text:
For studies on miRNA function and gene regulation using miRNA inhibition
miScript miRNA Inhibitors are chemically synthesized, single-stranded, modified RNAs which specifically inhibit endogenous miRNA function after transfection into cells. miScript miRNA Inhibitors are available at cell-culture grade (>90% purity) or animal grade (HPLC purified; for in vivo applications). miScript miRNA Inhibitors are also available phosphorothioate modified at the 20 nmol scale, which provides increased stability for in vivo applications. For flexible screening, miScript miRNA Inhibitor Plates enable researchers to order any predesigned or custom-designed miScript miRNA Inhibitors in their choice of layout in 96-well or 384-well plates. miScript miRNA Mimics can be used for similar experiments.
Do not enter species information in the Search box. Use the drop-down list to select your species of interest.
When searching for miRNAs, do not omit the hyphens. Use hyphens or spaces (e.g., search for hsa-let-7b or hsa let 7b. Do not search for hsalet7b).
Can't order online or need plate formats? Order Forms and Plate Orders
miScript miRNA Inhibitors are intended for molecular biology applications. These products are not intended for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of a disease.
1. Lagos-Quintana, M. et al. (2001) Identification of novel genes coding for small expressed RNAs. Science 294, 853. |HeLa S3 cells (6 x 104 cells/well) were transfected using HiPerFect Transfection Reagent with miScript miR-16 Inhibitor or a negative control. Endogenous miR-16 levels were quantified by real-time PCR using the miScript System. U6B was used as the reference RNA for data normalization and miR-16 levels were expressed as 2-ΔΔCT values relative to the miR-16 levels in untransfected cells. [A] Transfection of miScript miR-16 Inhibitor strongly reduced the amount of detectable endogenous miR-16. [B] The amplification plots indicated a significant decrease in the level of detectable miR-16 as a result of miR-16 Inhibitor transfection. Dissociation curve analysis (inset) reflects the specificity of the real-time PCR detection using the miScript System.|
Transfection of inhibitors, followed by downstream gene expression analysis or phenotypic analysis, is performed to elucidate the targets and roles of particular miRNAs. These experiments enable study of the biological effects of misregulation of individual miRNAs as well as confirmation of specific genes as targets of individual miRNAs.
Increased gene expression after transfection of inhibitor provides evidence that the miRNA under study is involved in regulation of that gene. Similar studies can be performed using miScript miRNA Mimics. Typically, such experiments involve transfection of mimic or inhibitor, or alternatively cotransfection with a vector construct which carries the miRNA-binding site fused to a reporter gene. Downstream analysis can include reporter assays, real-time PCR, microarray analysis, or protein analysis.
Highly flexible solutions offered by miScript miRNA Inhibitors are available for every human, mouse, rat, and virus miRNA in the current version of the microRNA database, miRBase. QIAGEN's GeneGlobe database is continually updated to ensure that mimic and inhibitor designs match the most up-to-date version of miRBase. This ensures that you are always working with the most accurate and current miRNA sequence information possible. If the miRNA of interest is not available in miRBase, an inhibitor for your human, mouse, rat, or virus miRNA can be custom synthesized by visiting QIAGEN's custom miScript product design page.
Flexible formats enable either low-throughput analysis using small numbers of inhibitors or high-throughput screening using hundreds of inhibitors. miScript miRNA Inhibitors are available at cell-culture-grade (>90% purity provided by proprietary synthesis and purification processes). For in vivo applications, HPLC-purified, animal-grade miScript miRNA Inhibitors can be ordered at the 20 nmol scale (provided in tubes). miScript miRNA Inhibitors are also available phosphorothioate modified at the 20 nmol scale for in vivo applications. Phosphorothioate modification protects the inhibitor from exonuclease activity, increasesing the stability of the molecule. miScript miRNA Inhibitors can easily be ordered at GeneGlobe. For medium- to high-throughput applications, 96-well plates, or 384-well plates are available to suit your experimental requirements.
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text:
Ran into a couple of former Dolphins players at the Jimmy Buffett
concert announcement Friday. As I told you in an earlier post, Dolphins great Kim Bokamper and Dolphins mediocre Joe Rose were there. Receiver Nat Moore, a rightful member of the Dolphins Honor Roll, was there as was former safety Shawn Wooden, who is a class act by any definition.
I got to talking with Moore and Wooden when the topic of the new drafted receivers took a left turn and became the topic of the current draft class. That topic also took a detour and got Moore talking about how Ted Ginn Jr. and John Beck were basically thrown under the bus from a planning perspective.
"Look at what the plan was when both those guys were drafted," Moore said. "Beck was supposed to sit a year and learn behind Trent Green. Then Trent Green got hurt and the next guy got benched and now what was supposed to be a two-year timetable is a two-month timetable because Beck is starting.
"Look at Ted Ginn. He comes in as a guy who is going to help the team as a receiver down the road but initially the plan was for him to learn that position while contributing on special teams right away. That was the plan. But they trade away Chris Chambers and now the kid has to play and then they cut Marty Booker and the guy has no veteran teaching him how it's done."
I have long valued the presence of veteran leadership on a team because without it, a team is simply incomplete. Look at all the great teams. None are comprised of just young players. Or just old players. I believe all great teams strike a balance between experience and youth, and are served from both camps.
The same can be said of groups of players on the team. The Dolphins had experience in the quarterback group (Chad Pennington) last year. They had experience in the linebacker (Joey Porter, Akin Ayodele and Channing Crowder) group. They had experience on the defensive line (Vonnie Holliday and Jason Ferguson). They had experience in the secondary at every starting position. They had experience in the running back corps. They had experience at tight end.
But they had no experience of note at wide receiver. And guess which group of players frustrated most with promised potential that did not fully arrive?
The wide receivers.
Davone Bess was a rookie. Greg Camarillo was a first-year starter. Ernest Wilford, the veteran with most experience, was a non-factor. Derek Hagan, a third-year veteran, was a glorified practice squad guy. And Ginn, the No. 1 receiver, was only in his second year and first as a full-time starter.
In other words, the group lacked an experienced mentor among their ranks.
So why is that important?
"It's very important on a football team," Wooden said. "I remember when I came in, guys took me under there wings. Louis Oliver taught me how to break down film. When Sam Madison got drafted, T-Buck (Terrell Buckley) helped him learn the game. When Pat Surtain got drafted the next year, both of them helped him."
So I asked the question that has always floated in my head when this subject comes up. In the absence of an experienced veteran, isn't it the position coach's job to step up and be the mentor?
"It is but they don't do it," Wooden said. "They really can't do it. It's like a family. The coaches are your parents. But the veterans are the older brothers. You listen to your parents, but you try to pattern yourself after your older brothers. When they say things it has more authority because they've just been there. That's how it is on a team. The older players know the tricks, they're on that field, they know what you're going through because they're going through it, too."
And that, according to Wooden and Moore, is invaluable.
"Look, football isn't all about being the best athlete," Wooden said. "I can go over to Liberty City and find five guys who can run a 4.3. But that doesn't make them a professional football player. That doesn't mean they have it up here (pointing to his head) or can be professional or have work ethic."
That other stuff must be learned. And it is Wooden and Moore's opinion that having mentors on the team to teach it to younger players is important. Unfortunately, Ted Ginn Jr. hasn't had a mentor to teach him.
Discuss ....

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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text: WALTHER PPKS HOULTON ME. SLIDE For Sale from John S. Burda | Positive feedback: 97% View | Verified Seller | 2810 Completed Sales View Sellers Items /UserImages/5611/946231626 9824058.jpg /UserImages/5611/946231626 9824059.jpg /UserImages/5611/946231626 9824060.jpg /UserImages/5611/946231626 9824061.jpg /UserImages/5611/946231626 9824062.jpg /UserImages/5611/946231626 9824063.jpg Description: A newer made Walther PPKS slide in stainless with the polished sides and the top and bottom left un-polished for a flat look. Has all the correct markings on the left side, and the right side states: WALTHER SMITH & WESSON HOULTON ME.U.S.A. Has front and rear sights with an small orange insert, or coloring.Couple small handling nicks,scrapes and the top rail is stippled to cut down glare. This appears to be a functioning slide. no other parts are available. We don't have a web site .I prefer money orders or a check. Item ships when funds come in. If you can only pay with a card let me know. I hope you like my wide selection of unusual guns, knives and gun parts. Shipping price determined by zip code. I try to keep the prices affordable, which means I make less money than most dealers. You won't get altitude sickness with my prices! I consistently have the best selection of older guns If you BUY IT NOW you must still contact us for details buy it now doesn't end the sale, it just sends an email telling us you want to buy this gun. A phone call won't secure a sale! Not home many times, the first buyer by email buys the gun !This web site doesnot close down a sale when you do a BUY IT NOW like Ebay!I can get six buy it nows in an hour, first buyer to email gets the guns, others are in second place! Best to send another email . Sometimes not home to get calls. Some guns are required shipment to a gun dealer near you for a transfer to you when it arrives. With the widest selection of older guns at great prices, We don't have a store, and sell on the internet only. Read More Condition: Used - See Item Description Location: CT Trades Accepted: Yes we will do trades .Let us know. Thank you Read More Use the Ask Seller a Question link to contact me. I am an estate dealer, and buy whole contents of homes, mostly gun smith's estates. Been doing this for 40 years. Never know what I'll find next.We look for the unusual, we don't buy new guns from wholesalers, and resell! !KEEP CHECKING MY INVENTORY. We don't do feedback this isn't EBAY! Thank you. Shipping Notes: SHIPPED BY CHOICE Read More Share Item Item #: 946231626 Stock No.: WALTHER PPKS HOULTON ME. SLIDE John S. Burda Seller Since: Dec. 2005 Seller Level: Gold Seller + This seller is an FFL City: East Granby State: CT Price: $195.00 Buy It Now Add To Cart Please Login/Register to Order Login or Register to buy Shipping: $6.50 (or Arrange local transfer) Accepted Payment Methods: Returns: No Returns Send Message to John S. Burda You must login or register to send a message to this seller. Contact Seller as Guest Message To Seller Email * That Email Address is already in use. If you typed your email correctly, you are already registered and you should login or click here for the password recovery system. First Name * Last Name * Phone * Address 1 * Address 2 City * State * -State- AK AL AR AZ CA CO CT DC DE FL GA GU HI IA ID IL IN KS KY LA MA MD ME MI MN MO MS MT NC ND NE NH NJ NM NV NY OH OK OR PA PR RI SC SD TN TX UT VA VI VT WA WI WV WY Zip * Already have an account? Login Your Recently Viewed Items


text: We spent 3 nights in the very modern Garden Suite at Gilgara Retreat with 2 young children. The suite is self-contained, very close to nature with a beautiful bathroom, kitchenette to cook simple meals, very comfy bed and a sofa bed for our children. It comes with a DVD player which was great to keep our kids occupied thru the... More


text:
I'm wondering if anyone can offer me advice on getting Zoey to start sleeping through the night. She was doing great when we first brought her home and has seemed to regressed a lot. Its driving both of us crazy!Shes 4 months and 1 week old. Right now she is currently sleeping in her crate beside our bed.
Here is our usual routine;
5:30pm: Feed dinner (no treats or food of any kind given after this last meal)
No water after 8:00pm
11:30pm: One last trip outside, up to our room in her crate.
3:30am: Whining, howling, barking etc. resulting in someone getting up and taking her to the bathroom
5:30am: Same as above
6:30am: Same as above
We both can't continue having her do this. Its starting to really have an impact on our daily lives being so sleep deprived.
Any suggestions on what we can do? Shes not completely crate trained and I think I'm going to go back to basics with that, but any other help anyone can offer would be very appreciated!


text:
What are Member Communities?The member communities are private, online professional networks, built on the concept of listserves that offer enhanced features such as collaboration tools and document libraries. They offer you a variety of tools to help you connect, network and work collaboratively with fellow NYSBA members. To participate, each member has a profile based on their basic membership information. You can enhance your profile by adding your photo, professional affiliations, volunteer activities and other accomplishments. You have the option to pull information from your LinkedIn profile, or even link to your personal blog or other social media feeds.How Can I Use It?Seamlessly integrated with nysba.org, no additional login or password is needed to enter a community. You just need to be a NYSBA member. Just like a listserv, members of a specific community can share information with one another using email. Documents are emailed among members using links as opposed to email attachments, as attachments can be problematic with spam filters or limits on file size. Members can receive community emails as the messages are posted, or in digest form. These resource libraries have no space limitations, accept all file types, and can be organized using folders. Any member of a community can contribute to the library.If you are a member of a NYSBA Section, Committee or Task Force, and working to develop a report, white paper, policy change or recommendation, an online community is the perfect forum for you and your colleagues. You have a dedicated space designed to facilitate an efficient and collaborative work effort.
Join the Women's Community


text:
inktown necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 67 diseños de 9 diseñadores freelance.
I'm a superaffiliate. I build websites that are in it for the long run and the only way to achieve that is to give superior usability. My websites rank well in the SEs and gets lot of traffic because they have a value for the user. When you have visited one of my sites you are better informed than you were before.
My audience for this project are people looking to compare prices and stores that sell ink cartridges and toners. Buying ink on the net is often a first time for them and they are confused because of all the printer models, cartridge numbers and different stores out there. They need help to find the best deal for them and inktown will help them with that.
- Come up with a unique logo including the name inktown.com (and the possibility to easily make logos with different domain endings like inktown.net, inktown.co.uk etc).
- My own idea is to have the top of the page looking like a road leading to a town in the distance and a sign in the foreground that says:
welcome to inktown.com
Population: 140 003 people
11 243 price quotes
8 412 printers
Payoff line something like: We collect and compare prices to help you find the best deal on printer ink and toner
The above idea is pretty good I think so please explore it if you like it. Or come up with a completely different theme. It is up to you.
I need design of 6 different kind of pages:
1. Front page
2. Articlepage
3. Printer brands page
4. Printer models page
5. Search result page
6. Price comparison page
See attached specs for the pages.
Note! The main purpose of the site is to help shoppers and most importantly to get them to click out on the store links. We need to create a natural flow that makes the user click through and out. No clicks out = no income for me. We want the user to take action, not just look at the front page and close it down.


text:
Kanaan going for 2nd Indy win in Grand-Am race
July 18, 2013
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan will try to pull off an unprecedented double next week — winning races in two different series at Indianapolis.
Kanaan has been hired by Chip Ganassi's Grand-Am race team and will team with Joey Hand to drive the No. 02 car Friday. It marks the first time since the Rolex 24 at Daytona that Ganassi will run the second car. Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas will drive the other car after winning at Daytona.
A handful of drivers have attempted to win races in different series, including previous Indy 500 champions Sam Hornish Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya. But nobody achieved that feat.
Kanaan's career at Indy was filled with heartbreak until two months ago when he finally drove to Victory Lane.


text:
G.M.A.S.H - Tru Sh*t [Unsigned Hype]
"Get Money And Stop Hatin EVERY BODY WANNA TALK ABOUT THE BOTTLES IN THE CLUB THE HOUSES AND THE CARS BUT NOBODY WANNA TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT THE STRUGGLE THEY WENT THROUGH YOU WASN'T BORN BALLING"
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


text:
theboywarrior wrote:My sigfig is my LCC character.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73044199@N ... 9198669184
The helmet can be interchanged for any male brown hair, his shield is optional. The shoulder-belt is also optional.
Mark of Falworth wrote:I would love for my sig to be included!
option A
The head is the Collectible Minifig Racecar driver head.
The torso pattern is this one with dark gray hands.
Note, the customized shield is unnecessary.
Balamorgineas wrote:Hi,
Since I am probably only going to be able to come during visiting hours, I would love for my plastic person to participate in the photo shoot. My Medieval outfit has a unique shield that would probably be too hard to recreate. I think that this outfit would be a dashing alternative. Sir Balamorgineas. That torso is from the villein from the Orient Adventure The tooth marks on his legs are optional.
Thanks very much.
AK_Brickster wrote:I have a bunch of those. Consider it done! If I come up with a "sleepyhair" between now and then, I'll be sure to swap it out for you.
SEdmison wrote:Azaghal, you're built and ready.
Griffon wrote:I would be honoured to have my Sigfig present so here he is:
Thanks in advance
SEdmison wrote:
What is the hair from? I think I've worked out the rest (including the novel cape and sash).
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A woman gets a new lease on life when she finds her time is almost up in this comedy-drama from the Philippines. Joyce De Leon (Mylene Dizon) is a woman in her early thirties who has enjoyed success in her professional life but not as much personally; she's a well-to-do executive but hasn't found the man of her dreams and has been sleeping with Rod (T.J. Trinidad), who is married and in no hurry to leave his wife. After a visit to the doctor, Joyce receives a startling diagnosis -- she has inoperable cancer and can't count on living much more than six months. Shocked by the news, Joyce leaves her job and decides to put her life in order -- she makes a list of one hundred things she wants to do before she dies and writes each on a Post-It note, sticking them to her wall and taking one down when she finished that task. Beginning with buying a coffin, Joyce sets out to enjoy what little time she has left, indulging in playful hedonism with her best friend Ruby (Eugene Domingo) and taking a chance on love with former schoolmate Emil (Ryan Eigenmann) after calling it quits with Rod. But one of Joyce's most important tasks proves to be the hardest -- telling her mother that her daughter isn't going to outlive her. 100 was the first directorial assignment for screenwriter Chris Martinez; his work earned the film the Audience Award at the 2008 Pusan International Film Festival.~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Director: Chris Martinez
Writer: Chris Martinez
Cast: Mylene Dizon, Eugene Domingo, Tessie Tomas, Tess Antonio, Lance Diaz, Ryan Eigenmann, Rycharde Everley, Simon Ibarra, Cecil Paz and T.J. Trinidad
Sorry there are no upcoming showtimes for 100


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Joined: 14 Oct 2005
Posts: 827
Location: Oakland, CA
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 2:39 am
Post subject: Leftovers!!!!!!
I have about 4 pounds of leftover prime rib in my freezer. (the hubs bought a 7 rib roast! 15 pounds! )
What am I to do with 4 pounds of leftover prime rib? I have had about as many roast beef sandwiches as I can stomach, at this point. The only thing I can think of is a boeuf bourgignon - but I have no idea if that would work with this cut.
Help my friends! All suggestions gratefully received!
L'appetit vient en mangeant. -Rabelais
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Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Posts: 2498
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:30 am
Post subject:
The Magic Castle in Hollywood has legendary chili for lunch. They make it from the previous evening's leftover prime rib. Me, I guess I'd cube some of it up and make a cottage pie (shepherd's pie with beef instead of lamb) but that will only use a pound or so.
If it's still rare enough you could also put a piece that large aside in the freezer and wrap it up in pastry to serve as beef Wellington at some future occasion.
That must have been some monster roast!
God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny. -- Garrison Keillor
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Joined: 18 Dec 2006
Posts: 9
Location: Ottawa, ON
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:41 pm
Post subject:
could it be sliced up and some how used in a stirfry with vegetables? I also quite like using cooked steak sliced thin in salads; works really well in Thai salads.
Plymouth Satellite history
Last edited by sunny12 on Thu Feb 03, 2011 10:03 am; edited 1 time in total
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Joined: 17 Aug 2005
Posts: 307
Location: Far, far away
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:36 pm
Post subject:
I'm with the suggestion for salads, especially slathered with cilantro-lime dressing with plenty of avocado.
Great added to broth to make a warming soup--with variations so that you've got something like Pho with noodles one night and traditonal tomato & beef vegetable soup with potatoes another.
Time-consuming, but it's common to stuff pasta with leftover stew or roasts. You'd just need to include some moistening ingredients in the filling. Grind up little pieces of the meat in food processor with chopped-up Prosciutto di Parma. Add beaten egg, grated Parmesan, minced parsley, maybe some cooled, slowly caramelized onions or braised greens. Season.
I've never used wonton wrappers instead of making pasta, but I've heard plenty of people have success with the shortcut.
Frozen, they last forever. If you have pan juices or gravy left, you can use this to sauce the pasta with butter and maybe fresh sage. Dusting of cheese. Or add the juices to a tomato sauce.
P.S. Sigh. It's a hard life!
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Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Posts: 2498
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:51 pm
Post subject:
Just thought of beef strogonoff too. Partially freeze so you can slice off thin strips to quickly sauté with mushrooms. Then deglaze with sour cream, season with dill and serve over noodles.
God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny. -- Garrison Keillor
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Joined: 11 Mar 2005
Posts: 696
Location: israel
Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 11:30 pm
Post subject:
Let it be frozen in the freezer for 1-2-3 etc. weeks, then invite two-three nice couples of friends for dinner, defreeze it, give it a revival heat shock, add potatoes or whatever, add anice wine/pepper sauce, have a nice soup for first course and a good desert + a decent wine and enjoy a nice and easy dinner. It's about 2 kg, just enough for 6-8 people as main dish. Why chop , sautee or fry it ? Life is complicated enough!
No more war, leave the poor prime rib in peace!
P.S. Happy new year!
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Joined: 14 Oct 2005
Posts: 827
Location: Oakland, CA
Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:33 am
Post subject:
GREAT ideas from everyone! Thank you! Can you tell that my brain was absolutely FRIED by Dec. 26th?
I just kept looking at all that meat and I could not come up with a single idea!
I love the stir fry, salad, chili and stroganoff ideas - but I certainly appreciate Simona's laid back approach! It was
very rare
when we first served it, so perhaps a short jolt on a hot grill will not ruin it!
Then I can add that lovely orange cake and voila! Un diner simple et merveilleux!
L'appetit vient en mangeant. -Rabelais
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Madame M.
Joined: 17 Dec 2004
Posts: 34
Location: Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 1:23 am
Post subject:
Donna, the very best thing I've ever done with leftover beef is the French housewife's standby, "boeuf miroton." I've always called it "French Leftover Beef." Here's the recipe I use, hope it sounds good to you, too!
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 cup dry vermouth (or other dry white wine)
1/2 cup beef stock
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp sweet paprika
1-1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1-1/2 tbsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cups cooked beef, in 1 chunks or thick strips
Sauté the onions in the oil until golden. Add the flour and stir until lightly browned. Add the remaining ingredients except beef and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add the beef and simmer for 15 minutes more, adding a bit more beef stock if it gets too thick. Serve on a platter surrounded with cheese toasts. Serves 4-6.
"Cooking, like love, should be entered into with abandon, or not at all." Harriet Van Horne
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My son Wilson and I spent a few minutes together painting a butterfly. Using the wet-method painting, we first created the background color with reds and blues. Wilson then lifted the pigment from the page using a wet, then dry, brush where the butterfly would be. He added yellow for the wings, then painted its orange body.
Jennifer is his homelearning teacher, and the letter "B" was one of their letters of the week - "B" for butterfly, and the shape of its wings. Jennifer told him that I would be doing the painting lesson with him, and when I was directing him with his brush strokes, doing it just a bit differently from Jennifer, Wilson said, "I haven't worked with Daddy before." He is so cute!


text:
DC Comics kicks off their big summer event, Hellboy gets a celebrity guest illustrator, and the lost anti-Communist Captain America of the 1950s returns. Just your standard week in funny books, dear readers.
First Issues
The inaugural issue of Flashpoint hits the stands Wednesday. A DC Comics event on par with Blackest Night, Flashpoint sees The Flash wake up in an alternate reality where Cyborg is the top hero, Abin Sur is the Earth's Green Lantern, and everyone else is somewhat screwball. I'm a sucker for reality-hopping weirdness, so I'm in.
I'm also interested in the the Hellboy: Being Human One Shot, which includes more artwork from legendary Heavy Metal artist Richard Corben and explores an early tale of Roger the Homunculus.
Other first issues this week include Paul Dini's Batman: Arkham City miniseries, which tells the backstory of the upcoming video game of the same name. Sam Kieth of The Maxx illustrates the vampire sequel 30 Days Of Night: Night Again. Chuck Dixon reboots G.I. Joe for the "Cobra Civil War" story arc.
Lot of stuff in the 1990s throwback department. Jim Starlin resurrects his Malibu Comics science fiction series Breed for the miniseries Breed III, and Beau Smith publishes a miniseries starring his heroine Wynonna Earp in Wynonna Earp: Yeti Wars. Archie Comics and Dynamite publish new Mega Man and Total Recall series, respectively.
Other Releases
Some new issues that may catch your eye include Batman Incorporated (guest-starring the Sioux Batman, Man-of-Bats), The Unwritten, FF, Northlanders, Chew (which jumps ahead nine issues to issue #27 to give readers a glimpse of the future), and a new arc from Jason Aaron on Punisher Max.
Graphic Novels
The first volume of Gail Simone's revamped Birds of Prey is out on hardcover — ditto goes for the "Bullseye" arc of Punisher Max. A wacky trade paperback out this week is a reprint collection of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's Fighting American, a.k.a. the Cold War's answer to Captain America who fought mutated Commies with his partner Speedboy. It's sure to be filled with plenty of trademark Kirby villain grimaces.
As usual, here's the list of everything being released to comic stores tomorrow, and you can find your nearest comic retailer here. Happy reading, gang!


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WINTSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Feb. 20, 2010) - Returning to action for the first time in over a week the No. 60 ETSU men's tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision at No. 16 Wake Forest, Saturday afternoon, inside the Wake Forest Tennis Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.
With the loss ETSU fell to 2-5 this season, while the Demon Deacons improved to 4-1.
As play opened the Bucs came out flat as Wake Forest held on with wins in two doubles matches. ETSU's lone victory came as freshman Jesus Bandres (Caracas, Venezuela) and sophomore Sander Gille (Kuringen, Belgium) pulled through with a 8-3 triumph over the Wake freshmen team of Zack Leslie and Danny Kreyman.
"The biggest thing we didn't do early was execute," said head coach Yaser Zaatini. "We had some chances to get back into some matches and we couldn't hold our serve, which made it difficult for the guys to capitalize on certain opportunities."
After Wake's quick 1-0 lead, the Demon Deacons continued their onslaught in singles. Junior Jon Wolff, 74th-ranked freshman Tripper Carleton, and 117th-ranked junior Iain Atkinson closed out the win for the home team with straight sets wins at No. 3, No. 1 and No. 4.
After senior Steve Forman extend the Wake advantage to 5-0 with a long three-set win over Gille at No. 2, the Bucs finally got on the board as sophomore Robin Akser (Ornskoldsvik, Sweden) outlasted Leslie at the No. 5 position 6-1, 4-6, (10-5).
Freshman Juan Ramirez (Asuncion, Paraguay) closed out the scores as he fell to Kreyman in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
"In singles I thought Sander and Robin did some good things," Zaatini said. "Both guys battled extremely hard from the start of their match to the finish. I hated to see Sander fall just short, but on the flip side it was good to see Robin find a way to win in his contest."
ETSU returns to action in one week with a 2:30 p.m., contest next Saturday at No. 7 Georgia.
Wake Forest 6, ETSU 1
1. #12 Forman/Atkinson (WFU) d. Grega Teraz/Charles Bottoni (ETSU) 8-3
2. Sander Gille/Jesus Bandres (ETSU) d. Leslie/Kreyman (WFU) 8-3
3. Wolff/ Carleton (WFU) d. Daniel Isaza/Robin Asker (ETSU) 8-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
1. #74 Frank "Tripper" Carleton (WFU) d. Grega Teraz (ETSU) 6-0, 6-2
2. Steve Forman (WFU) d. Sander Gille (ETSU) 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 7-6(4)
3. Jon Wolff (WFU) d. Jesus Bandres (ETSU) 6-0, 6-1
4. #117 lain Atkinson (WFU) d. Daniel Isaza (ETSU) 7-6(1), 6-4
5. Robin Akser (ETSU) d. Zach Leslie (WFU) 6-1, 4-6, 1-0(10-5)
6. Danny Kreyman (WFU) d. Juan Ramirez (ETSU) 6-3, 6-2
For more information on the ETSU men's tennis team please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.


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text: MFB was founded by Berlin engineer Manfred Fricke. The company has specialised in producing synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers since 1976. During the 80s MFB was responsible for some of the more affordable analog drum machines such as the classic MFB-501 which gained high popularity in Germany. Throughout the 80s and 90s MFB continued to produce low cost drum machines and synths, staying up to date with digital machines such as the MFB-512.View all information


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Molly Bentley
Executive Producer and Co-Host, Big Picture Science
Molly oversees the production of Big Picture Science. She has worked as a science journalist for the BBC, including World Service, Radio 4 and Science/Nature Online. She has also written for New Scientist. She teaches a course on radio writing and podcast production at the University of California, Santa Cruz Science Writing Program.
She's been an invited participant to a number of workshops about helping scientists communicate more effectively with reporters, including the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program, Switzer Environmental Fellowship workshop, and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Science Communication Workshop, sponsored by the Metcalf Institute and funded in part by the National Science Foundation.
She attended M.I.T.'s Knight Science Journalism workshops in 2007 and 2010. Her radio career began when she wandered into Wisconsin Public Radio and landed a job answering the phones for the early-morning call-in show, then graduated on to less insane hours as assistant producer of the national radio magazine, To the Best of Our Knowledge.
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Seth is the Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute, in Mountain View, California. He has an undergraduate degree in physics from Princeton University, and a doctorate in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology. For much of his career, Seth conducted radio astronomy research on galaxies, and has published approximately fifty papers in professional journals. He also founded and ran a company producing computer animation for TV.
Seth has written several hundred popular magazine and Web articles on various topics in astronomy, technology, film and television. He has edited and contributed to a half dozen books. His first popular tome, "Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life" appeared in 1998. He has also authored "Life in the Universe" (2006, 2nd edition, textbook, with Jeff Bennett) and "Cosmic Company" (2003, with Alex Barnett). His most recent book is "Confessions of an Alien Hunter" (2009).
Gary Niederhoff
Senior Producer, Big Picture Science
Gary Niederhoff is a member of a group of visitors from Vega who are tired of being referred to as "vegans" (the preferred term is "Vegamatic").
Gary joined the staff of Big Picture Science in order to learn more about both the human understanding of science and the basics of pun construction. Seth and Molly have learned that he will also edit audio, write blog posts, and book guests in exchange for coffee and M&M's. His voice is frequently heard on the show, sometimes depicting historical figures such as Galileo, Einstein, and Archimedes, and other times portraying such lovable characters as 'spacey lawyer', 'Dan the computer', and 'egg'.
Gary has worked in community radio in the bay area for nearly 25 years, producing on-air programs as well as administering fund raising activities and station events. He spends his spare time communicating telepathically with his cats, from which he's learned that birds are very interesting and that tuna is delicious.
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Operations Manager, Big Picture Science
Barbara obtained her Masters degree in Library Science a very long time ago and spent many years in many roles in public libraries and as a product manager for a library automation company.
At the SETI Institute, she worked in the fundraising department and the Grants office in addition to her current station relations, business/finance, and marketing duties with Big Picture Science.


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Useless Fellows
Fund: Walden International
Posted by Anonymous on 2011-11-19
I was referred to them by a contact. They asked me for whole lot of confidential information over a long period [weeks], then bought even more time to "review" and then after repeated follow-ups reverted with "pass", with no other comment. LBT and the dwarfs all mostly behave the same way. Fact is, they have no funds. Why not have basic courtesy to say so? Why entertain and waste time of entrepreneurs? Beats me. Their behavior says a lot about who they really are. Useless fellows.PRIVATE: Members Only


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Sunday, November 6, 2011
How valuable is free?
If the recent trend of asking for open source spec art is anything to go off, apparently free art is not only worthless it is totally disposable.
"Spec work" is an accepted term within art circles meaning "speculative work". This is art done for free by an artist hoping it will "pay" off for them after its creation. That payment can be direct in the form of royalties on this piece after it gets noticed and/OR indirect payment where the piece gains the artist enough attention that they get other commissions.
This use of the term "open sourcing" is an almost misleading slant of the term used by design firms and art departments. In this singular definition, open sourcing means something akin to an open audition. There are a limited number of vacancies that need to be filled and anyone is free to try out to fill them. It there are more applicants than vacancies the excess will be turned away.
So my question amounts to how valuable is free art if it is subjected to a mass audition where most of it is not going to be used?
The reason I ask is that palaeontologists and museums are starting to try out open source spec work as a solution to cutbacks and finances being tight. The open sourcing tends to take the form of an art contest or competition, with the goal of generating lots of free palaeo-art from which the contest holder can select a piece for their uses.
I sympathize with their financial restraints. I really do (speaking as a former museum science educator). So don't get me wrong. I am not arguing against spec palaeo-art. In fact I have recommended doing palaeo-art for free in the past as a means of getting your foot in the palaeo-art door.
The issue I have is the open sourcing. Making volunteer work expendable devalues the effort, energy, and art created by the artists. Which when you consider that asking artistic work to be done for free already devalues the work, additionally making spec work disposable can be seen by some artists as rubbing salt in an already existing wound.
There is an implication with open soucring that art is easy to make. Why else would you so casually ask lots of people to make it and feel that only picking the cream of the crop is okay? Its not like the losers are going to notice their fruitless efforts, is what this says to me.
Sorry but art is not easy to make. It takes hours and hours Especially if we're talking scientific illustrations, which is what we've seen contests asking for now. The research, drafts, and final versions take hours and hours to complete. If a contest attracts any attention, and only picks a single winner, we're seeing hundreds of artist hours tossed out the window... for no gain to the artists, the science, or the world of palaeo-art in general...
To me this is like holding a contest to describe a new fossil, for scientists. Everyone has to submit a final paper, but only one will "win". All the other papers, research, and work will just be thrown out metaphorically and in spirit. Only that which is published exists in science, and funny enough art as well. No scientists would participate in this. So why do they think it is okay to do it to us artists?
I suspect they sense it is wrong, even if they can't actually articulate it. There are an awful lot of rationals that are used to try and pass off these contests as "fun" and "worthwhile" to artists. These include the chance to win glory and notoriety, a chance to finally break into the competitive world of palaeo-art, and you're helping out the science.
Superficially these are all true, but they are not really honest to the artist as to what they are going to get. To me these are just rationalizing a form of exploitation (whether it be intentional or not). Let me break it down for you
The "Glory" of Acknowledgement
If the gig was so important to truly gain real "glory" and "notoriety" every professional and their dog would be lining up for the job. Glory and notoriety imply something huge in impact and coverage. I've been noticing these palaeo-art gigs still attract professionals (though I don't know if they are paid or not).
So lets restate these words for what they really amount to in your average open source spec contest's project, recognition and attention. If your not going to pay your artist(s), the least you can do for them is give them the attention and acknowledgement their work deserves. This is not a prize, and please don't try to pass it off as one! Scientists expect their research and work to be acknowledged, why not the work of their artists too?!? You're not giving the art winner a "prize" with acknowledgement, you're just punishing the losers by withholding it from them, frankly...
Chance to break into Palaeo-art
If your piece is chosen out of the pile you'll finally get your work used in a legitimate capacity. I won't lie this is a prize, and a good one. So I'm not going to harp on it directly. There is a definite appeal for artists here (speaking myself as an aspiring amateur).
The problem I have is do we artists truly need to submit brand new work to get this chance?
I get that the contest is the scientist's way of buffering against the lack of a reliable and tested palaeo-artist. They can't be sure what a new name is going to bring to the table. The contest is a way of insuring quality control and an adequate pool of potential artwork. However the asking for brand new art frankly strikes me as laziness.
The scientist couldn't be bothered to do a little bit of homework in finding an artist, and so lots of artists have to make up for their lack of effort
Why couldn't the artists just submit portfolios of already completed work? Or why doesn't the scientist get involved in the large diverse palaeo-art communities on the web, such as here on ART Evolved or those on Flickr or DeviantArt, and find someone she/he can work with from those interactions? Only a tiny amount of energy would have to be expeded looking into potential amateur artists these days. There are more and more of us heavily promoting our selves on the web. You seriously couldn't just approach your favourites from the online portfolios? The other problem I have is that this offer implies we can't make it on our own. While it might be true that this one scientist's offer could be our big break, it is by no means our only chance!
Instead of using (dare I say wasting?) your time on a piece that is specific to the spec art contest why not just create a unique portfolio piece? Creating work for this spec contest might fit in your portfolio too, but anyone paying attention will know about the contest and realize immediately you were one of the "losers". I can see this hurting you on occasion rather than helping it.
More to the point strengthening your portfolio to attract a more committed "client" is a safer bet than open source spec work. If a client approaches just you due to your portfolio your work is far more likely to be used than the crapshoot of entering into a contest. Why not invest your efforts into this model. Even if you generate just more spec work, at least you'll be actually guranteed a return on your artistic investment...
It is good for the scienceThis is just a lame thing to say! Manipulating our emotional and moral responsibility, just for your own personal gain!
Yes palaeo is in trouble these days, and yes we'd all love to help it out. Preying on our desire to help by guilting us into action though, that is just plain slimy.How does a bunch of artists wasting time on art that will never see (the proper) light of day help anyone but that one lazy scientist exactly?
Just selecting one artist to do your project, and allow all those other artists to do their own thing and cover more of the science, rather than waste their art time on just you. More varied and diverse palaeo-art, that would be helping the science
Instead of a contest or any other open source spec art...
We need to stop this model of mass artist participation for little gain to anyone (other than the one receiving the art).Right away scientists, museums, and other empowered parties in palaeontology please respect your artists work.
There are those who say not paying them is disrespectful enough. I'm not quite one of those. However simply acknowledging the fact the artist could have done any number of other things than helping you specifically out is the least you can do.
Engage only one artist on a final piece unless your willing to properly compensate them for their time.If you still want the open audition format, which is fair when dealing with new unknown talent, please just ask for portfolios of existing work, rather than submissions of new art. It is way more respectful to the artist, nearly as informative about their abilities, and frankly doesn't waste participants efforts or art time!
Another fantastic model is David Hone's recent call for artists. While being open source and spec work, Dr. Hone is compensating participants with direct scientific feedback and critiques on their scientific reconstructions. This is Dr. Hone compensating ALL the interested artists with his own time on feedback that will help them in their quest for palaeo-art fame and glory in the future. This is a perfect model. Even the "losers" win something, and thus there are no losers. Only winners of varying degrees!To artists, they'll stop asking for mass submissions of new non-paid art if we stop giving it to them. While there is some wiggle room in the paid vs. non-paid debate of art, simply respect for the art you produce should not be negotiable or given up. Participating in open source spec calls not only devalues your art and the work you put into it, but it encourages such tactics to spread.
Soon we could find ourselves doing pieces for free, and arriving at the end of the creative process expectations of mere publication and acknowledgement only to find suddenly our piece has been replaced because the "client" found another piece they liked better... (Don't say it couldn't happen... it has to me now twice. Thus this angry rant post!)
Artist's work should be respected and seen for what it is. Especially when it is done for free. It is a gift. Treat like such palaeontologic community!
26 comments:
- Victoria said...
I have been following the discussion of 'free' palaeoart generated by Scott Persons' gallery suggestion in the late summer here at Art Evolved. I'm not a palaeoartist, but I am a palaeontologist in training, and I'm becoming increasingly puzzled by some of these discussions.
I am pretty sure that most palaeontologists understand that art is not easy to make, or else they would do it themselves. It also does not seem unreasonable to me to use the internet to find palaeoartists through calls for art. I have been under the impression that most of these 'crowd sourced' art projects are generally not requesting completed art, but sketches or rough drafts, from which to make a final selection. I don't think it's a great idea to ask for completed artworks before making a decision, but surely it is not out of line to ask for concept sketches. I think this is a pretty interesting way to find new styles and approaches. You also mention that scientists should get involved with communities like Art Evolved – well, isn't suggesting galleries and art contests one way for us to be involved? What sort of involvement are you looking for?
You mentioned that this crowd-sourcing is akin to holding a contest for scientists to describe a new fossil. I don't think that happens very often, but you know what does? Grant writing. Lots of people will apply for any one grant/scholarship/fellowship/award. Not everyone will get it. This is, unfortunately, how science works – a lot of time and effort is expended in applying for funding to conduct science, and it doesn't always pay off. You learn from your failures, and you improve for the next time. Or you don't, and you don't get money, and maybe you don't succeed in the long term. It sucks, but it is the outcome on occasion.
Ultimately, we're all in this together. Palaeontologists want to see artists succeed, because artists bring our animals to life. The sad reality is that there isn't enough funding to go around for everyone, and in particular it is very, very difficult to get funding for palaeoart through scientific grants and awards. It will take a concerted effort by palaeontologists and artists working together to change the attitude of funding agencies that palaeoart is not part of the scientific process. Ultimately I would like to see palaeoartists considered as essential as prep technicians – without the latter you cannot begin your research, without the former you cannot finish it. I don't think the generalizations that are often used at this blog, with an 'us vs. them' attitude, are going to help matters.
- November 7, 2011 at 11:40 PM
- Traumador said...
Okay so to clear up any confusion about this post, it is NOT a direct response, continuation, or commentary on Scott Person's contest this summer on ART Evolved. His contest is one of MANY that has prompted this post, but in no way shape or form do I hold Scott in any ill view (nor MOST of the other contest holders).
The majority of that debate on Scott's contest was on the merits of doing art for free or not. The debate was between professional artists (those that making their monetary living off their art) and art hobbists (who do art for fun in their spare time).
In that debate it was debated as to whether money should be the only thing an artist accepts for the creation of their work or not.
The pros were of the opinion money or no art, and they are entitled to their opinion (especially as it is how they put food on their table), but I personally believe they have no ground to stand on to enforce it.
Hobbists can, will, and do make art for other people for free. I don't think there is anything wrong with that... SO long as they get a minimum return on their artististic effort.
This is my issue. I don't care about the "free" art of that last discussion.
My problem is with waste of free artist investment and work when the only thing they are competeting for, acknowledgement and recognition, is what they should be getting in the first place, and that losers of the contest do not even get that!
This is just reply 1. I just wanted to clarify how this is not really anything to do with Scott's request here. It is to do with his tactic. However I emphasis he is not the only one. It is the development of crowd sourcing art that is the problem.
- November 8, 2011 at 1:54 AM
- Traumador said...
So to start off I think you miss my point about the imaginary scientist contest when you compared it to a grant.
Yes you compete for grants, but grants give money. That puts it into a new category. If you get the grant you get paid. It is now into the category of a job application of sorts (a *BEEP*ed up and stupid one... I do feel for you, but you still get money). If palaeo-art contests were paying us for the win no problem. At least that is a concrete reward we're competing for.
I'm talking about a contest that asks us to put in that same sort of work, and the prize is simply being acknowledged for our voluntary work with publication. No money, nothing, except the winner gets acknowledgement for all that free work...
The losers, they get NOTHING despite the effort they did for free. Effort that was in essence a favour to the scientist holding the contest. That is my issue.
You wouldn't do grant proposals if they didn't give you guys money.
You expect your work to either pay for your research, or your research to be credited and acknowledged by your peers.
That was my point. A contest simply on research is the only comparable analogy.
We artists, when working for free, should be getting the same rewards scientists get on non paid paper research (which technically for most scientists is paid for by their salary and institution). Credit and our chance in the sun.
Or in more accurate terms just like a scientists we need to publish or perish...
- November 8, 2011 at 2:09 AM
- Traumador said...
I do agree the "us versus them" thing isn't always helpful.
That said raising the causes of the "us vs. them" problem are needed to stop the issue from continuing.
Am I right in detecting your response being a defense of palaeontologists? My post was the artist side...
While my approach was confrontational, the dialouge it generates will hopefully be positive and constructive. (I hope you see my response as so thus far). I've been using confrontational lately as it has been getting the dialouge noticed.
Again I don't hate palaeontologists. Far from it I have many good palaeontologist friends (you went to skool with several of them in fact I believe Victoria). Nor do I WANT to fight you guys. I just want you to see things from my point of view.
The same way you alerted me to yours.
So with that in mind, here is what I mean by participating on the MANY internet palaeo-art communities (I just have vested interests in plugging this one :P Deviantart in particular has a big one as well).
One thing we artists notice is a general lack of scientist involvement in palaeo-art discussions online. Yes there are a few exceptions, but overall look at the participates on this site and 90-97% are artists or palaeo enthusiasts.
Yet palaeo-art is one based on science. We need scientific input. We typically settle for indirect sources like papers and publications.
Yet how great would it be if we got the odd direct address, comment, post (which Scott Person has done for us... definately a big part in why we held his contest) from a scientist has a bearing on our work. Think of how many common misconceptions or inaccuracies could disappear from palaeo-art if we had palaeontologists giving us direct input. Participating in our communities a bit for the sake of participating.
If we just have you guys popping by to ask us for (free) art and not contribute directly to our discourse, this becomes almost exploitive (I say almost... I know we exist to create palaeo-art. However we also want to engage in the science and the scientists. Only having you guys acknowledge us by saying "give me your stuff" isn't quite what we had in mind).
The model I would love to see is scientists engaging us artists on the web every now and then. Not a big investment. Rather popping by once a month or two and making a few comments and getting to know us and a our art a little bit. From there I'm sure you could find an artist or two you jive with and can build up a "professional" rapport with. In this model your both on a similar page before starting the art, and.
That is why I see contests as lazy. The contest holder doesn't interact with us, that alone get to know us at all. They just appear for a moment, ask us to do them a favour and disappear.
Even just having someone we know hold a contest would go a long way to clearing up the respect for the artists or not. Again a contest for free art is asking essentially a favour. We typically do favours for people we know.
Also much like technicans we artists improve with interacting with scientists. Inversely our art improves for the scientists...
Right now that isn't happening enough...
- November 8, 2011 at 2:51 AM
- Traumador said...
One last point on the "us vs. them" point (a very good one you raise Victoria) I think part of your confusion on the "free" argument that Scott's contest rose, is that the art community is NOT a unitied entity at all these days.
There is a growing void between professional artists and amateurs. The rather confrontational emails by Gregory Paul captured this hostility and divide.
The splintering of the palaeontologic world into such factions is alarming, but we need to recognize it is happening and try to resolve the causes.
- November 8, 2011 at 2:57 AM
- davidmaas said...
There is an "us" and there is a "them". Anything else is naive - we all have motivations and expectations and if these are not mutual then we have a 'vs' between the two.
Defining the one as "paleontologists" and the other as "artists" is also fairly vacuous, so case-by-case comparison of motivations. Do we fit? Do we not?
Have valuable is what I have to offer? How valuable is what I get? My personal experience is that shockingly enough, paleontologists are human. Some have no organization, communication and team skills, while others do. Same with artists.
I don't regret having contributed to Scott Person's call - I came up with a fun sketch that took about an afternoon of my time. I tried to encourage a community approach to it, sharing our various approaches etc. but it went no where and Scott did very little in the way of direction. I recently happened across another entry by niroot and - wow, was it good! For me, exchange and learning is primary, and I would have enjoyed more of that on Scott's call. We don't have to learn directly from the scientist, we can learn from each other. Niroot's was awesome, and I see immediately how mine fails to stack up, but also what makes mine mine - what I would like to pursue. I also participated in part because Scott has shared his work via blog posts and outsource work, so his reputation led me to take part. I don't delude myself into thinking my work was of some inherent value to him. I had fun doing it, basta.
And that's the point of it. Set expectations and participate or not based on them. Try things out and learn for the next time.
Community and content-generation are re-defining how things will be done, how much effort it will take and how remuneration might take place. I can't say I'm in a position to judge what's fair for anyone but myself. I just wish I had more time...
- November 8, 2011 at 5:52 AM
- Glendon Mellow said...
The fact is, the world of work for creatives still hasn't shaken out into a viable model. Until it does and there's a sort of standard, people will continue to try everything from traditional publishing models, to crowd-sourcing online.
The online world has opened up incredible links and connections between artists and researchers (are any client for that matter) that didn't exist. Most of the work I do is for people I haven't met in person, who don't live in the same country. I can't imagine that being the case 15 years ago.
What model will work out? Will amateurs dominate creative work, and all illustrations become a non-paying hobby? Will something like the traditional print model take its place? Something new and strange?
I don't know.
- November 8, 2011 at 5:59 AM
- Victoria said...
Traumador, you said: "You wouldn't do grant proposals if they didn't give you guys money." But that is exactly the point. When I am assessing requests for my time, there is a mental calculation of the costs and benefits involved. If there was no benefit to me spending time writing grants (ie., they would not provide the money I need to do research), I would not do them. If you see a request for art that does not offer monetary compensation, and you want money, then do not submit free art. Now that being said, there often is a benefit to me writing grants that I suspect I will not win, in that I get practice at writing them and improve over time. I suspect the same is true in the world of art. If you are beyond the stage where you feel this practice benefits you, then perhaps when you see contests like these you could contact the palaeontologist and advertise yourself as a professional to be hired at a professional rate.
Perhaps a better analogue would be poster or talk competitions. At SVP, the student poster prize does come with a monetary award, but this is not true of all poster contests (or the monetary award is very low, ie. <$100). A lot of work goes into creating the poster or talk, and not everybody wins. Those that do win receive recognition, but not necessarily much money. These awards do not help fund your research like a grant would, but they give you additional prestige on your CV, which may later help you secure a permanent position. Whatever the case, all I'm trying to say with this comparison is that by default contests will have winners and losers, and I think that's something that just needs to be dealt with. Failure is a part of making your way through any career, and you need to decide how you are going to deal with it. If you find the terms of a contest unreasonable, do not participate, and bring up your concerns directly with the person proposing the contest.
- November 8, 2011 at 7:18 PM
- Victoria said...
Ok, on to comment #3 by Traumador, the 'us vs them' problem. There is a movement at Art Evolved to have more involvement from palaeontologists in discussions of palaeoart, which I think is an excellent thing. However, I see a lot of conflicting statements about what it is the community here actually wants from palaeontologist participation. There was a discussion a few weeks ago about accuracy in palaeoart, and how it isn't helpful for scientists to come in and simply point out what is wrong with a particular piece of art. This I simply do not understand, and I am afraid I am at a bit of a loss for what you would expect of palaeontologists otherwise. I also haven't really seen a lot of 'you're wrong and that's that' comments around the palaeo blogosphere. If you want palaeontologist participation, you must brace yourself for highly critical and nitpicky nerds to descend upon here and provide commentary that may at times seem very harsh, and may not always be very constructive.
You make the statement in your third post that scientific papers are indirect sources of information for palaeoartists. I know the technical literature can be difficult to wade through at times, but scientific papers are NOT indirect sources – they should be the foundational sources upon which you build your art. If you are having trouble accessing or understanding scientific papers, then by all means contact a palaeontologist – most are extremely happy to send PDFs, summarize key findings, or explain points in more detail. You suggest that palaeontologists should individually contact artists they would like to hire, and not crowd-source the art. Surely you cannot argue that the inverse, crowd-sourcing the science, is acceptable then?
Finally, you state that you would like to see palaeontologists popping by once a month to engage palaeoartists. Well, I actually tend to pop by here more than that, but generally I do not comment on most blogs. I comment a bit over at the Dinosaur Toy Blog when ankylosaur stuff pops up, and I write my own blog where palaeoart is a semi-frequent topic. And frankly, when I see comments generalizing palaeontologists as lazy, unethical, or slimy, even if it is not directed specifically at me, I am definitely put off from contributing anything. Although I do not like tone policing on the internet, if the idea is to grow your community to include palaeontologists, this is not the approach to take.
- November 8, 2011 at 7:20 PM
- Traumador said...
Victoria- On the subject of my complaints last month about palaeontologists only complaining about mistakes and inaccuracies I humbly request you to read it again.
I didn't target palaeontologists. I was mostly directing that at palaeontology enthusiasts who read papers but do NOT actually write them.
In my experience their nitpicks are the ones that are not overly helpful. They tend to state things in authoritive voices, while not really in a position to claim that authority, as they are simply quoting something they've read...
My interactions with scientists have always been fantastic as they bring insights and opinions that aren't always in the technical literature. While not "true" in a scientific sense, the information they offer is of great use to an artist who also works outside the published science.
So again, read what I actually said. Scientist comments are almost always welcome. It are those who read scientists and can only parrot this reading I have issues with (and this is simply with their tactics).
My second main point was for people to stop reactively attacking palaeo-art after it is created. The damage is done, and it isn't helping anyone. We need to look to methods to prevent the mistakes from happening in the first place!
I am currently putting together the Palaeo-art Database, hopefully for a new year launch, a proactive method to engage palaeo-art inaccuracies. That is boiling down the papers and technical information into short lay person friendly briefs that are freely avaliable on the web. This way inaccurate artists don't have an excuse.
Right now they do. The information to correct their work is locked up within nonopen access journals encrypted in technical jargon. If we take down these barriers together we can setup a solid base to actually clean up palaeo-art.
- November 8, 2011 at 7:40 PM
- Traumador said...
Victoria- I just wanted to point out the reasoning behind my post's language and stance based on your own reply:
"Well, I actually tend to pop by here more than that, but generally I do not comment on most blogs...frankly, when I see comments generalizing palaeontologists as lazy, unethical, or slimy, even if it is not directed specifically at me, I am definitely put off from contributing anything"
While I understand what you're getting at here, in reality notice how I write hundreds of pro-palaeontologist posts and I get nothing from you. I write one critical post and I finally get you to engage...
I'm not trying to attack all palaeontologists. I'm trying to get you all to think about what these contests look like to many artists out there. In your case I have succeeded, you've noticed and next time you need art before you think "hmmm should I run a contest?" you'll think of this post and what I've said. What you do from there is your call.
As for lazy, unethical, and slimy scientists, you can't deny they don't exist. At the sametime there are artists out there in the same boat. We totally called Gregory Paul on his BS earlier this year. So please keep that in mind before hinting that we're anti-scientist here. ART Evolved is anti everything bad for palaeo-artists.
I could name names on the scientists I'm thinking of, but it won't do anything productive. However if I alert the good ones like yourself about what their doing, you might take offense... but hopefully you won't do the same as them.
That is my hope with this post.
(and believe me I've had a few exchanges with those individuals... which is why I brought this issue into the light)
- November 8, 2011 at 8:03 PM
- Victoria said...
Why would you differentiate between a professional palaeontologist and an interested amateur who can interpret the literature for you? How is parroting a bad thing? Should an amateur palaeoartist judge an amateur palaeontologist? If you feel that the amateur palaeontologist is not providing accurate information, ignore it.
When would comments from
scientists not be welcome?
With regards to criticism of palaeoart after it is created: the art may be finished, but the artist still exists, and will presumably continue to create new palaeoart. I see no problem critiquing completed art, in the same way papers should be critiqued after they are published. Has it ever been instructive for you to look at a piece of classic palaeoart, such as something by Knight or Burian, and to pick apart what is inaccurate and what was done well?
- November 8, 2011 at 8:18 PM
- Traumador said...
Victoria- Why do I like scientists feedback more than enthusiasts typically?
In my experience scientists have nothing to prove. Their the real deal. When they tell you you got something wrong it is because you did. It is factual, and usually polite.
When a enthusiast of the SORT I am referring talks to people, there is an edge of chest thumping. "I read more than you, therefore I'm more hardcore". They are compensating for not getting to live the dream of being the palaeontologist. I feel their pain, but I don't need to bare the brunt of it.
Their feedback is not meant to be helpful or sharing the interest with artist. This particular breed of palaeo-fan is trying to prove their a bigger palaeo-fan than everyone else by proving them wrong and therefore "ignorant".
After a while of hearing this sort of feedback (which compared to useful feedback from scientists and nice enthusiasts) it becomes easy to tune it out, or worse go against the science in your art. We have a lot of new younger artists coming up and responding (I don't blame them) by saying how we only know a fraction of what these animals look like. The problem is that this attitude allows totally fantasy things to creep into their work and become memes among their peers.
I want the overbearing enthusiasts to put their knowledge where our art is. Most artists don't have expertise in anatomy because they spent the time to master art. Most anatomy amatuers can't do art due to a reverse of investment.
Instead of "helping" us after the art is done, why not build up easy to access resources for artists to use in the first place. Than to me the critiscm is more concrete. We could have found that out in the first place.
There is certainly a use to SOME critiscm after art is made. However if it is ALL we hear, it becomes less helpful. It comes across as people holding onto the key information for their benefit (the enthusiasts... not the scientists. I know you guys are busy getting more of that info to get for us).
That is my point. I don't have a grudge with scientists on the feedback score. Their the ones busy generating the knowledge. It is the enthusasists who sit on it, and don't spread it in a usful manner I have a problem with.
My ONLY issue with scientists is when they use open sourcing to get FREE art (paid for fine no problem).
- November 8, 2011 at 11:47 PM
- Traumador said...
Victoria- While I understand your point about grants and posters, and that I don't have to participate in the contest, this still doesn't make spec art contests okay...
Right away, I want to sympathize with you. The red tape in science and academia SUCKS! I wish you guys didn't have to endure it. Neither of us should have to put up with the obstacles we face to do our parts in palaeontology really.
That said you guys are the ones at the top of the food chain. If you don't like the hoops you have to hop through why inflect them on us?
I also feel you're not comparing the situations fairly between an art contest and even posters.
A discarded poster must be annoying, and I sympathize. However the attrition rate on posters at symposiums or conferences is NOT the same as that for art in a spec art contest. There is not just ONE poster selected at those meetings (you and me have been at a few of the same ones, I know ;P). In most art contests there is only a SINGLE winner.
Grant applications and posters are (potential) credentials for academic jobs. You still get paid for them at some point(even when they fail...)!
Art contests devalue already FREE art to being mostly discardable! If everyone sought art this way, guess what there is no money for any artists anymore. Art gets sought out for free or worse disposably free!
Which is assuming we are trying to make a living. That is my key point about these contests! NO professional artist would take part in a spec contest.
We know that, and the scientist knows it too. So who is really being asked to participate? Amateurs.
Now SOME of us amateurs are content just making art for free, so long as we are helping out the science. All we want is our volunteer work to matter and be acknowledged as a compensation.
Yes, you're right we artists shouldn't participate in these contests if we don't agree with them.
I personally don't for the record!
Those artists that do enter encourage this system in emerging widescale. AE takes them on where we can.
That still doesn't absolve you scientists from open sourcing though! Especially since you are the ones actual responsible for driving the artform in this direction. We artists can encourage it by feeding it, but we ultimately don't actually control it. That ball is within your, the palaeontologists' court. How are you going to play it?
If you truly believe in what you said about valuing artists as much as technicans I implore you to really read what I said in this post, and think about it from our point of view.
- November 9, 2011 at 2:08 AM
- davidmaas said...
I've begun responding a few times now, only to abandon the effort. Likely the best course of action....
Craig: I assume the friction stems from specific negative experiences, and wish you the best in getting some cool cooperations that ideally even generate some financial reward.
A few things seem to surface in your words:
first, the focus on financial returns (direct, indirect, down the way) seems out of proportion. While valid, it should be balanced out with a wider context of why it is we're interested in doing this stuff instead of package shots, or editorial graphics. I wouldn't want to work with a paleontologist that treats me the way my clients do.
second, you use "you guys" and "us" so often that I feel you are in fact in an "us vs. them" mindset. If so, go with it... rant. But say "me", "him / her".
If this is going to be constructive, it should be headed towards the formulation of netiquette for such cooperations. ie. if a wide call for artists, then following should be considered / avoided / assured...
For me personally, I expect encounter. I want to create something specific... not a creature, but an animal with all the weird bits and pieces alluded to by the traces it has left. And I am illiterate in reading those traces...
- November 9, 2011 at 9:43 AM
- davidmaas said...
I AM becoming literate in reading the papers from those who can read those traces (but only becoming), and I'm even gaining the ability to sniff out whose interpretations and trace-reading skills appeal to me.
- November 9, 2011 at 9:51 AM
- Victoria said...
Traumador: You mentioned that we still get paid for grant applications and posters even when they fail. If you mean that we get paid because we do those things while collecting a salary, then I suppose you are correct. But that is simply a difference between a salary-based job and a contract-based job. I should also point out that palaeontology IS actually largely contract-based unless you get a tenure-track faculty position (AND secure tenure!), which may not happen until you are 40. Until then, you are on scholarships, postdoctoral fellowships, or teaching sessionalships, which may last from a few months to five years. I'm not saying that making a living as an artist is easier than making a living as a scientist, far from it. But there is an entrepreneurial aspect to academia that I think a lot of people don't know about. We're also not at the top of the food chain! Ultimately that honour goes to the funding agencies...Anyway, this is getting off topic, but the main point I wanted to get across is that academia is not necessarily the land of milk and honey it may appear to be to those on the outside. It is a good job, but like all jobs, it has its own unique set of difficulties.
Moving back on topic: I think there may be a place for free art, especially for those who are just getting started. I also think there is a place for art contests, as these to me seem to be similar to architectural firms bidding on contracts by generating drafts of their building plans. As I mentioned previously, for many scientists there are simply no funds available for commissioning new art or licensing old art (museums are probably a different matter). For a lot of palaeontologists then, the option is to request donated art, to create their own art (which is what I typically do, and you know, it's not as good as if I hired someone), or to not have any art at all. I will also admit that I personally have no idea how much money to offer someone for a newly commissioned piece of art, and so I typically don't ask for art because I don't want to offend someone with too low an offer. I've tried looking at the guild of scientific illustrators pricing guide, but it was out of date and there doesn't seem to be a good up to date alternative. I think it would be really useful to have some sort of pricing guidelines widely available for people to consult if they're thinking about hiring an artist. But I also think it might be important to recognize that, right now, it may not be possible to make a living doing palaeoart for scientists at universities.
- November 9, 2011 at 11:21 AM
- jack Pollock said...
@Victoria: "These awards do not help fund your research like a grant would, but they give you additional prestige on your CV"
One of the things that might be helpful for paleontologists or anyone who doesn't deal with art on a regular basis is to understand that now that there is social networking combined with a bad economy this CV doesn't add up to much.
What I'm starting to see by exploring the paleoart blogosphere more is that
A) paleoart is undergoing a renaissance.
B) The paleoartists nowadays (many or most of whom seem to be on this blog) are some of the best that have ever been.
C) apparently many of them aren't getting paid for their art (at least not up front).
That last one would have been unheard of some years ago.
Again, that is all fine. But many of those talented and skilled artists will, eventually, run into the problem of having to pay their bills. They already do by having "day" jobs (some fortunate enough to have jobs that relate) but one day the demands of either will hurt both.
If an artist can be paid for their skill (formerly not a very controversial notion), and the paleoartist's skill combines, not only aesthetics but precision, and an advanced knowledge of comparative anatomy to name just 2.
And I may have missed some of the discussions but I can't remember anyone being hostile to paleontologists. Certainly not using the word "slimy". I would think the moderator would have sorted that unnecessary and hyperbolic slur out of the discussion.
I think the discussions have been trying to find a way to navigate the newish world of social networking and severe economic restrictions with the *uncontroversial* notion that a time consuming skill should be reimbursed in some fashion.
- November 9, 2011 at 12:22 PM
- Traumador said...
Jack- Clarification, I used the word "slimy" in the article in relation to someone holding a open sourced spec art contest and claiming it was for the good of the whole science.
However you are correct this was not aimed at palaeontologists in general, this description was directly aimed at the tactic of preying on palaeo-artist's good intention with false claims.
Art contests do not help the science of palaeontology as a whole, they help that one individual holding the contest. Only one piece of art will truly emerge from the contest... if those artists had all done their own individual pieces the science would have that many more pieces out there working for it. So I stand my by statement. To me that is slimy. At least if they said you'd be helping out MY research it'd be honest (which for the record is what Scott Persons did, as he is a class act).
Slimy also only applies when the art is free. If there is a money prize or a permenant job at the end of the contest I revoke slimy and all other negative labels... Though I do still say it doesn't help the science as whole, but at least it helps the winner in a real way.
I already outlined ways scientists could generate a little more goodwill towards contests in the comments. If they take the effort to get to know the artists that also, I hope, obviously removes the negative statements.
- November 9, 2011 at 4:38 PM
- Victoria said...
Jack: Perhaps it would help palaeontologists to know what is used in the art world to advance one's status and prestige. For a palaeontologist, a CV includes publications, previous work experience, teaching experience, awards, outreach activities, and field experience. I have assumed that artists use a combination of a resume and portfolio. What is the artist equivalent of a CV? How does one typically go about securing a contract? I would be interested to know what the process is like.
No palaeontologist is going to say that remuneration for art is controversial. But my previous points stand – for many palaeontologists, it's either free art, art at very reduced rate, or no art at all. In that case, surely there is benefit to having high-profile contributions in your portfolio, than nothing at all. This is what I mean when I say there may be benefits to free art. Certainly I would like to see everyone compensated fairly.
- November 9, 2011 at 7:08 PM
- Victoria said...
Traumador, I quote your words from the original article: "Yes palaeo is in trouble these days, and yes we'd all love to help it out. Preying on our desire to help by guilting us into action though, that is just plain slimy." To me, this is a pretty clear statement that palaeontologists, not just scientists in general, are slimy when engaging in this behaviour. If this was not your sentiment, then fine. But you absolutely must be more precise with your words if you do not want to give the impression that you are hostile towards scientists while simultaneously requesting additional assistance from them.
You also mentioned that it took one negative article to prompt me to comment. No, it has taken many articles since August to prompt me to comment. I'm not a commenty kind of person, because I have thin skin and the internet is a scary place. There's also only so many hours in the day, and if I'm going to participate in a discussion then I'm not going to just flounce in, leave a comment, and never return. Discussions like this one take a relatively substantial amount of time. If you want this community to be a place where palaeontologists feel welcome, then I am telling you that right now it does not seem that way to me. Apparently we are supposed to drop by, but not comment on finished art, and not ask for anything, but also give our time to help others out. Do you see how I find this confusing?
You have provided some basic outlines for how you would like scientists to generate more goodwill towards artists. I am trying to outline ways for the community at Art Evolved to generate more goodwill towards palaeontologists, but I feel many of my points are being flatly ignored. I have pointed out the situation with funding for palaeoart from the university side, suggested that pricing guidelines be more easily accessible, noted that some of the language used here is overly aggressive, and indicated some positives to providing free art. Some of these points at first glance seem to have been addressed, but really you've just shifted the goalposts – from palaeontologists, to amateur palaeontologists, to SOME amateur palaeontologists, for example. This is a community I would like to see succeed. But if you aren't going to address these points, then I think we're at a bit of an impasse. Whatever the case, I'm afraid this is where I need to end my comments on this article, as I'll be away from internet for the next two weeks. I will be interested to see where the discussion goes from here.
- November 9, 2011 at 7:29 PM
- Traumador said...
Victoria- That is a fantastic question about what is a palaeo-artists job description is. Now I can see where I'm not presenting my case as well as I could be ;)
There is no formal job description being a palaeo-artist or procedure for engaging one to make you palaeo-art. Think of most artists as freelance, unless they work for a firm or design department...
Meaning most of these artists are be working out of a studio if they are full time artists, others can operate out of their own home.
There seriously is no job description in what an artist does. Artists simply deliever what a client asks for. Meaning it is up to the client how the job it going to go down.
This gives art a wonderful adaptive and customizable aspect for both parties. It also means it can be a nightmare if it is lacking in communication or the two parties have different or conflicting expectations.
Our version of a CV is our art portfolio, which is of course is collection of our art work. Though think of this more as a catalouge than a CV. The idea is potential clients look through out work and ask what the timeframe and cost of a certain type of piece will be.
As most artists are freelance, basically ever piece of art is its own self contained job. Meaning unlike a scientist or person in a more stable job, artists go through a version of job interview for every work of art they create.
There is nothing different about these job interviews from any other, apart from artists have to do them all the time to keep up a steady stream of work.
- November 9, 2011 at 11:55 PM
- Traumador said...
Victoria- I want to clear the water a bit. As we've been thrashing so much it is getting muddy. I want to take a step back and clarify a few things.
Right away I admit I have unintentially moved the goal posts a bit in here, but would like to politely state you have too.
In your last comment you summarized what I said as this:
"Apparently we are supposed to drop by, but not comment on finished art, and not ask for anything, but also give our time to help others out. Do you see how I find this confusing"
I want to clear this up, as this has resulted from me clearly not being clear, but also perhaps yourself trying to infuse my statements with sentiments that weren't there.
I haven't said people shouldn't comment on completed art. I suggested it is not the best approach, and explained why and assumed you'd read this old post (http://blogevolved.blogspot.com/2011/09/philosofossilising-want-accuracy-in.html) as you brought up the topic. If you haven't read this post than none of my comments on art critiscm will make sense without it.
If you have read it and disagreed, I am sorry you disagree BUT I do make art. From what I've seen if we want all artists to improve their scientific accuracy, we need to be proactive. Giving potential nontrained palaeo-artists access to key bits of technical papers in an easy place and language would be far better than telling them about it after the fact.
In that post also I stated AE is planning on taking actions to help with a new strategy, and we still are (you can preview the very partially constructed husk of what I hope is AE's future at www.palaeoart.blogspot.com). I do aplogize if I haven't managed to get it up as fast as I hoped. However I do disagree that in that post I was hostile. You'll see palaentologist Mike Taylor in the comment section endorsing the idea (and giving helpful suggestions about how to get papers).
I also never said scientists should not ask for stuff from us?
Asking for free art is absolutely fine. I have said asking for MORE free art than you need is not okay.
Ask for portfolios of old art to select an artist to do your new piece. If you MUST hold a contest make sure you do something that helps ALL the participants.
People who do free art should be rewarded with recognition their effort deserves. The mere possibility of recognition is not acceptible, unless they are given something else like direct access to a scientist's input and knowledge.
I merely mentioned monetary compensation (admittedly poorly based on the reception by everyone) in an attempt to illustrate how low art has been devalued below free. If we talk about it and treat free art like it is a paying commodity there is a problem (the point of my post).
I don't care that most palaeo-art is done for free these days. I care that the people who do this art should be given the basic recognition for this donation of time and effort.
So those have been my only intended statements for palaentologists. I do not think they are unfair. I do not think they are hostile. Do correct me if I'm wrong, but please contain your opinion now to this ONE comment please. As I feel this is a very neutral and diplomatic clarification. (I'm also not 100% sure which old posts since August you are referring to)
- November 10, 2011 at 3:40 AM
- Jack Pollock said...
As for the CV, portfolio or body of work, I was responding to what you wrote:
"These awards do not help fund your research like a grant would, but they give you additional prestige on your CV"
Yes an artist's body of work is important. And prestige is important. A New Yorker cover is more prestigious than a cartoon in your local paper.
But the promise of "Prestige" has been an old carrot dangled in front of aspiring artists for ages. There's also a danger that the attention that your prestige piece gives you comes in the form of more people contacting you with offers to help them on their projects for no money.
Paleontology is a small field. The likelihood that the prestige of being able to show that you did an illustration for a paper or a talk is only worth anything to the artist if, say, a popular press magazine like National Geographic or Discover or whatever deems that research captivating enough to the general public to publish that art (and even then it depends on the terms of the agreement whether the artist gets paid or not).
The attention that illustration will get is probably otherwise limited to fellow paleontologists that are also operating on an attenuated research budget.
It is not unreasonable to see the scenario in paleontology that you see in the publishing world.
"Hey I'm looking for an artist to do a project I have in mind. You know of anybody?"
Oh, yeah, Soanso is amazing and totally cool and does the stuff out of love. S/he did this for me and I had no budget. But S/he's cool and gets it and would probably be willing to do your thing."
There was nothing slimy about that. But that's what often happens and that is what's perpetuating a market where content providers aren't getting paid.
Getting paid (again a heretofore uncontroversial notion) allows a content provider the means to keep providing that content in a reliable and professional manner.
(Sorry I just got this in and some of what i said merely echos Traumador)
- November 10, 2011 at 11:59 AM
- Jack Pollock said...
Oh, and although I seemingly keep harping on direct payment I mean to include such deals as Traumador is talking about in the initial post and comments. Something where the artist isn't going from contest to contest whipping up new material and constantly wasting his/her time.
- November 10, 2011 at 3:41 PM
- Jack Pollock said...
Oh, and although I seemingly keep harping on direct payment I mean to include such deals as Traumador is talking about in the initial post and comments. Something where the artist isn't going from contest to contest whipping up new material and constantly wasting his/her time.
- November 10, 2011 at 3:41 PM


text:
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