outside Monterrey, Mexico, had opened for business, a team of internal software design specialists was putting the finishing touches on an enterprise resource planning system. Built entirely in-house and from scratch, the internal effort was something few companies of any size would dare tacklelet alone complete successfully. Yet FRISA's ERP system is now the calling card of its growth strategy.
"We're in an old, classic industry, not prone to IT innovation," says Hector Mario Cruz, head of IT at FRISA. "When you're a small player trying to make an impression in an industry, the first message that you want to send to customers is that [you] can provide the highest quality."
FRISA's immediate goals are not overly ambitiousto grab about 10 percent of the $600 million international market for forging turbine rings for aircraft engines in the next three years. But despite the modesty of FRISA's ambitions, the Mexican forge's ERP gamble illustrates something much larger: Small and midsize businesses, notorious for being at least a step or two behind technologically, are suddenly discovering that innovation paysor rather, they're making innovation pay. As the economic environment tightened over the past three years, many small and midsize companies, in a surprise departure from their behavior in other periods of slow growth, became more aggressive about creating strategic applications that link directly to the top and bottom lines. Instead of waiting out the downturn by ceding technology to their larger competitors, they've decided to go head-to-head this time.
"The mid-market is doing pioneer work in implementing technologies," says Jeffrey Read, PeopleSoft Inc. vice president and general manager for the mid-market. "These companies have the same business challenges as large companies, but they have smaller IT departments and smaller budgets, so they have to look for certainty of value. And they've learned that technology is not just a utility or a luxury; it's a differentiator and a necessity."
In FRISA's case, the decision to build the ERP system was an obvious one. The company, a spin-off of the large Mexican steel foundry FRISA Industrias, serves blue-chip customers, primarily General Electric Co., Rolls-Royce Corp. and Pratt & Whitney, all makers of aerospace engines, who expect extremely high-quality service. Parts must be manufactured to high tolerances, and response times for everything from shipments to tracing old orders must be
prompt and accurately gauged. All of FRISA's rivals are still using paper-based systems to drive these highly complex operations. But FRISA's management guessed that by becoming the first in its industry to automate and meet customer requirements better with an ERP system, it would get noticed among the 15 or so plants that forge turbine rings worldwide.
But there was a significant obstacle: FRISA ruled out purchasing a system from a software integrator, having determined it would be both too expensive and too risky given the many reports of dissatisfied ERP owners. If the system didn't work out as planned, FRISA would have run through a great deal of its capitalization with nothing to show for it. So Cruz's staff convinced the parent company to lend the startup some of its most experienced software developers to design and implement an ERP system that specifically met the needs of a steel business.
The ERP's data management component shows how closely the technology was tied to essential operationsand how it was geared to catch the eyes of potential customers. So-called traceability records that recount in detail every manufacturing activityamong other things, when and where the product was placed in a furnace, how it was forged and treated, and the date it was shipped outmust be kept for each turbine ring. If an airplane malfunctions, even years later, the engine manufacturer will have to produce a traceability record for each part quickly, so the cause of the mishap can be determined. At most forges, where paper files are the norm, it can take weeks to provide background material about a part. With the ERP system, FRISA can guarantee instant traceability. And, Cruz says, FRISA's decision to use in-house developers shaved as much as 50 percent off what it would have cost had he hired an outside software developer: "We had a solid team that knew the iron industry and understood what we needed. So we were satisfied with what we got."
Recent studies bear out the increase in technology activity among smaller companies. According to a survey conducted last summer of 300 executives at companies with annual revenues between $50 million and $2 billion by market researcher Grant Thornton International, 84 percent have invested in new technologiesor at least plan toto be ready for improved business conditions. Backing this up is a report by Access Markets International-Partners Inc., which concludes that worldwide IT and telephony spending in the group grew upwards of 7 percent in 2003, compared with 0 to 4 percent for larger corporations. According to AMI, larger companies are hesitant to boost spending when earnings and stock prices are under pressure, and there's "a general sense in boardrooms these days that recent IT investments in areas such as ERP or storage networks have yet to impact the bottom line."The charts are available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. To download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in, click here.
page 2
Some smaller to midsize companies have been motivated by the need to modernize old systems during slow periods and to be ready to take advantage of an anticipated burst of growth. Consider the Weitz Co., a Des Moines, Iowa-based general contractor for large office, institutional and industrial projects. In 2002, a soft commercial construction marketan aftershock of the Sept. 11 attacks, corporate accounting scandals and declining tax proceeds that have forced states to forego capital constructionsent Weitz's revenues tumbling to $745 million from $818 million the year before. Anticipating the downturn, Weitz's CIO, Mark Federle, suggested that the builder finally get rid of its old VAX-based network and replace it with an ERP system that would be managed by WTS Inc., an applications service provider for PeopleSoft.
The implementation began in November 2001 and the ERP system went live a year laterin time, says Federle, to take advantage of what Weitz executives believe will be accelerated construction activity in the company's new areas of focus: retirement communities, schools and healthcare institutions. Currently, the ERP system is mainly used for cost management, particularly to track real-time data about subcontractor billings and project expenses, and, in the process, limit endemic overruns. In the near future, Federle plans to add a CRM component and an estimating tool that will calculate up-to-the-minute costs of inventory, raw materials and labor to generate better construction bids. All of this is done with an eye toward squeezing out the most profit as Weitz pursues its ambitious goal of $1.6 billion in annual revenue by 2007.
"Technology was directly identified as a requirement for achieving the numbers in our strategic plan, during which we hope to triple in size between 1999 and 2007," says Federle. "We expect technology to drive efficiency and performanceand ultimately profits from the increased revenue. Without it, there's no way we could expect such outsized improvement."
But many small and midsize businesses don't have the luxury of planning for a four-year growth spurt. In most instances, they need results now, in the form of new sales and new customers. During the expansion of the 1990s, the economic pie was growing so quickly that even in markets with larger competitors, small and midsize companies were able to grab a slice of the customer base. But with the economy stutter-stepping, smaller players are not only finding themselves going head-to-head with each other; they're also facing rivals many times their size in the struggle to attract cautious consumers or, if they're a supplier, penurious companies. It's no surprise that 53 percent of respondents to the Grant Thornton survey said that the competitive environment in their industry was more intense than 12 months before. Smaller companies are obviously at a disadvantage against larger, well-heeled rivals, so they have to distinguish themselves from each other. That's where technology comes in: Rather than turning away from it for fear that wasteful spending will hurt the bottom line, many smaller competitors are adopting it as a necessary quick fix to seize increasingly elusive market share and new revenue.
Small and midsize businesses "must have immediate results with a short payback period," says Mark Oster, a partner in Grant Thornton's technology industry practice. "For that reason, in many cases, the systems they install are designed specifically to instantly extend the company's touch by bringing them closer to their customers. They're engineered to create a quick competitive distinctionways to stand out of the crowdas opposed to a competitive advantage."
An example is the system at Sonance, a high-end audio speaker manufacturer based in San Clemente, Calif. The company, which registers about $50 million in annual sales, relies on a network of dozens of independent dealers and retailers like Best Buy Co. Inc. to sell and install its products. Convincing these small and large consumer electronics shops to carry and promote the Sonance line over brands from bigger companies such as JVC and Infinity, not to mention as many as 100 niche players, is Sonance's primary challenge. Without an attentive distribution network the company can't survive. That's why Chip Brown, who became CEO four years ago after stints as a consultant for a venture capital firm and a product manager at PepsiCo, is determined to improve Sonance's somewhat tattered relationships with its retail network.
"When I arrived, we had an old, frustrating, non-computerized system for communicating with dealersa perfect way to alienate the people we depend upon," says Brown. "A dealer might call in an order on a Saturday night and not find out until Monday morning at the soonest, when someone called him back, that the speakers he wants aren't in stock. That hurt the dealer's business. It made it difficult for them to schedule installations and close sales. I was determined to build an infrastructure to get data to them in real time."
Brown says Sonance's success in the early 1990s is to blame for the threadbare technology: The company grew so quickly that it eventually outpaced the ability of its manual systems to serve customers efficiently. "Many companies don't realize that they're falling further and further behind on the technology capabilities that they need to sustain growth, and by the time they figure this out, it's two or three years later, when their growth has already been halted," notes Brown. "I was determined to implement a customer management system ahead of time, before we started to grow again, and before we missed another opportunity."
Brown and a team of Sonance employees, chosen to help select the technology they and their customers would be using, reviewed nearly 70 vendor bids for this system. In early 2003 they settled on a PeopleSoft ERP, which would let dealers place orders, retrieve account data, obtain product information and pay bills through an extranet known as SonaLinQ. It was an expensive undertaking for Sonance$2.7 million, or 5 percent of a single year's revenue, over five years. The only way Brown could justify such a high-priced effort was to identify a specific set of short-term and long-term benchmarks for the project, including quantified revenue and cost savings as well as specific improvements in customer relations.
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The charts are available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. To download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in, click here.
So far, the project has met the benchmarks. It was completed in six months, as scheduled, and 50 percent of dealer orders were placed through SonaLinQ in its first week of operation. Collection of accounts receivable has sped up and many distributors are downloading marketing materials from the extranet, cutting in half the number of calls Sonance customer service reps must handle. As a result, Brown has canceled plans to hire more people, a significant cost savings. And the system lets Sonance keep track of dealer-ordering patterns more precisely and, thus, better anticipate purchases and ship most products within 24 hours. All told, Sonance expects $9.4 million in increased sales and cost savings over five years from SonaLinQ, including about $6 million in revenue from new dealers and distribution channelsmuch of it business its rivals could have won. Most important, says Brown, SonaLinQ goes well beyond what its closest competitors have to offer.
"When you're a small or midsize company, your first line of defense is your only line of defense," says Brown. "That's what SonaLinQ represents. Customers remember when they can't reach a company for two or three hours, and that bad taste never goes away. Customers may not always outwardly express appreciation for great service, but they're turned off by bad service. Hopefully, that's in our past."
Perhaps the most impressive part about many of the newer implementations at smaller companies is how few of them end up over budget and behind schedule. Small and midsize businesses have little margin for error and tend to be extremely demanding about keeping projects on course. For one thing, they usually phase in technology one small step at a time, measuring it at predetermined intervals to see whether it meets certain organizational integration or financial performance requirements. To match this painstaking approach, many hardware and software providers targeting small and midsize businesses are offering accommodations that vendors have been hesitant to suggest in the pastincluding fixed-price bids, implementation guarantees as short as 90 days, and assurances of return on investment.
Smaller businesses "can't afford to do a Big Bang project because of the risk associated with it," says Jim Upton, senior manager at J.D. Edwards' Enterprise Asset Management group, now part of PeopleSoft. "So we have to do everything we can to give them a comfort level that the project won't get out of control."
Some of the more unique guarantees are coming from outsourcersan option that is slowly attracting small and midsize companies, which have very limited IT staffs and difficulty supporting in-house technology. For a long time, small and midsize businesses viewed outsourcing as too grandiose an idea for their minimal use of computers, perhaps 60 to a couple hundred desktops. But with technology playing an increasingly important role in determining their future, top management has begun to reconsider outsourcing as a way to maintain both the basics of in-house computing, such as e-mail, security and simple programs such as office suites and presentation software, and new, necessary corporate strategic applications.
Outsourcers have responded to this shifting landscape by offering no-lose deals that many small and midsize companies can't refuse. Customers of LuxScientiae Inc., a Boston-based e-mail and network server outsourcing company, are promised a refund of 5 percent of the monthly fee if its network's downtime exceeds 24 seconds per month. RightNow Technologies Inc., a Bozeman, Mont., builder and host of CRM applications for small and midsize businesses, lets potential customers try out live before signing an outsourcing contract. Perhaps the most radical deal is offered by CenterBeam Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based outsourcer that targets companies with up to 2,500 employees. Instead of long-term contracts for managing a client's technology infrastructure, CenterBeam offers month-to-month service agreementsin the simplest cases, costing about $50 per month for each desktopthat can be canceled with 30 days' notice.
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That promise hooked John Musil, the CEO of Apothecary Shops of Arizona, a ten-store pharmacy chain headquartered in Scottsdale that focuses on providing drugs and medical equipment for diseases affecting women and children. Until recently, each Apothecary branch operated as a standalone store. This put the company at a distinct disadvantage compared to large national drug retailers, which have centralized record systems that allow customers to fill prescriptions at any outlet. It also made it difficult for Apothecary to cut sweetheart deals with manufacturers, because no pharmacist could easily produce a chainwide accounting of individual items sold, a tally that medical equipment makers use to determine which retailers deserve special discounts. Since Apothecary promises customized treatment for unique medical conditionsincluding the skills and inventory to make complex compound drugs and keeping a large number of medical devices on handthe lack of an integrated computer network meant that the company was operating by the seat of its pants and mostly in the dark.
"We're a great pharmacy organization, not an IT organization," says Musil. "My corporate communications director was de facto head of IT, but when IT suddenly represented more than keeping a desktop computer operatingwhen it represented whether we could continue to compete in our own businessI knew we had to look outside."
CenterBeam's month-to-month deal made Musil's decision easy. If his plan for an outsourced storewide system didn't work, he could get out of the relationship with very little money and time invested. A network linking up all the Apothecary stores debuted in late 2002. Now, each store could view the customer and inventory databases, and management could obtain a complete picture of company activities. Musil says it has greatly improved the operating margins at his $50 million company (by contrast, Walgreen Co., which also does business in Arizona, has nearly $29 billion in annual sales). Sharing patient records among branches and keeping track of sales by store, or even by the healthcare provider who prescribed a drug or a device, are important benefits, as are two unexpected ones: Pharmacists from different branches are swapping war stories over the network, sharing their experiences about making drugs for more complex conditions, so they don't have to spend hours solving problems on their own. Meanwhile, company-wide inventory has been consolidated.
"It gives Apothecary the advantages of a larger chain without losing our distinct identity as a clinically based pharmacy," says Musil. Next step for the network is e-prescribing: Physicians will be able to send in prescriptions via PDA, an application that's 90 percent finished and that no pharmacy in Arizona, large or small, offers.
The renaissance in technology activity at small and midsize businesses is borne out of desperation, which even more than necessity is often the mother of invention. All of the small and midsize businesses interviewed for this article said that they would have found it difficult to thrive or even survive had they decided to save the money and avoid the risks of a new system, either internal or outsourced.
"The market's upside down," says CenterBeam CEO and president Kevin Francis. "A few years ago, no one would have expected small and midsize businesses to lead a new round of technology spending. But that's the sweet spot now."
Jeffrey Rothfeder writes frequently about business, security, environmental and technology issues.
Ross Insights Report April 2003
By Grant Thornton Summer 2003
Web Sites
Small Business Computing
Project Management Institute


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STRANGEBUTTRUE- Ice scream: Remembering the most famous 'berg
Q. What's the most famous chunk of ice in the history of the world? –J. Cameron
A. The iceberg that sank the steamship Titanic on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic on April 14, 1912, says Mariana Gosnell in Ice: The Nature, the History and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance.
That very day, six other ships had telegraphed warnings of ice in the area. Shortly before midnight, one of the Titanic's lookouts banged a warning bell and phoned to the bridge, "Iceberg right ahead." The rest is history– oft-told history.
Actually, this was not a particularly large berg. One lookout estimated it at maybe 50 feet high, another said 100. "After it disappeared, it was never seen again, or at least not that anyone knew for sure," Gosnell writes.
Nevertheless, it took on a certain celebrity, a spooky, menacing persona as the ocean beast that sank an "unsinkable" ship! In his book, Voyage of the Iceberg, Richard Brown traces its history from birth to death, which he was able to do because most North Atlantic icebergs have a similar history:
"Composed of snow that fell a thousand years before Christ onto the Greenland ice cap, the i ceberg broke away from the Jakobshaven glacier... which was moving toward the sea at the rate of 65 feet a day, producing an iceberg a minute and 20 to 30 million tons of ice a day," he says.
Q. Why have scientists dubbed the giant glyptodont "the Babe Ruth of ancient armored tail-swinging mammals"? –M. Mantle
A. Relatives of modern-day armadillos, glyptodonts arose in South America some 20 million years ago and lived until about 10,000 years ago, says Science magazine. They sported a turtle-like shell and heavy armor on their heads and tails, and may have reached speeds of about 15 meters per second (33 mph). The largest species were massive, about the size of an old Volkswagen Beetle.
New evidence suggests that just like the homerun-hitting baseball Babe, glyptodonts knew how to take advantage of the "sweet spot," swinging their hefty tails like baseball bats and landing powerful blows, yet minimizing potential kickback injury.
The "sweet spot" is at the center of percussion, a point where a person can transfer momentum effectively with a baseball bat, tennis racket, sword, an axe or any hand-held implement while the forces against the hands are almost zero, says the Discovery Channel.
Q. What's the very latest in technology to help the hard-of-hearing and the deaf? –H. Keller
A. With proper software, cell phone sign language over smartphones connects the individual to the worldwide interactive loop, says Erica Westly in IEEE Spectrum magazine. E-mail and text messaging via cell phone are also available, but "if texting were so fabulous, cell phones would never have developed," says Cornell University electrical and computer engineer Sheila Hemani. "The reason we like using them is that people prefer to talk."
Researchers from Cornell and the University of Washington, Seattle, have named this "mobile ASL," for mobile American Sign Language, which employs two-way real-time video.
The low bandwidth available forced engineers to balance speed and quality. So to enhance video clarity, the team uses software that emphasizes resolution in key areas around the signers' hands and faces. To prolong battery life, the system switches between high and low video frame rates, depending on whether the user is actually signing or receiving.
Next up, says Westly, is "to get mobile ASL software into the hands of the people who want it."
Q. Does lightning ever strike twice in the same place in the sense of successive holes-in-one struck by the same golfer? How about thrice? –J. Frost
A. Most remarkable was the performance of Norman Manley, who holed the seventh (330 yards) and eighth (290 yards) at California's Del Valle Country Club in 1964, says John Wesson in The Science of Golf. The thrice was achieved by Bob Taylor in 1974 on the Hunstanton Links course at Norfolk, England. He holed the 188-yard 16th-hole from the tee on the practice day of the competition, then did the same on both day 1 and day 2 of the competition proper– three successive holes-in-one on the same hole!
Record for the longest hole-in-one is tougher to assign, due to different conditions such as dog-legs and favorable slopes.
But longest success on a straight hole was in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1965 when Bob Mitera holed a 447- yard drive—helped, however, by a downhill slope. This record held until 2007 when Bret Melson aced the 448-yard, par 4 at the Ko'olau Golf Club in Oahu, Hawaii, "edging out Mitera by a massive one yard"!
Send Strange questions to brothers Bill and Rich at email@example.com.


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Portishead Youth & Community Parent & Toddler Group
Monday - Friday 9.30am - 2.30pm Various activities suitable for babies and young children. You are very welcome to come with any pre-school child/baby and have a coffee. We look forward to seeing you. Monday - Friday 9.30am - 2.30pm will be Softplay. Tuesdays 9.30am - 12.30pm…
- Telephone:
- 01275 842 461
Rascals Baby & Toddler Group
Tuesdays 9am to 11.30am during term times. Cost: £1.50 per family which includes refreshments. Informal meeting for parents, carers, babies and toddlers with activities and singing. Parents and carers are responsible for their own children. All welcome! Contact 01934 833 932 for details.
- Telephone:
- 01934 832 675
Sidcot Toddler Group
Every Thursday 9am - 11am
Every Thursday, 9-11am Sidcot Junior School Children under 5 years old, and their parents, are welcome to join us at our weekly Toddler Group. A great opportunity to socialise with other mums and tots from the local area in our stunning, environmentally friendly building. The…
- Telephone:
- 01934 845 299
Social Babies
Social Babies at Yatton Library and Children's Centre, High Street, Yatton A group for parents/carers of babies aged 0-12months Meeting Wednesdays (term-time) 1.15 – 2.30pm £1.50 donation per family meet other parents receive support and advice find out what is available in your local area …
- Telephone:
- 01934 426 440
Soft Play at Portishead Youth Centre
Monday-Friday all year round!
Open Monday – Friday, 9am – 2.30pm all year round to provide a child-safe play space for all pre-school children! Under 12 months – £1 £4 per child over 12 months Siblings £1.75 each Coffee bar open for lunch, hot and cold drinks and snacks…
- Telephone:
- 01275 842 461
SParks parent and toddler group
Open to parents, carers and children (0 – 4yrs old) When: Wednesday mornings 9.45 – 11.30am (Term Time Only) Where: St. Paul's Church Hall, Walliscote Road Cost: £1 per adult/child (50p per extra adult/child) Contact: Tricia La Motta 01934 413 575 | email@example.com Refreshments, craft, games,…
- Telephone:
- 01934 613 259
Splat Messy Play - Clevedon
Splat messy play is designed for toddlers and babies from 6 months to 4 years of age. The Early Years Foundation Stage encourages babies and young children to learn and develop through play.When children are given the opportunity to engage in messy play, they are able…
- Telephone:
- 07812 245 679
Splat Messy Play Banwell, Yatton & Winscombe
Splat messy play is designed for Toddlers and babies from 6 months to 4 years of age. The Early Years Foundation Stage encourages babies and young children to learn and develop through play.When children are given the opportunity to engage in messy play, they…
- Telephone:
- 07445498299
St Andrew's Parent & Toddler Group
Parent & toddler group run on a Tuesday morning 10am and Thursday afternoon 2pm.
- Telephone:
- 01275 872 822
St Mary's Toddler Group
Tuesday mornings at 10.30am Informal meetings when parents and carers are responsible for the safety and supervision of their children. Tel: 01275 794047 http://www.eastcleveub.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/default.html


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Cabbage Half- each
Serving Area: Levin, Ohau
Pick-up at the store: Available now and no minimum charge!
Delivery fee: Only orders over 20 dollars can be placed successfully, and our delivery fee is $5. However, it will be free if the value of your order is more than $50.
Delivery time: Orders made before 11.59 am will be delivered on the same day. Any other orders after 11.59 am will be delivered on the following day. If you place an order one day ahead, we will deliver on the day you choose.
Important: Due to the particularity of fresh products, no return will be accepted except for the quality problems of the products themselves. Please check carefully before placing the order. Reduce to Clear: When you see this tag on our product, it means the product might have some flaws like spot or scratch on the surface. And please provide us with a contact phone number, in case we need to be in touch.


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Shannon Lucille Reding
Denny and Kara Reding of Suwanee announce the birth of their daughter Shannon Lucille Reding at 4:25 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010 at Northside Hospital in Atlanta.
She weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 inches long. She joins a sister Allison Reding, 3.
Maternal grandparents are Carson and Kathy Selph of Barnesville. Maternal great-grandmother is Lillie McDonald of Cartersville.
Paternal grandparents are Dennis and Kathy Reding of Johns Creek.
Reding birth
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First camera with total connectivity
Good macro feature, Samsung sharing apps included
Combines a smartphone and digital camera with 3G, 4G and WiFi
Image quality is good
Wi-Fi, GPS, and full access to the Google Play store
First ever camera to use the Android smartphone operating system
Android OS, 10x optical zoom, Touchscreen
Automatic scene selection when in Easy Auto mode
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And the Toyota rumor is ... outta there
The central Shenandoah Valley has been a hotbed of manufacturing dating back to the 1920s with the arrival of DuPont (now Invista) in Waynesboro. General Electric (now Genicom) set up shop in Waynesboro in the early '50s, with Stuarts Draft getting into the act in the '80s and '90s when Hershey and the McKee Baking Co. (makers of Little Debbie-brand snack cakes) entered the mix.
Retail giants Target (with a distribution center in Stuarts Draft just down the road from McKee) and Wal-Mart (with a distribution center coming in 2005 to Mount Crawford one Interstate 81 exit north of Weyers Cave) arrived on the scene in recent years.
So it was no surprise when rumors of Toyota's plan to build a manufacturing plant in Augusta County began circulating several months ago. And by the time the story came back around again last week, speculation was hot and heavy.
Depending on who was talking, an announcement was either imminent, on the horizon– given that Toyota representatives were expected in town in the coming days to meet with county leaders– or ... whatever.
Moving from rumor to concrete details was not easy.
Kay Frye, chair of the Augusta County Board of Supervisors and the board's representative from the Middle River District (which includes Weyers Cave) was reported to have claimed that a location in Augusta County was in Toyota's crosshairs.
Strike one - Frye says she has heard nothing.
Weyers Cave resident Steve Landes, chairman of the Republican caucus in the Virginia House of Delegates, says, "If it was at all a serious kind of thing, there would be more talk about it than we're hearing right now.
"It first came up to me in the form of 'Hey, have you heard the rumor that Toyota is looking to come to the area?' And it's never gotten beyond that, from what I've been hearing," Landes says.
Strike two.
"As far as I know, nothing of this nature is ongoing right now," says Augusta County administrator Pat Coffield, "but corporations looking for a location to put in an automobile plant or something similar aren't going to be calling Augusta County at the outset. They're going to be working with the state, and we're going to be the last ones to know if something is in the hopper."
Foul tip.
"All of our projects are confidential. So if there was something going on in Augusta County, we wouldn't be allowed to talk about it," says Jill Vaughan, spokesperson for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in Richmond.
High and outside.
Toyota spokesman Dan Siegel notes, "There's been a lot of speculation about this, and our chairman has said that if sales continue to be as strong as they have been, then consideration would be given to building a North American plant to help meet the demand.
"But at this time, there are no plans to do that, and there are no site searches ongoing at the moment," Siegel says.
A called strike three.
And the Toyota rumor is ... outta there.
Toyos heading for Waynesboro?


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| 12.7°C Belfast
The Parole Board has said it may have to deal with three times as many hearings next year, following a court ruling on fairness for prisoners.
The number of oral hearings could increase from 4,500 to 14,000, according to the Parole Board for England and Wales' annual report.
A ruling in October by the Supreme Court stated that the issue of giving a prisoner an oral hearing to determine their possible release or move to an open prison is different to assessing whether that prisoner is likely to be released or transferred.
The board's chairman Sir David Calvert-Smith said: "The implications of the decision, put simply, are that the Parole Board will have to hold oral hearings in a huge number of cases which had previously been dealt with on paper."
Just before the ruling the board claimed its case backlog had been at its lowest level for five years, but chief executive Claire Bassett said the judgement is "already having a profound impact on the volume of work handled by the Parole Board".
Justice minister Lord Faulks told the BBC the Government was working with the Parole Board to ensure it was able to cope with extra hearings following the court's decision.
"The board has been given an additional £3 million funding to enable them to handle any increased workload, and is also introducing a number of changes to improve their capacity," he said.
"Together with the board we will look at further options to help them deliver an effective service in this and future years."


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Knights of the Round was, and forever will be; one of my favorite beat 'em ups of all time.
Truth be told, I didn't actually play it in it's original arcade form all that much, I played through the Super NES version an ungodly number of times.
While the graphics and animations of Knights of the Round may not be up to standard with many of it's contemporaries, both in the arcade and on home consoles; it's relatively unique gameplay, setting, and terrific soundtrack continue to sustain it even to this day.
Well, in my eyes anyway.
You see, Knights of the Round was one of those rare games that really made me feel "heroic" when I was playing it.
Sure, all you ever do in the game is walk from left to right and bash people's brains in with swords and axes, but because of the character designs and music; it felt like so much more to me as a kid.
Seriously man, you try taking down a giant fuck named BALBARS and tell me you didn't feel awesome for doin' it.
Anyway, the original 1991 arcade release of Knights of the Round was a 3-player arcade game that was, of course; based on Arthurian lore.
As mentioned earlier, I didn't really play the arcade version all that much; so for the purposes of this article, I'll largely be referencing the Super NES version from this point onward.
Like many beat 'em ups of the time, there were multiple characters to choose from in Knights of the Round; each with their own individual strengths and weaknesses in the areas of attack power and speed.
Arthur, whose sprite is curiously puny; is the Leonardo of the group, boasting the most balanced stats of the group.
Lancelot, who looks absolutely nothing like Richard Gere with his shimmering golden hair; is the fastest in both movement and attack speed, however his power is somewhat lacking; making battles risky by forcing one to engage their opponents more frequently to finish them off.
Finally, Percival is the green pants-ed Incredible Hulk of the group who wields an axe, and can indeed mess people up most mightily; at the cost of being slow as molasses, as well as having the most pathetic of all jumping attacks in beat 'em up history.
The character roster of Knights of the Round was always a huge selling point for me as a kid.
Thanks to movies like Jason and the Argonauts, as well as TV shows like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and King Arthur and the Knights of Justice; I got really into mythology at a young age.
Here's why:
Greek and Japanese stuff was always my favorite, but thanks to that AMAZINGLY FUCKIN' AWESOME cartoon; Arthurian stuff always had a place in my periphery.
In that sense, even though Knights of the Round has absolutely nothing to do with the mythology of King Arthur; just having a trio of recognizable characters from the myths present in the game did a lot to draw me into the experience.
Anyway, I think it goes without saying that, whenever I played this game with my friends; there was always a scuffle over who'd get to play as Arthur.
Seriously man, the word "King" is part of his name, he's arguably the best character in the game, and by the end of the game he gets to wield Ex-FUCKING-Calibur, how could any kid not want to play as Arthur.
In all, I think that's only bad memory of Knights of the Round.
That, and playing as Percival.
It didn't happen that often, by I can recall being tricked into playing as Percival once or twice by some of my weaslier friends.
As indicated by the relatively balanced characteristics of all the playable characters, Percival isn't intended to be a shitty character; but the sad truth of the matter, is that he is.
Too fuckin' slow, zero fuckin' jumping attack, and the proud owner of a He-Man esque bowl-cut; Percival is the fuckin' Aquaman of Knights of the Round.
Nobody likes him, and if anyone should ever make a claim to the contrary; it's 'cause they're trying to be ironic, and thusly must be killed with hipster flames of violence.
Anyway, I should probably get on track, right?
The gameplay of Knights of the Round was much like most Capcom beat 'em ups of the day.
That is to say, there's 2 buttons, 1 for killing with auto combos, and 1 for jumping like a damn foo'.
If both are pressed at once, the player can sacrifice a bit of health to blow everyone around them ass over teakettle and to the floor.
Like I said, standard stuff.
In addition to this however, were the addition of horse riding, a few special attacks that could be executed with simple directional inputs, (no Hadoukens here) and an incredibly awesome experience and leveling system.
Virtually identical to the Bizarrians of Golden Axe, mounted combat in Knights of the Round was a bit of let down.
Lacking the flash of the elemental powers of the mounts from Golden Axe, horse riding felt slow and somewhat counter-intuitive.
While riding a horse, one's attack power was boosted, and one could perform a leaping stomp attack by double-tapping forward on the d-pad; however the downside in all this was the fact the horse was actually kind of slow, and required pressing of the jump button in order to turn around.
Really, there was no reason not to hop on a horse whenever the opportunity presented itself, particularly when enemies that could ride horses were around; however I always felt a little more vulnerable on a horse, and would usually defer the luxury to whoever was playing alongside me.
The special attacks in Knights of the Round consisted of a damaging stun attack that, while somewhat slow in execution; would knock enemies on their ass, and cause them to stand up in a defenseless "dizzy" state.
Curiously enough, the execution of this attack was done in exactly the same fashion as a horizontal Smash Attack in Super Smash Bros.
Another special attack, was a strange launching attack that I never really found a practical use for.
Basically, you do an "Up Smash" motion; and the character will perform an upward stroke, followed by a leaping chop attack.
I think the intent is supposed to that of a "knock 'em up, smack 'em down" kind of thing, however the follow-up attack always ended up causing me to advance to far and get smacked upside my head.
Oh well, it looks cool; but I never use it.
While not an attack, it needs to be mentioned that Knights of the Round actually had a blocking system.
Blocking is not exactly a common feature in most beat 'em ups.
Despite it's unique medieval setting, being able to block was a feature that served to set Knights of the Round apart from many of it's contemporaries.
There were 2 ways to block in the game.
The most common method of blocking, was by pressing and holding the attack button, while holding the directional button away from the incoming attack.
While this was the most common method by most standards, the other method; and indeed the one that I used most often as a reckless youth, was one that was triggered automatically by pressing back on the directional pad the moment an attack was landed on your character.
In other words, if one's timing was good enough; (mine never was) the game would give you the benefit of the doubt and allow you to block attacks simply by attempting to run away from them.
Thankfully, the timing required was quite precise; making this a gameplay mechanic that not at all feasible to exploit.
Unlike this shit:
Anyway, despite all the coolness of the swords and medieval skull-bashing; the real reason Knights of the Round was awesome, was the leveling system.
At the time, I can think of no other beat 'em up that, while linear as fuck; had any sort of cumulative upgrade system for it's characters.
Throughout the game, one's character gains experience by defeating enemies, collecting gold and jewels, eating food (health power-ups) on a full stomach, and of course; breaking shit.
Upon reaching a predetermined level of experience, one's character levels up, bringing forth some pretty awesome cosmetic upgrades.
Sadly, as far as I can tell; the benefits of a level up are purely cosmetic, with no changes to the gameplay occurring whatsoever.
Despite this, when I was a kid, seeing Arthur go from leather armored pussy to red-caped, golden armored KNIGHT OF JUSTICE, was one of those accomplishments that made me feel really awesome.
Sure, the game was structured to have you max out your levels no matter what.
Sure, the game made no attempt to make you feel like you were getting any stronger.
Even so, none of that bothers me; 'cause the game is awesome regardless.
More importantly though, it's an awesome game that I have some truly awesome memories of.
I remember playing with my one friend that we'd always call the "Bad King."
Basically, this friend of mine would always manage to be quickest on the draw in selecting Arthur.
That alone made him kind of a punk in the eyes of my friends and I.
In addition to that though, said friend would go out of his way to hang back and stay out of harms way, effectively forcing his partner to do all the fighting; yet at the same time he would horde all the gold and food, essentially stealing all of the experience and health.
We always called him the "Bad King," and indeed; he never made any attempt to play the game more altruistically, but goddamnit; he owned the game so we'd always end up playing with him anyway.
Another thing that I don't think any article on Knights of the Round can gloss over, is the fact that there's a fuckin' GHOST SAMURAI in Knights of the Round.
Similar to Capcom's own Bishamon from Darkstalkers/Vampire Savior, there was a boss character in Knights of the Round named Muramasa that was essentially an animated suit of samurai armor.
In medieval England.
To this day, I don't take offense to this; however I wish they hadn't made the fucker so goddamn cheap.
I can't tell you how many times I got a game over during the fight with Muramasa.
Goddamn fire magic bullshit…
Oh well, payback's a bitch:
Speaking of goofy bosses, another one worth mentioning from Knights of the Round, was a skinny fuck in black pajamas named Phantom.
Early in the game, you fight Phantom; and he's really no big deal.
Sure, he can run real fast, throw cleavers at you and fire magic at you, and even make duplicates of himself; but for the most part he's too weak to be a legitimate threat.
Now, while he really isn't any harder the second time around, it's worth noting that this time around he sees fit to bust out his pulley and chain operated GIANT FUCKING ROBOT.
Seriously man, no joke; a giant fuckin' robot!
In medieval England.
As I mentioned earlier, the fight isn't really all that hard, or even thrilling; but the novelty of fighting a pre-steam age robot was always something that tickled me just right.
Anyway, this post was, as indicated by it's title; supposed to be about music, so let's get down to that, shall we?
The Best Track in the Game for Knights of the Round is…
Village on Fire
You know how I said Knights of the Round made me feel "heroic" when I was a kid?
Well, this track was largely responsible for that.
I love how it has that medieval minstrel sound to it, while at once being upbeat and action-oriented in nature.
When you think about it, that's kind of a difficult combo to pull off.
Anyway, I don't know what else to say; other than that this is brilliant track to begin a game with.
It gets your blood pumping, makes you feel badass, and more importantly; makes you feel like you're fighting for something.
The Knight's Tournament
Well, you did listen to it, right?
Seriously, this is just a really good piece of music.
It sounds like medieval dance club music!
I remember this track only playing for about a minute or so in-game, but even so; it always struck me as, at the very least; the second best piece of music in the game.
'Nuff said.
Filed under: Comics, Games, Movies, The Best Track in the Game, Uncategorized, Aquaman, Arcade, Arthurian, beat-'em-up, Burger King, Capcom, Comics, Darkstalkers, DC, First Knight, game, gaming, Golden Axe, He-Man, Hercules, hipster, Hulk, Jason and the Argonauts, King Arthur, King Arthur and the Knights of Justice, Knights of the Round, Lancelot, Leonardo, Marvel, Movies, Muramasa, mythology, Nintendo, Percival, Richard Gere, Sega, sidescroller, Strider, Super NES, Super Smash Bros., Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT, Vampire Savior, videogame


text:
Wacom's Intuos5 touch interface gives this graphics tablet a distinctive edge
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When I started dabbling with digital cartooning in high school, the very first big purchase I made was an Intuos2 6x8. In the 12 years since I purchased it, that tablet has been a valuable part of my digital arsenal; it still has a vaunted place of honor in my first desk drawer. I've never been tempted to upgrade in those intervening years, not even by out-of-my-price-range Cintiqs ( ) or higher levels of pressure sensitivity.
Not until now.
Wacom's newest Intuos has done what its predecessors could not, and I can't wait to pick up one for myself. There are three things that compel me to put this tablet at the top of my gadget shopping list: design, software, and touch.
I tested the company's medium-size model, which features an 8.8 by 5.5-inch workspace for $349. The actual tablet dimension is somewhat larger—15 by 10 inches—and though it fits comfortably into my backpack, I wouldn't recommend trying to wedge it into anything smaller (like an 11-inch MacBook Air bag). The tablet also comes in two other sizes—small (4-by-6-inch active area, $229), and large (13-by-8-inch active area, $469).
Designed to a T (for touch)
As mentioned in Macworld's news story, the Intuos's design has been subtly rethought and polished in a delightfully sleek way. The entire bezel of the tablet is coated in a matte grey rubber. The smooth plastic of the drawing area has received an extra few inches of buffer, for those who like to sketch freely without worrying about smashing their pen nib along the edge of the bezel. The active area is now highlighted with glowing corner marks.
The ExpressKeys too have the same rubber matte finish as the bezel; the buttons, recessed underneath the coating, have a smooth look. The button is debossed just enough to provide a basic rectangular shape, helping your finger find where the button ends and bezel begins. The second and third buttons from the top and bottom have rectangular lines and tiny dots embossed onto them.
The ballad of HUD
Fans of the larger Intuos4s may initially miss the LED labels—something the Intuos5 lacks—but Wacom has replaced them with a new software overlay: the Heads-Up Display (HUD).
I've dinged Wacom on its software efforts in the past; when first told about the HUD in my briefing with the company, I fully expected to hate it.
It's easy to make something clunky, but difficult to make it elegant. This time, Wacom has avoided such pitfalls and produced something quite useful.
After installing the driver, you need only lightly rest your finger on one of the ExpressKeys to bring up the HUD, which immediately lets you know which button is which.
By default, one of the ExpressKeys links to an additional preferences overlay, which details the configuration for the Intuos5 pen's buttons and provides direct links to the preference panes for the pen, ExpressKeys, and touch interface.
The radial menu (an Intuos4 perk) is still present, though it receives a minor facelift to match the rest of the HUD.
You can turn off the HUD in the preference pane if you'd rather not have it pop up every time you brush against a button, but I loved having it around.
Touched by an artist
If you've used a Wacom tablet before, you can probably guess how the pen will function. Not much has changed in this regard since I purchased my Intuos2, and even less has changed between the Intuos4 and 5. The pressure sensitivity levels have stayed the same (2048), the pen looks identical to the Intuos4, and sketching and retouching is just as comfortable as it has always been.
Things differ when you begin interacting with the tablet using your finger. Like the recently updated Bamboo models, the Intuos5 supports gestures and finger input; you can treat it like a giant Magic Trackpad, if you so choose—and I did on multiple occasions during my testing. All of the big system gestures are there: You can swipe through Spaces, two finger scroll on Lion, or pull up Mission Control.
Zooming in and out is also supported, though it's clearly implemented through Wacom's plug-in and not the system software itself—it's a little slow at times, and not as responsive as my trackpad. (To be fair, that's actually a good thing in my case, as I tend to over-zoom in Photoshop when using my Magic Trackpad.)
Customization may be my favorite part of Wacom's touch implementation, however. You can assign a variety of commands to three-, four-, and five-finger gestures, including opening or running an app, Photoshop or Painter shortcuts, or a key command. (Being able to three finger swipe up/down to undo/redo, for example.)
Thankfully, Wacom has chosen to separate pen and touch when it comes to interaction: You can't draw and zoom, which cuts down on any accidental palm input while attempting to polish up some linework. There's also an ExpressKey command to enable or disable touch, if you find it interfering with your work.
Going back and forth is a joy. It required a bit of mind retraining at first not to immediately go to the keyboard when I needed to zoom, but once I got used to the action, I fell into a very natural rhythm. (Adding those undo/redo commands really helped cement the tablet as a touch interface, not just a place to scribble with the pen.) By the end of my testing period, I rarely went back to my keyboard except to type—something I've never before been able to do with a Wacom tablet.
Wireless connection
For those who value working sans wires, the Intuos5 doesn't offer a Bluetooth model like its predecessor—but it is compatible with the $39 Wireless Accessory Kit released with the latest Bamboo tablets. This also opens up wireless capabilities to every model of the Intuos5, even the small 6 by 4 version.
Wired users gain a small, but appreciated perk: The connection from wire to tablet has a plastic clip, so that you can reverse the wire direction should you need to turn the tablet around (for artistic or dominant hand reasons).
Macworld's buying advice
When it comes to purchasing something for artistic work, fancy features are nice, but it all comes down to the actual experience of creating something with the product. This is why I've loved sketching on my iPad since the beginning: Even though it doesn't provide pressure sensitivity, I feel like I'm actually working with my canvas. The Intuos5 feels like Wacom's first major attempt to do the same—and boy, it's a great one. I can gesture when I need to, draw when I don't, and get my work done more gracefully without the need for keyboards and extra accessories. It's a lovely leap forward for the company, and I can't wait to see how Wacom takes this technology forward. (Touch-based Cintiqs would certainly be a nice gesture.)
[Serenity Caldwell is a staff editor for Macworld. She hopes her Intuos2 will not read this review.]
This story, "Wacom's Intuos5 touch interface gives this graphics tablet a distinctive edge" was originally published by Macworld.
Generic Company Place Holder Wacom Intuos5 Touch M
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Last year I ran the first half of the San Francisco Marathon. It was tough but the views and running across the golden gate bridge were thrilling. It also was at the somewhat beginning of my 'racing' career, if you want to call it that. So this year, since I was going up there for work, and am in the middle of training for the Camarillo Marathon, I thought well I'll give the 2nd half a try, therefore I'll have "ran the whole course." I've heard that the 2nd course is much easier than the first but still rather exciting and it travels through Golden Gate Park and also through Haight Street and then finishes down on the Embarcadero.
Let's just go over three things real quick. Easy is not a word I would use to describe this course. Scenic isn't exactly a great adjective when talking about the course. I say it now, but I will NEVER run the full!
So I worked the expo on Friday and Saturday and it was quite packed in there. It blows my mind that so many people who are so particular about what they eat before a race and what they do during the race, sample every single little thing in there. Gus, juices, gels, granola, anything that's free, they go crazy on, it's like these people haven't eaten for days. So worked that, had a little tweet-up/meet-up and it was great meeting so many people. Here are a few of the pictures.
Newly Ironman (Ironmanned? Ironmenned?) and one of my favorite people, Ron!
Aron, Laura and myself at the tweet-up
Finally got to meet Karin, who had an awesome race on Sunday!
All those, minus a few, who showed up for the tweet-up and meet-up. Some left before the picture was taken, but it was fun to put faces and actually meet people who I regularly talk with!
Doing a little work… :)
The day started off bright and early and Page and I got dropped off by spectators extraordinaire Tara and Maritza. For some reason, my mind just wasn't into it. The entire time I was thinking about the race before hand I just wasn't excited or anything really. I was just feeling a little blah. We walked into Golden Gate Park where we seemed to be a little lost and just kept following the marathoners to the 2nd half start line.
We finally met up Kristin, Aron and Stephen and were all gathered around chatting and without much notification, people in front of us started running and we realized the race started? So we were off. I squeezed into the first wave and ran about a mile with Aron and then she took off like a speed demon. I didn't want to push myself during the race and my legs were feeling a bit heavy still from the whole shoe debacle and I was tired. I got to mile 1, 2 and 3 and the hills were killer. I NEVER run hills. Like never, ever so they were a little difficult. They were making me tired and I just was cruising along. It was very strange because for some reason I just wanted to cry. I have no idea why but I just saw the spectators and ran and wanted to cry. Right around mile 5 or 6 we were out of Golden Gate park which I was excited about. The park was a little boring for me and I wanted to be more in the city.
I also realized I don't do well when you're doing loops where you see where you make a u-turn, or where you see where you'll be running in literally a minute. I'm good at out and backs, but I felt like they randomly had us running places to just get mileage so it wouldn't be a short course.
Little did I know the city had many more hills! I was not pushing myself at all and just kind of felt like I was going really slow so when my garmin was beeping my splits I was a little surprised, but my mileage was way off according to the signs posted along the course. Finally we were at mile 7 and 8 and I knew the end was nearing. I just felt like I was trotting along, it was weird and reminded me a little of the Malibu Marathon where I felt like it was taking me forever but it really wasn't. It was another twilight race for me with the random "I want to cry moments" and the random bursts of speed. I remember the roads being really tore up, I wasn't used to that at all since a lot of the time I run on paths but I remember just trying to find a path that was the most consistent on the course. The hills continued and finally we hit mile 9. That is when Claude the Garmin lost satellite and I was sad and wanted to cry again. HA! What is wrong with me?! My splits up till then were pretty decent though.
I remember running past a lot of industrial buildings and before I knew it I could see the bay bridge and I knew the end was coming soon. Finally. I ran past Giants stadium and it was cool to see it and how close it was to the ocean since I've only seen it on TV, but since they are the Angels nemesis, I wasn't impressed. :)
Then onto the bay bridge and through the crowds and just like it started, without much excitement, it was over. I grabbed some food and then a Jamba Juice and walked out of the finish area to find Page and be reunited with everyone. I saw my time was 1:52. I couldn't really believe that I ran it that fast when I was in such an odd mood, but being only 5 minutes off my pr on a much more difficult course, I'm more than happy with it. My first mile splits were around 8:14, then at mile 7, I was running 8:24 and my final splits were 8:34.
I don't know how anyone could run that full course. It is insane. I would be crying on the side of the road in the park if I ran the full. That's for sure. The 2nd half wasn't as great as I thought it would be, but that's just where the course travels. The finish line area was great and I re-qualified for the CA Dreamin' series again, so I got another medal and jacket!
We all ate at Gordon Bierch afterward just like last year and it was delicious! I love hanging out with my friends up there and I miss them so much when I'm back home! A lot of these girls are some of my very best friends and such an encouragement to me! I just love SF!
So overall, a great day, a fun, different and interesting race, and some delicious food and chatter with friends. I finished off the weekend in Walnut Creek, perusing a few shops and enjoying my time there.
Last night I ran a 10 miler on tired legs and once I started going I was fine, but it was those first few moments when I wanted to kill myself. I got lost on my run and ran 11 miles, but the last one was a speedy 7:10. I think I just wanted to get home. I'm feeling better about upping my mileage and hit 100 miles yesterday for July, which is an all time high! :)


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Today I am going to Cuernavaca to surprise my mom at tomorrow's Mother's Day luncheon at Las Mañanitas ( www.lasmananitas.com.mx ), she has no idea I'm in Mexico and no clue I'll be spending Mother's day with her. My brother is picking me up at Eugenio's home for the 1:30 minute drive to the "City of eternal spring"; yes, that's what they call Cuernavaca. I'm not quite sure why, since every time I go to this city, it is scorching hot, humid as hell and most definitely not what comes to mind when I think of spring! In order to succeed in my surprise, I can't stay at my mother's home, where I usually lodge; instead, I am spending the night at a local hotel in the center of the city that I found on the internet that looks really adorable and suitable for my 48 visit: Las Casas B + B Hotel (www.lascasasbb.com). It's a converted private villa with a dozen rooms, 2 pools and what appears to be a "happening" restaurant and bar scene; maybe I can make a few new local friends.
Once I arrive at my destination I am pleased to discover that today is a lovely Spring day in Cuernavaca, clocking in at a mild 102 degrees, with a very comfortable 100% humidity…just screams Spring, doesn't it? Being the world traveler that I am, I knew what weather I was walking into so I made sure to pick a hotel with AC in the bedrooms…don't laugh; a lot of them don't have it in these areas; you got to do your homework possums! The Hotel looks lovely; they did such a good job decorating it in a simple, yet chic colonial style. No surprise there…turns out the owners are a gay couple from NYC!!! I make a dash to my AC room and out of the elements to slip into a bathing suit and spend the rest of the afternoon poached in the swimming pool like a hippo at the Serengeti. There is nothing else one can do with this kind of heat…at least not this "Gringo". Later in the evening one can venture out in the town for some drinks and snacks and a tour of the beautiful Palacio de Cortes and the charming center of town, with it's open markets, cafes and Mariachis everywhere.
Entrence to Las Casas B + B Hotel
Pool area
Another pool area
Kass relaxing
By 8pm I'm ready for a little excursion around town; the heat has subsided a little and the world comes out to celebrate anything they can think about. My hotel is literally 1 block away from the center square where the impressive Cortes's Palace holds reign in all its glory. The Palace of Cortés in Cuernavaca is, at almost 500 years old; the oldest conserved colonial era civil structure in the continental Americas. The famous conquistador's former residence is now a history museum with murals by Diego Rivera and the town's center where all the locals hang out in the evenings, eating and drinking and listening to Mariachis.
After walking around for a few hours, I am famished and I think I'll be checking out the "Happening" scene at my hotel's restaurant and bar. The place is packed with a totally different crowd then from the outside walls; here the clientele is quite chic and obviously well off financially. I ask for a table for 1 and I'm told they are fully booked…wrong answer! 3 tantrums and 1 meltdown later, I get a lovely table by the pool and complimentary tequila on the rocks…SNAP!
The food is a modern interpretation of Mexican classic dishes and quite good, though I'm definitely not blown away. The crowd is very trendy and the place definitely has a great energy; I love the old black & white movies screened on the side of the building…nice touch! Having dinner with yourself has its limits, so after an hour of eating and drinking alone and NOT meeting anyone…I'm off to my freezing cold room for a good night sleep so I can be ready for tomorrow's Mother's day extravaganza.
Restaurant is happening
Entrance at night
Lively alleys in the center of town
Statue of Cortes
Lively scene
Restaurant filled streets
My morning starts with the most amazing interpretation of a Lox & Bagel I have seen in this country; such a beautiful presentation. The heat is starting to rise so I spend the next few hours back in the pool until it's time to get dressed for the 3PM Mother's day lunch (they eat lunch very late in Mexico). I was going to wear a suit for the occasion, but I will have to re-think my outfit due to the 100-degree weather….perhaps I'll just go in my Speedos. I am pleased to learn that Uber service has started in Cuernavaca 3 weeks ago, so I go to my favorite App and low and behold, a white car, the size of a truffle, arrives with the most charming and kind driver I have ever experienced in Mexico. A very welcomed addition to this country if you have any idea how awful the Taxi drivers are in Mexico and how they rip you off as soon as they smell "foreigner" or Gringo.
Just though this was pretty
My very well presented Lox & Bagel dish at Las Casas B + B Hotel
I finally arrive at the famous Las Mañanitas, a favorite of my family for over 30 years. This Relais & Chateaux Property is one of Mexico's best hotels and restaurants, not to mention the most amazing tropical garden I have ever seen, complete with flamingos, peacocks and other tropical birds roaming around freely in all their beauty. My mom and bother, along with a few friends, are already seated at the table, so I go around my mom, lean in and whisper in her ear: "Excuse me Ma'am, can I join you for lunch?" My mom turned around and practically jumped off her seat with surprise; for a moment there I thought she would have a heart attack!!! Note to myself: probably not a good idea surprising your 82-year-old mom in the future. Shock is followed by tears, hugs and kisses…I would say the surprise is a big success (also thanks to my brother who helped me arrange the whole thing). Lunch is amazing, as usual and goes on for hours, as they do in this country; no wonder you need a siesta after eating and drinking for 4 hours! After lunch we go back to my mom's home and spend the rest of the day catching up and enjoying some well-deserved family time.
Exterior of Las Mañanitas
The stunning outdoor dining area at Las Mañanitas
The tropical birds roaming around the property at Las Mañanitas
A very loud Flamingo visiting the dining area
I'm feeling very good about this trip and the successful Mother's day surprise! Thank you so much to my darling brother David and my Mexican brother Eugenio Lopez for a wonderful stay in one of my favorite countries in the word. Tomorrow is back to LA and back to work…I feel so blessed!!!!


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ORLANDO, Fla. – Super Bowl champion Warren Sapp's multi-million dollar Reserve at Lake Butler Sound mansion was auctioned off Thursday for $2.1 million as part of Sapp's bankruptcy.
According to a news release, the 15,000 square-foot, custom-designed Tuscan mansion, which was built in 2005 for nearly $7 million, includes 10,100 square-feet of living space and features four large bedrooms, a wine cellar, movie theater, a custom resort-style swimming pool complete with waterslide and lazy river, 500 feet of combined frontage, with dock, on Lake Butler and an array of upgrades and extras.
The home, which is located at 11049 Bridge House Road in Windermere, was sold to a fitness entrepreneur who said she isn't planning on living in the home.
Brenda Dykgraaf plans on reselling the home at some point. Although she says she might use the home's celebrity to market it, she says the home's former owner didn't have anything to do with why she bought the home.
"[It was]strictly a real estate deal. I live in Wesley Snipes' old home right next to where Tiger Woods used to live so it doesn't really matter to me," said Dykgraaf.
Lake Butler Sound is home to high-profile celebrities, professional athletes and business executives.


text:
Jess InformationJess Home
Jess 7 Features
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®, the Rule Engine for the JavaTM Platform
The first public alpha of Jess 8.0 is now available to licensed users on the Downloads page. Jess 8.0 includes support for the Android platform.
Jess is a rule engine and scripting environment written entirely in Oracle's® Java™ language by Ernest Friedman-Hill at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, CA. Using Jess, you can build Java software that has the capacity to "reason" using knowledge you supply in the form of declarative rules. Jess is small, light, and one of the fastest rule engines available. Its powerful scripting language gives you access to all of Java's APIs. Jess includes a full-featured development environment based on the award-winning Eclipse platform.
Jess uses an enhanced version of the Rete algorithm to process rules. Rete is a very efficient mechanism for solving the difficult many-to-many matching problem (see for example "Rete: A Fast Algorithm for the Many Pattern/ Many Object Pattern Match Problem", Charles L. Forgy, Artificial Intelligence 19 (1982), 17-37.) Jess has many unique features including backwards chaining and working memory queries, and of course Jess can directly manipulate and reason about Java objects. Jess is also a powerful Java scripting environment, from which you can create Java objects, call Java methods, and implement Java interfaces without compiling any Java code.
Jess is available at no cost for academic use and can be licensed for commercial use. Contact Sandia National Laboratories at firstname.lastname@example.com for a research based academic license, or for for prices and commercial licensing terms. A trial download is also available.
Technical questions or comments? Contact Ernest Friedman-Hill at firstname.lastname@example.com
Last modified: Mon Nov 25 10:14:20 PST 2013
Jess and the Jess design are registered trademarks of Sandia National Laboratories. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.