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Beat the Streak Report: Weekend, June 18-20
Robinson Cano (who else?) and Adrian Beltre each laced hits last
night to stomp on the fast forward button for a combined 22.8 percent
of our streakers.
Derek Jeter was the day's biggest doom's day device,
extinguishing the lifelines of 9.9 percent of the universe all by his
lonesome self.
Moving on, Interleague Play continues this weekend, as strange uniform
combinations and awkward American League pitchers taking the batter's
box awaits us.
This is never not fun. I just set a Google alert to notify me every time cousin Scotty heads to the plate for tonight.
On to the weekend's picks …
Oh, hello there ...
? Ian Kinsler: .750 AVG (9-for-12) lifetime vs. Marlins starter Nate Robertson
? Bobby Abreu: .550 AVG (11-for-20) lifetime vs. Cubs starter Carlos Silva
? Scott Rolen: .538 AVG (7-for-13) lifetime vs. Mariners starter Cliff Lee
? Hideki Matsui: .545 AVG (6-for-11) since '05 vs. Cubs starter Ted Lilly
? Victor Martinez: .429 AVG (6-for-14) lifetime vs. Dodgers starter Vicente Padilla
? Ryan Braun: .500 AVG (4-for-8) lifetime vs. Rockies starter Jeff Francis
? Derek Jeter: .433 AVG (13-for-30) lifetime vs. Twins starter Johan Santana
? Jim Thome: .429 AVG (12-for-28) lifetime vs. Phillies starter Roy Halladay
? Nick Markakis: .429 AVG (6-for-14) lifetime vs. Padres starter Jon Garland
Feeling kinda spicy?
? Adam Kennedy: .571 AVG (4-for-7) lifetime vs. White Sox starter Gavin Floyd
? Orlando Cabrera: .500 AVG (16-for-32) lifetime vs. Mariners starter Felix Hernandez
? Luke Scott: .545 AVG (6-for-11) lifetime vs. Padres starter Jon Garland
You'll thank me later …
? Hanley Ramirez: .200 AVG (2-for-10) lifetime vs. Rays starter Matt Garza
? Jose Reyes: .188 AVG (3-for-16) lifetime vs. Yankees starter Javier Vazquez
? Johnny Damon: .136 AVG (3-for-22) lifetime vs. Diamondbacks starter Edwin Jackson
? Adrian Beltre: .179 AVG (7-for-39) lifetime vs. Dodgers starter Vicente Padilla
? Troy Tulowitzki: .188 AVG (3-for-16) lifetime vs. Brewers starter Randy Wolf
? Alex Rodriguez: .192 AVG (5-for-26) lifetime vs. Mets starter Johan Santana
Leaderboard time!
"fromomma" hopped on the Michael Young gravy train to extend his streak
to a knee-bending 35 games. "fromomma"is now one more hit away from
tying "cruj" for the season lead.
Expect an e-mail from me, "fromomma", if you somehow survive
this weekend, so you can succumb to the
I-just-got-featured-on-the-blog,-my-streak-will-now-vanish curse.
Or something like that.
It was a dark day in Surivovr, as our fearless leader(s),
"brentandcam" saw a 29-game streak go down in flames courtesy of the
Yankees' loss to the Phillies.
Well, that was fun while it lasted. "brentandcam" is/are still in play
for tickets to the 2011 All-Star Game in Phoenix, if the 29-game streak
turns out to be the longest of the season. So all is not lost just yet.
Top MLB streakers
? Vladimir Guerrero: 13 games
? Josh Hamilton: 13 games
? Jose Guillen: 12 games
? Jeff Mathis: 10 games (no more DL!)
? Robinson Cano: 10 games
87 Comments
Hi there,
You got the wrong team for Friday's pick…Ian Kinsler is facing Wandy Rodriguez and the 'stros tonight, not the
I had Jetervbut is 0 foe 11 so far this week so changed to Cano. Padres in Survivor and A Rod in HR BTS. Good luck to all today and this weekend.
Personally, I'm trusting Delmon Young tonight…I know there're safer picks but as Pierre Corneille, the famous 17th century French writer, put it once:
"Triumph without peril brings no glory".
Given that he's facing Blanton (317 opp avg), and that he had 1 hit vs Jimenez yesterday ('double dog dare you' were your words…:-), I feel confident about it.
As someone said before, I am beginning to see more that this is a game against the game. It really does not matter what others pick really. Even at the streak of 20, one is 37 games away. Until you get to 30, its not much to get all excited about. Its like getting 3 out 6 #s in lottery.
Going with Kendrick today. Am at 1, so why not….. 🙂
I am going to help out Lav and say the highest no selection is page 8 with a streak of 16 now reset to zero.
@vinny: Thanx, when I get home I should have complete stats for the Top2500. BTS shouldn't beat me today.
BTS isn't going to beat me anymore. Going to make smart picks not popular ones. Jeter isn't a good pick as he is 0 for 11 this week so far and yet he is still one of the most picked. Ur welcome Lav and I hope top 2 fall so we have a better shot at the 3 mill.
If history repeats itself, as it has done for the past 10 years here, the top 2500 will ALL fall before September & that suits me fine since I'm at zero right now 😉
Ahem, chicken Angels. Only the 4th inning and intentionally walking Theriot to get to the pitcher. Go Cubs!!
Interesting Leader Page: 7 of first 8 picked different batters; kind of rare to see that, huh?
Friday's Top Picks of the current Top2500. All games included, 132 different batters picked overall
Player, Times Picked, Percentage
Justin Morneau, 285, 11.4%
Ichiro Suzuki, 232, 9.28
Martin Prado, 200, 8.00
Robinson Cano, 193, 7.72
Joe Mauer, 168, 6.72
Ian Kinsler, 152, 6.08
Albert Pujols, 90, 3.6
Michael Young, 84, 3.36
Miguel Cabrera, 622.48
Derek Jeter, 60, 2.4
Carl Crawford, 57, 2.28
Vladimir Guerrero, 57, 2.28
Bobby Abreu, 54, 2.16
Nate McLouth, 48, 1.92
Josh Hamilton, 44, 1.76
Evan Longoria, 44, 1.76
Troy Tulowitzki, 35, 1.4
No Selection, 35, 1.4
Highest "No Selection": Page #8 with a streak of 16 now reset to zero per Vinny 😉
The Rockies placed Troy Tulowitzki on the disabled list with a broken left wrist today…atleast it doesn't reset any streaks
oh, but it does slow our current leader down a game
could we pick same players in two days
You can pick the same player for 57 straight games if they played that many in a row. I'm starting to kick myself for picking Daniel Nava of the Boston Red Sox for today's BTS. Not sure what I was thinking. Again I get a decent streak going and now it's in jeopardy. He still has at least 2 more ABs, so I guess I shouldn't give up on him until the game is over.
@nymets: Nava? 9th place batter at home? Wow, you do like a challenge, don't you?
The blog group is adding some class I see.
"Triumph without preil brings no glory."
I think that Pierre Cornielle played for the Cubs in the 1950's and the quote – I heard it some where. I really think that it is from Professor Yogi Berra. lol
nice reference by a new blogger – renaudtn
Cano has me worried – My only smart move so far was not going with the "hot" Bryd of Cubs.
Oh I do lavolpe. I think this was a level 5 challenge and I'm not used to one that high. We shall see though. Wish me luck, I may need it. Even though he has had 8 hits in 5 games. Should have at least one this game.
I was looking ahead to tomorrow's games and I was thinking of going with Adrian Gonzalez. I know he is 0-4 against Millwood, but everyone is hitting Millwood this year so I think he will get a hit. He is now riding a 7 game hit streak too so he is swinging a pretty hot bat. I was just wondering what everyone else thought. Is that a good pick you think? I only have a 2-gamer going but it would be nice to start a long streak since my best is only 10 this year.
well, I guess it did not matter that I fell into the Byrd trap, since Guerrero went hitless anyway.
but why the hell did the Rangers pull him out leading by 6 runs in the 7th inning, when he himself had a 13-game hitting streak going and a guaranteed additional AB to come?
what the hell?
Satruday's Top Picks of the current Top2500. All games included, 139 different batters picked overall
Player, Times Picked, Percentage
Kevin Youkilis, 323, 12.92%
Robinson Cano, 195, 7.8
Michael Young, 184, 7.36
Ichiro Suzuki, 182, 7.28
Josh Hamilton, 179, 7.16
Albert Pujols, 124, 4.96
Magglio Ordonez, 96, 3.84
Ryan Braun, 83, 3.32
Andrew McCutchen, 80, 3.2
Vladimir Guerrero, 71, 2.84
Victor Martinez, 71, 2.84
Adrian Beltre, 53, 2.12
No Selection, 52, 2.08
Aubrey Huff, 41, 1.64
Miguel Cabrera, 37, 1.48
Highest "No Selection": Page #14 with a streak of 14 now reset to zero.
Yesterday hurt the Top2500 a bit with 31% being reset.
Kevin Youkilis, 323, 12.92%
Albert Pujols, 124, 4.96
Vladimir Guerrero, 71, 2.84
Victor Martinez, 71, 2.84
No Selection, 52, 2.08″
No wonder we are having such high reset days recently!
Youkilis is hitting barely over .200 over the last 2 weeks and gets walked a lot.
Pujols is supposed to be on the "no-pick" list and facing Ben Sheets is not exactly a favorable matchup.
Victor Martinez hits like .230 against right-handers.
It was announced that Vladimir Guerrero is not starting today.
And 52 more people forget to make a pick!
Right here, we could have 25%+ eliminated right here.
And for those not aware, there are 100 pages, 25 people per page which comprise the Top2500. Just a 1% reset = a full page of 25 people reset. So yesterday, 31% reset = 31 pages (31×25 or 775 people) dropped back to zero.
People have asked why I monitor Top2500? My answer is simple, they are the ones ahead of me that I can monitor. BTS doesn't provide stats for all active players. I also find it interesting how the Top2500 compare/differ from the field's stats posted in the "Results" page, not to mention the unexplicable number of no-picks that occur every day.
I went with Gardner. As soon as I heard him about Jeter being out and seeing him in the lead off spot. You just get this warm feeling. Looked at the stats and everythign lined up perfectly. Even the fact that he hasn't hit in 3 days. I overlooked him initially because I am always looking at only Cano and Jeter in the Yanks. I figure he was due for 5 ABs most likely. Didn't need to wait. I wish it was this easy everyday.
"No wonder we are having such high reset days recently!"
You never know with this game. How about Morneau yesterday? If you also look at "you will thank me pick" by the blog guy, most of the guys end up getting hits. I remember first 3 days he was on, every single one of the bad picks got hits.
Agreed: Stats are a suggestion only. My last streak breaker was with Ethier hitting well for past 2 games and owned pitcher but goes 0-4. Since then he has no hits, so I picked him at the beginning of his current slump — how can one tell? I see the picks of all the Top2500 and you'd be surprised at some of those picks: 7-9 place hitters batting below 250 and get hits. Others pick 330 and above batters that go 0-fer. No rhyme nor reason; just a matter of picking heads or tells correctly 57 times in a row!
The game has gotten harder this year.
Why? As the Chinese name the year after an animal, the 2010 Baseball Season is now named after a player position.
" 2010 The Year of the Pitcher" Steroid Era over and the pendelum has swung back to the mound.
Saturday results – Hits by entire team:
Cubs – 2
Wash – 3
Cinn – 5
Houstn – 2
StLouis – 6 (They won)
GL on Sunday!
Sunday June 20
Happy Father's Day to all Dad bloggers.
BTS – Mty pick – Raul Ibanez v. Zambano of Cubs. Ibanez is hitting .360 lifetime at Wrigley Field. Carlos Zambrano is in a shambles again this year. Will the good or evil Zambrano be on the hill today? Will Zambrano hit a HR – I would love to be able to take him in HR BTS as my streak there is at the usual big zero.
Is Dave Feldman off the Bloggers group? I do not see his name? I sent him an email about this and he did not respond? Has he be muzzled by the "suits" in legal dept.
I thought it was great that he was in the "hunt" with the bloggers group. We all knew he was not eligible to win it but it was fun to see his picks each day. As he suffered like the rest of us.
Not Raul Ibanez today………
Bobby Abreau v. Zambrano for my pick.
Just letting everybody know. Hanley is out on Sunday and I chose Braunin BTS, Padres to try to get to 7 in Survivor be Fielder in HR BTS.
got ichiro today vs harang in bts… GL today to everyone and happy father day
Kinda hard to imagine so many people with streaks of 25 or more.. but here is your leaders picks
1 dick.george 36 Martin Prado
1 fromomma 36 Alex Rios
3 kbarr9 33 Albert Pujols
4 aydinalp1 30 Martin Prado
4 lfinnberg 30 Martin Prado
4 steve_giannini 30 Ichiro Suzuki
7 death2fowl 29 Ryan Braun
8 gary71349 28 Martin Prado
8 rudypugh 28 Vladimir Guerrero
10 RangersGuy 27 Josh Hamilton
10 bschneider 27 Ichiro Suzuki
10 randy_rowe 27Placido Polanco
13 ecfraz 26 Ichiro Suzuki
13 izzylee 26 Ichiro Suzuki
13 mhassoun15 26 Martin Prado
13 mmoyn29 26 Dustin Pedroia
13 tonwil39 26 Orlando Cabrera
13 walterkenney29 26 Ichiro Suzuki
13 worstguybrm81 26 Ichiro Suzuki
20 davidsmiller7 25 Martin Prado
20 holmz3 25 Ichiro Suzuki
Ichiro is 1-for-12 career vs. Harang.
Sunday's Top Picks of the current Top 2500. All games included, 147 different batters picked overall
Player, Times Picked, Percentage
Ichiro Suzuki, 529, 21.16%
Ryan Braun, 290, 11.6
Martin Prado, 270, 10.8
Brandon Phillips, 103, 4.12
Michael Young, 81, 3.24
Robinson Cano, 77, 3.08
Nick Markakis, 60, 2.4
Miguel Cabrera, 53, 2.12
Derek Jeter, 52, 2.08
Josh Hamilton, 48, 1.92
Adrian Beltre, 47, 1.88
Albert Pujols, 41, 1.64
No Selection, 39, 1.56
Vladimir Guerrero, 35, 1.4
Highest "No Selection": Page #2 with a streak of 23 now back to zero.
Yesterday was a good day for the Top2500 having only 16% get reset.
Top2500 Bloggers Group:
UserName, Streak, Page #, Pick
blanco21, 12, pg28, Chase Utley
yanks22442, 9, pg69, Bobby Abreu
kenfucious:, 8, pg100, Troy Tulowitzki
Went with Ichiro. Harang's #s against lefties sealed the deal for me. I am confidant even if Ace Harang from a couple of years ago show up, I chiro will be able to muster one cheap base hit out somehow. I was also thinking about Rios as well.
Most of the leaders on the first page seems to mad pretty solid picks from what I can gather.
"Saturday results – Hits by entire team:
Cubs – 2
Wash – 3
Cinn – 5
Houstn – 2
StLouis – 6 (They won)
GL on Sunday!"
Eh, these stats are not very convincing though.
The Giants and Astros have horrible offenses.
Felix was pitching against the Reds.
The Cards have a mediocre offense, since Pujols gets a lot of walks.
On top of that, the Twins beat the Phillies 13-10 in 11 Innings yesterday with 9 combined HR's.
"Is Dave Feldman off the Bloggers group? I do not see his name? I sent him an email about this and he did not respond? Has he be muzzled by the "suits" in legal dept.
I thought it was great that he was in the "hunt" with the bloggers group. We all knew he was not eligible to win it but it was fun to see his picks each day. As he suffered like the rest of us."
Honestly, I have no clue why MLB employees are not allowed to play and win?
I think it would be fun to work at MLB for a living, but upon learning that I could not play BTS anymore, my interest evaporated?
I would love to know the reasoning behind this rule?
Not Raul Ibanez today………
Bobby Abreau v. Zambrano for my pick."
Why did you reject Ibanez?
"Ichiro Suzuki, 529, 21.16%
Ryan Braun, 290, 11.6
Martin Prado, 270, 10.8"
Wow, just 3 players control 44.0% of the top 2500 picks.
That could be MAJOR damage if these fail.
And Prado is already 0 for 2!
Looks like survivor is going to take a hit as well.
Tampa, and texas are both losing right now
So who had F.Sanchez in the HR BTS? Not me, but his 1st homer in the 6th gave my Survivor pick the lead!
DeJesus with a 3rd at-bat double. Cano or bust for me tomorrow.
damn, Prado is gonna hit 7 times at this rate.
the Braves have tied it up now, but do not move ahead, so Prado is likely to hit 6 times before the game ends, more if it goes extra innings.
LOL. Some father's day! Looks to be shaping out to be a bad day for pappas. Especially the 2 in the 20s who forgot to pick. I blame this on Lady Gaga!
Matt Holliday is RED hot right now.
Kansas City. 9 walks. This is a team that hits like mad but their pitchers get hit even harder.
And they STILL might win the game!
Kimbrel has walked two and made a HUGE error.
It could be 2 outs, 1 on, instead of 0 outs, 3 on.
I do not know what the hell this umpire is doing.
Anyone wanting an explanation for the Royals' 9 walks.
Just click over to MLB.com Gameday and look at Kimbrel's 0-1 pitch to DeJesus.
There is NO WAY that is a ball. It is right down the middle!
absolutely freaking unbelievable.
the Royals load the bases with no one out on 12 pitches, including 7 balls, with the bottom of their order, guys with batting averages of .182,.207, and a pinch-hitter.
they had DeJesus, Aviles, and Butler up with those bases loaded, guys with batting averages of .328, .312, and .331.
they do NOT score.
these three could not even ground into a force or sac fly.
and now Prado is basically assured a 6th AB now.
thanks Royals: way to give the keys to the leader
eh, Prado got the hit in the 8th and the Braves won in regulation, so it did not end up mattering.
Ichiro is still 0 for 2 though, so hopefully we can get some form of elimination here on BTS.
For Survivor, the Rays lost, but the Rangers have tied it up at 4 in the 9th.
If anyone is following Hamilton, he seems to alternate really strong performances with marginal performances lately.
Like today, he is 4 for 5, so we expect a 1 for 4 or maybe 0 for 4 his next game. Then, in his second to next game, we would expect him to be a good pick.
Even if I didn't pick Ichiro, I'd be surprised to see him go 0-fer against Harang; regardless of his history. Harang just isn't good this year.
Less than a 10% reset as of now (assuming Ichiro gets a hit), but the night game, TEX & CIN games have potential to add to the streak; does look like another good day for the Top2500; final tallies will be posted tomorrow.
Any predictions for Survior & BTS tomorrow? Here's mine:
BTS: Cano/Jeter tally about 50-60% of Top2500
Survivor: NYY tally about 98-99% of the entire field. Only those praying that the AZ can win will pick another team.
haha, I really doubt the number will be 98% Yankees, especially with the Yankees on the road.
I usually have a policy of not looking at the next day's games, until every game on the current day is final, but since I know there are only 3 games, I was curious if you know any players on those teams that are positively not playing tomorrow, because of any minor injuries?
Or are you anticipating any roster moves that might send Player X to the minors tomorrow?
If you pick Player X and get him into your account, they cannot take him away from you and he counts as a safe "no pick" for tomorrow.
Why would anyone want to not pick tomorrow: throw all the NYY player names in a hat and pick one. Most of them have a history with the AZ starter too. If there is a gimme in this game, it very well may be tomorrow. As for Survivor, AZ strikes out about 10x per game and would be fortunate to score 4 runs; even if NYY pitcher isn't one of the aces. Add to this that AZ is a home-run park this year; I do expect NYY to tally in the upper 90 percentile tomorrow; but we'll see.
ha, even when the Yankees played the Orioles at home, they only collected a 65% share.
while having only 3 games will definitely increase their share, I doubt it would be 32 points of movement!
I think it might be advantageous to use a safe "no-pick," on a day when two or three picks are going to have super concentrations of picks on them.
If those fail, you could move past quite a lot of people in the standings!
Ichiro Suzuki, 529, 21.16%: OUT
Ryan Braun, 290, 11.6: SUCCESS
Martin Prado, 270, 10.8: SUCCESS
Brandon Phillips, 103, 4.12: OUT
Michael Young, 81, 3.24: OUT
Robinson Cano, 77, 3.08: OUT
Nick Markakis, 60, 2.4: SUCCESS
Miguel Cabrera, 53, 2.12: SUCCESS
Derek Jeter, 52, 2.08: SUCCESS
Josh Hamilton, 48, 1.92: SUCCESS
Adrian Beltre, 47, 1.88: TONIGHT
Albert Pujols, 41, 1.64: SUCCESS
No Selection, 39, 1.56: OUT
Vladimir Guerrero, 35, 1.4: OUT
Highest "No Selection": Page #2 with a streak of 23 now back to zero.
Yesterday was a good day for the Top2500 having only 16% get reset.
Out of the Top 2500, 34.56% were reset with another 1.88% available tonight with Beltre.
It won't matter with me as Ichiro just took me down again but Corky Miller won't be catching tomorrow for sure. He catched today so Ramon is back on for tomorrow. And they would use a batgirl to pinch hit before this guy. Plus, they're playing in Oakland so no need to pinch hit for pitchers.
I am presuming Chad Moeller is a safe pick too. Posada will catch tomorrow with probably Cevelli as a back-up. Actually, look pretty easy. Bryan Pena caught today for KC. He is not gonna play for a long time. LOL! I guess all the regulars are being rested today for tomorrow.
"Out of the Top 2500, 34.56% were reset with another 1.88% available tonight with Beltre."
Yeah but who cares about resetting of streakers with less than 15 to be generous. I don't find this top 2500 countdown to be that much helpful because 95% of these people won't even see 15. Anyone with less than 25 streaks is absolutely no threat.
Its like taking comfort in other's streaks breaking but this game is really just a race against the game. I am actually getting somewhat worried about the 2 leaders. Now, they're in the danger zone. Any stretch of easy pickings coming up and they can shoot to 40s easily from here. Dick.
"Also, is 38 a threat really? That's just 2/3rds way there with another 19 game hit streak required to win it all. Anyone with a streak of 25 or greater had to start at one; so all streaks, until mathematically eliminated, have potential."
It is a threat in the sense that it is pushing the consolation prize higher.
Until today, we could all aim for 37, which is a lot more reachable than 57.
Now, we risk the consolation prize going to 40 or higher.
wow, I love how my current post just slotted in 6 posts back.
Dave, if you are reading these posts, in addition to wondering why MLB employees are ineligible to play BTS, could you explain why the posting system constantly mixes up the order of the posts?
Add Will Nieves too. Scratch Bryan Pena. He does seem to pinch hit here & there although I don't think he will tomorrow. Just found Oakland back-up caught today. I also don't feel that comfortable about Yankees because they're playing in AZ. Jeter does not hit well away so his awesome #s against Rodrigo is less potent. I actually hope the leaders pick Cano & Jeter and both lose their streak tomorrow.
Corky Miller
Landon Powell
Will Nieves
Chad Moeller
@btsplayer: "anyone with less than 25 streaks is absolutely no threat". Anyone with streaks greater than yous is as good a threat as those with 25. History has proven that no one can reach 50; so all streaks are equally doomed, whether 40, 30, 20, or 10, until someone does break 57.
Today had potential for sweetness but has turned sour; all games in except the night game & sitting at a 42% reset, including 50+ just within the 1st 5 pages. Tomorrow is another day; another start?
Also, is 38 a threat really? That's just 2/3rds way there with another 19 game hit streak required to win it all. Anyone with a streak of 25 or greater had to start at one; so all streaks, until mathematically eliminated, have potential.
"History has proven that no one can reach 50"
"Also, is 38 a threat really?"
The thing is history at such numbers is very limited. Once you past 30, you only need 3 to 4 good lucks going your way to patch together days of easy picks. In 4 yrs, I've been playing this, high streak leaders never died easily. At least half the time, it was due to freak events (ph, ejection, taken out of game, injury, etc). I tell you, many who got past 40 just needed that one day to turn their way to make it to 57. It was really was that close. Only dumb pick I remember was last year when somebody oddly picked Derek Jeter against Holliday.
What Dick.George got today was pure luck. He just needs maybe 3 more of those his way and he can get to 57.
What worries about Dick.George is he actually picks really odd picks that comes through on the days when popular picks perish. That Justin Morneau pick from 2 days ago does not make any sense.
Most of the leaders who end up perishing not due to freak events do so by pressure. They feel more need to pick name brand picks as their streaks go higher. If you look @ the all time list, almost everyone died of 4 Horsemen (Ichi, Mauer, Hanley, Jeter). The current leaders actally have been pretty good at staying away from popular picks which makes them even more threatening. Anyway, that is enough rambling for now.
I agree @btsplayer. I think the biggest freak event I remember was when the leader picked Ichiro vs. Kenny Rogers. I think he was 0-3 & Rogers hit him on his 4th at-bat. If I remember correctly he wasn't just the leader, but this game's all-time leader.
Monday will be interesting:
BTS- Cano v. AZ – I like his chances
HR – Cano – Az is a HR park?
Survivor – Yankees
Yeah. I remember that. We all breathed collective sigh. I think the whole board was in joyous mood when Ichiro got hit by a pitch. I don't ever recally Ichiro getting hit by a pitch since then because he is always swininging or half-way down the first base already.
I remember prkid had one of the Tigers, their top hitters got taken out after 2ABs each because they were being blown out.
How about that woman from lasty year with Votto. She simply couldn't stomach his ejection. I felt really bad for her. Although she was only in mid 30s I think.
"Yeah. I remember that. We all breathed collective sigh. I think the whole board was in joyous mood when Ichiro got hit by a pitch."
lol, not exactly.
One guy that did not seem like a serious player, kept taunting that, "If Player X goes to the well one more time with Ichiro, he will get burned."
And when that happened, he was sooo happy!
Every time someone brought him up, he would say, "See, I TOLD YOU! HAHA!"
the board was split between those who were happy to have seen him failed and those who were mad that that guy would not stop gloating.
but that was the only real activity on the boards that year.
most daily posts only had 1 or 2 posts max and sometimes there were days with no activity.
""If Player X goes to the well one more time with Ichiro, he will get burned.""
I remember that now. He was using some psuedo-Eastern Confucious ramblings too in his prediction. That was hilarious. I wonder if that guys still plays.
I am now thinking whether Kenny Rogers hit Ichiro out of spite. That Rogers himself played BTS and he did not like the upfront the leader showed by picking Ichiro against him. That was Rogers last season so he had nothing to lose.
Kenny Rogers plays BTS?
Since when? What interview did he say that in?
@btsplayer: "I tell you, many who got past 40 just needed that one day to turn their way to make it to 57"
Guess depends on how one looks at it. I look at it this way: Unless their streak consisted of mostly multiple hit games, they were exceeding their luck. Why? What's the difference between a 1 hit and no-hit game? Besides the obvious, it's a 1 inch difference in the pitch in any direction, a ball hit 20 feet shorter/longer, starting the bat a split second earlier/later and quite a few more variables. Putting the bat on the ball is skill, where that ball actually lands is mostly luck. Getting a really long streak is a freak of nature.
"Getting a really long streak is a freak of nature."
Your logic explains why 99.9999% will fail at this. But with so many people playing, there will be one that will some how slip through. And this game is not completely random luck. If it was, I would be less worried. But there is some amount of skill involved. For instance, Fromma's pick of Rios today was a good pick. He figured out that Rios kills everything during the day time. He has done it all season. I was debating between Ichiro and Rios today. As soon as I saw Fromma's pick, I thought at least one move on for tomorrow.
You need some amount good picking and definitely a good amount of luck. I really think Dick.George had his today. 9 Walks! Everything else being equal, w/o the walks, he should not have had the fifth at bat.
"Kenny Rogers plays BTS?
Since when? What interview did he say that in?"
I was just postulating. I bet though the Gambler ate the Roaster at least once.
Playing this game takes skill? Pffft. There is absolutely no skill involved. That's like saying there's skill in calling heads or tails or picking lotto numbers . If skill were involved, we'd have a winner every year.
Rios was a "good pick" only because he got a hit; if he didn't get a hit then someone would have came up with rationale why. Ichirio was a bad pick why? Let the rationale flow; but if he did get a hit, then what a great pick! Pfffft
Someone with skill out there: after the game is locked, look at the Top2500 list I put up. Then put your skill on the line and tell us (for just a third of them) why they are a good pick or bad pick.
If skill were involved in picking, 50+ times in a row, players to get, we'd be MLB managers or bookies.
^^ Oh, and for that "skill challenge", tell us why they are good or bad before they got a hit or batted twice whichever comes first 😉
I enjoy the game for what it is: a game of chance; nothing more except the $3MIL payout of course.
"Guess depends on how one looks at it. I look at it this way: Unless their streak consisted of mostly multiple hit games, they were exceeding their luck. Why? What's the difference between a 1 hit and no-hit game? Besides the obvious, it's a 1 inch difference in the pitch in any direction, a ball hit 20 feet shorter/longer, starting the bat a split second earlier/later and quite a few more variables. Putting the bat on the ball is skill, where that ball actually lands is mostly luck. Getting a really long streak is a freak of nature."
Not necessarily. If the ball was pitched a little higher or a little lower, the batter could still have made the adjustments to swing there.
And if the hit was a double in the gap, it could have been placed in quite a few locations, before it would be caught.
The only place I agree with you is if that 1 hit is an infield single. For that, there are only a few zones on the infield where an infield hit is possible and even then, you need to have pretty good speed.
Unless the ball takes a bad hop and you get a generous official scorer.
To add to the above (I wish there was an edit key!):
Say you adjust all the pitches thrown up 2 mm for a batter over the course of the game.
Well, yes, his hit might turn into a groundout, but an earlier popout might turn into a hit as a result.
So it is not that simple.
"I really think Dick.George had his today. 9 Walks! Everything else being equal, w/o the walks, he should not have had the fifth at bat."
That is a complicated issue as well.
You have to decide what the outcome of those walks would have been.
Do you really think those would have all been outs, had Davies come over the plate?
Would he have only allowed 4 baserunners over 8 IP?
It is likely that lots of those walks would have turned into hits, which is where Prado could have gotten his hit from: in that walk.
Even if he does get some of those people out, then the Braves are trailing heading into the 8th Inning and that 3-run inning ties things up and maybe Prado gets a hit in extra innings.
Remember the 20-inning game between the Cardinals and Mets this year?
The Cardinals should have ended the game several times, since they constantly left runners on, nearly every inning.
But then Pujols got his hit in the 17th Inning.
You might argue that he got lucky, but wasn't he just as unlucky to have the manager think it to be a good idea to put the pitcher's spot right behind him for all those extra innings, robbing Pujols of extra AB's?
You can always say something is lucky, but you also have to look for places where he was unlucky too.
And more often than not, those factors cancel each other out.
"Playing this game takes skill? Pffft. There is absolutely no skill involved. That's like saying there's skill in calling heads or tails or picking lotto numbers . If skill were involved, we'd have a winner every year."
Well, the heads/tails issue is not really valid, because you are in a static environment with only two perfectly equal outcomes being valid.
If your theory holds, then everyone's batting average at the end should be the same, or within five points of each other.
The lotto numbers issue is more complicated, but I think if one put enough research in, you could get 5/6 numbers within one year's time.
Also, if your definition of a game requiring skill is to have a winner every year, then you should play the HR contest. They have had a few winners already.
"Rios was a "good pick" only because he got a hit; if he didn't get a hit then someone would have came up with rationale why. Ichirio was a bad pick why? Let the rationale flow; but if he did get a hit, then what a great pick! Pfffft"
I do not think Rios was a good pick today.
That is where the luck factor comes in.
But if you rely on luck alone, you are bound to get burned.
Ichiro is a great example of this.
Ichiro was a bad pick today, simply because he is not hitting well right now AND has bad numbers against Harang.
Considering that Interleague play is on a 3-year rotation basis, we can pretty safely assume that Ichiro was in his prime the last time he faced Harang.
And yet Harang had owned him 3 separate times during the golden years.
Why would Ichiro be a good pick now that he is not even hitting that well?
A ton of people rely on Ichiro on brand-name alone.
"I enjoy the game for what it is: a game of chance; nothing more except the $3MIL payout of course."
Well, let's try an example. I had a 9-game hit streak, then snapped it with Marco Scutaro, then went on another 9-game hit streak, then snapped it with Marlon Byrd, then went on another 2-game hit streak, which is where I stand currently.
Assume that that pattern continues for 6 cycles.
So there would be a 60-game period, with 6, 9-game hitting streaks and 6 0 for games.
So if I had gotten lucky and converted those 6 opportunities, I would win.
If we apply your heads/tails model, I would have a 1 / (2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2) = 1 / 64 chance of getting that lucky.
Obviously you have to apply that 1 / 64 variable to the mix of skill/luck it took me to get those other 54 victories.
It is pure folly to assume the contest is pure skill or pure luck.
It is clearly a mix of the two, but the exact ratio is where the facts become cloudy.
Saying the game is pure "luck" is an excuse for not doing well. Sure there is a measure of luck involved no doubt but I would give the example of the stock market. Yes you can throw a dart and probably pick a winner but through research and the laws of probability you can reduce the luck involved in the game. I am currently on a 16 game streak my highest ever. Have I been "lucky" of course I have. But I have also looked at the numbers, researched the history of the hitters and put a heavy weight on 7 day stats. You are seriously mistaken if you think this game is pure luck. Someone will win the jackpot one year. We just don't know what year that will be.
Rios was as a good a pick as it ever gets in BTS. Check his daytime #s. He just can't hit at night.
Picking those gold medal #s against a lefty with problems against everyone recently is NOT a luck. The odds winning that one was pretty high. I would thinkg 95%. Five percent loss would be if Lannan throws a 1 or 2 hitter. If it was a 3 hitter, I would think Rios definitely got one of that hit.


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VërSpanken is all about the pressure you like, it's about the temperature that feels right, and the texture that keeps you coming back for more. With the open-ended housing and snap closure, the user controls the pressure. Unlike other toys, the user can change the texture and even the temperature experience. There are six different insert options available: FoamWieners™ (included in the VërSpanken box) and WaterWieners™ (sold separately), both available in Smooth (Blue), Bumpy (Green) and Wavy (Purple) textures. With this variety the combinations are endless!
The WaterWieners™ inserts (93286, 93287 & 93289) can be used at varying temperatures by either warming them in the microwave or chilling them in the refrigerator. Combine temperatures and textures while discovering a myriad of stroking techniques to change up the experience and keep him speechless! Try the upward curl, rocking and swiveling or maybe the twist and since VërSpanken is an open-ended toy, cleanup is a breeze! It's also great for couple play! Made of 100% recyclable materials, VërSpanken, like all Big Teaze Toys, contains no latex, phthalates, lead or heavy metals.
Choose a currency below to display product prices in the selected currency.

subset: commoncrawl


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December 02, 2020, 11:14:57 AM
You. You fixed the thing. Without replying. And you're new...and inexperienced....how? This is like some sort of prophecy style stuff right here 0.0
They are the messiah of the Westerforumtime to tempt
Quote from: Catvomitsky on September 30, 2015, 11:55:17 AMhttp://38.media.tumblr.com/81333094b16b087f3d51b2ab85147d27/tumblr_inline_nveysxbKdI1t6oo71_500.gif
Online GreyCaboose 09:56:33 PM Printing the topic "Hi ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I'm catvomitsky's friend"....wait what XD


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amazingact21 wrote: 3) Were you surprised that Edward wasn't with Bella when she woke up? Why did you think he wasn't there?
I wasn't too surprised. I figured, as much as he adores Bella, he still needs some time to do a fe of his own things. Night is the time the Cullens can probably catch up and relax with each other. And if it wasn't that, then I just assummed he was hunting.
I agree! I thought he was just hunting.


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While writing a textbook for an upper-level math class, a Franklin & Marshall College professor discovered that he has learned as much from his student assistants as they have from him.
"Their insightful questions and ideas have driven me to write the best book I was capable of writing," said Professor of Mathematics Robert Gethner, whose textbook is designed for the College's "Introduction to Real Analysis" course.
The two students helping Gethner on the book, tentatively titled "Mathematical Analysis and the Real Numbers: A Beginner's Guide to their Wonders," are seniors Andrew Miller and Donghui Li. Miller is using mathematical software to create diagrams, and Li is proofreading and suggesting changes and alternative approaches.
Gethner said his vision for the textbook evolved as he taught the course over the last eight years. He observed topics that excited students and sought ways to make mathematical analysis's difficult concepts clear to his students.
"I've learned a lot about the foundations of my specialty in the process of working on the book," he said.
Gethner sent a draft of the book to a publisher, the Mathematical Association of America, last December. An editor there was enthusiastic about the project and encouraged him to revise and resubmit. Gethner said he intends to send a finished manuscript this spring.
"Mathematical Analysis" centers on the deep logical analysis of the mechanics of calculus, Gethner said. His work explains abstract ideas to students in a conversational writing style, untangling intricate mathematical constructions in more detail than most other books on the subject, he said.
"As a writer, I'm trying to create the illusion that I'm in the room with my reader, chatting with them, telling them an engaging story and answering their questions, while at the same time being mathematically precise," he said. "My goal is to invite students inside the subject."
Miller and Li have been instrumental in this effort, said Gethner, who is chair of the Mathematics Department. Miller started working with the professor last spring. Li joined in the fall. The students work independently and meet weekly with Gethner.
Miller, a philosophy minor, said math became exciting for him when he took the department's "Introduction to Higher Mathematics."
"It was the first time that I got to see that mathematical thinking is closely related to the way we think in philosophy," he said. Miller produces computer-generated diagrams to illustrate the abstract theorems Gethner presents in the textbook.
"He is great at finding clever ways to make the software produce what we need," Gethner said.
As proofreader, Li "notices all kinds of valuable things," Gethner said. He took note of Li's editorial ability during a course he was teaching that used an earlier version of his book.
"She would come into my office to ask questions about the assigned reading," he recalled. "It was clear she had read very thoroughly. I would look at what I'd written and find myself thinking, 'What was this guy trying to say?'"
Li said she likes that Gethner uses metaphors to explain abstract ideas.
For example, to clarify the idea of a "dense set," Gethner used the analogy of too many students attending a party in a crowded house, forcing some to move outside to alleviate the pressure inside.
"It actually helped me to understand the abstract idea better," Li said.
Li and Miller said the key benefits of working on the textbook have been a greater understanding of the subject and the opportunity to work with a professor on his scholarship.
"The beauty of Li and Miller's work is that not only are they a huge help to me, but they're also learning from the experience," Gethner said.


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A Miami Beach Police detective who is being investigated amid allegations that he had consensual sex with a 17-year-old known to him in his unmarked police car has been relieved of duty, officials said Wednesday.
Detective Oldy Ochoa Jr. was relieved of duty with pay Tuesday as Pembroke Pines Police investigate the sexual battery allegations, Miami Beach Police spokesman Bobby Hernandez confirmed.
According to a Pembroke Pines Police search warrant, the investigation centers around Ochoa having consensual sex with the 17-year-old girl. One of the alleged encounters occurred behind a building before he dropped her off at Florida Career College, the warrant says.
"We take these allegations very seriously. We are cooperating with the Pembroke Pines Police Department to make sure there is a thorough investigation," Miami Beach Chief Raymond Martinez said in a statement.
Ochoa has been with the department for 24 years and is currently a homicide detective, Hernandez said.
The case is still open, Hernandez said. The Pembroke Pines Police Department declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.


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Lesson Plan
Teaching Language Skills Using the Phone Book
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|Thirteen 45-minute sessions
|Lesson Author
Urbana, Illinois
The phone book can be used to teach many crucial language skills. This lesson includes a series of activities in which students first learn how to accomplish a specific task or find certain information in a phone book, then apply what they have learned using guiding handouts and their local phone book. They learn how to find a person's name in the phone book and explore spelling variations. They compare print and online phone books using a Venn diagram. They explore the community, emergency, and other special information pages found in the phone book. They practice alphabetizing items and finding items that are listed in alphabetical order. They practice using the yellow pages in a variety of ways, play with creating 800-numbers for businesses, and explore time zones and area codes using the maps found in their phone book. Finally, students use their skills to create a class phone book.
Phone Book Activity: Emergency Resources: This handout has students look for emergency numbers in a phone book. It could also be useful for a safety lesson.
Using the Phone Book: The Yellow Pages and the White Pages: This handout explains the difference between the yellow pages and the white pages in a phone book, and has students practice finding information in the yellow pages of their phonebook.
Interactive Venn Diagram: Students can use this online tool to compare and contrast two items, such as print and online phone books.
By having students engage in multiple activities using the phone book, this lesson addresses several important points from NCTE and IRA's Standards for the English Language Arts. Standards state:
"Because there are many kinds of reading and many purposes for reading, students need to read for a range of purposes and within a variety of contexts in order to become proficient and knowledgeable readers. They need opportunities to explore and study many different kinds of printed texts..."
"It is essential that students acquire a wide range of abilities and tools for raising questions, investigating concerns, and solving problems."
"Students need to learn creative and multifaceted approaches to research and inquiry. The ability to identify good topics, to gather information, and to evaluate, assemble, and interpret findings from among the many general and specialized information sources now available to them is one of the most vital skills that students can acquire."
Further Reading
National Council of Teachers of English and International Reading Association. 1996. Standards for the English Language Arts. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English and International Reading Association.


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Just hours after winning the NBA Championship (following the most ridiculous final three minutes of an NBA Finals game ever), LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh hit up an afterparty with LMFAO. Note LeBron is sporting a shirt with a pic of himself.
Despite the late-night celebration, LeBron is up and at 'em this morning, and it looks like reality is just beginning to sink in. Posted just now by @KingJames himself, with 32K+ retweets: "OMFG I think it just hit me, I'm a CHAMPION!! I AM a CHAMPION!!"
It's the final seconds of Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade sink five of six free throws.
A 6-year-old Thunder fan collapses in a puddle of tears.
"I hate Miami!"
Ronald Poppo, the homeless Miami man who had most of his face eaten off by Rudy Eugene a few weeks ago, is battling a major infection, needs his nose reconstructed, and has lost full vision in at least one eye. But he's walking and talking, and figured that as long as the media were hovering, they could convey a message for him:
Go Heat.
[thanks, lisa!]
A short while ago, LeBron James tweeted this photo of him and his Miami Heat teammates wearing hoodies in solidarity with Trayvon Martin's family and friends.
According to the Palm Beach Post's Heat Zone, James is the one who organized the photo and made it happen.
Earlier today, Dwyane Wade also tweeted a photo of himself in a hoodie along with the hashtag #trayvonmartin.
[@kingjames / heatzone.]


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Fantasy Blocks
Introduce your child to their very own fantasy world with the Fantasy Blocks collection.
This set includes 26 pieces of intricately designed blocks with vivid colors, intriguing patterns and designs, and a few secrets here and there. Some feature a glittery hologram, or mirror foil coating for added decoration and flair. Others have hidden items, such as a little bell.
As they discover staircases, sunshine, flowers, rooftops, and many other attributes, children will use their imaginations to create various scenes and items.
Blocks are crafted from high-quality acrylic and beech wood. All wooden materials are taken only from PEFC-certified sustainable forests in Germany.
- Recommended for babies and toddlers 12 months and older
- Integrates with our Discovery Block System, Ball Track Construction System, and Basic Building Blocks System
- Includes 26 pieces sized in standard increments of 4 cm x 4 cm x 4 cm
- Made of beech wood coated with multiple layers of water-based, natural, solvent-free lacquers; some pieces embellished with foil coatings or acrylic
- Lovingly designed in Germany by our talented friends at HABA
- Made in Germany
- ORIGIN : Made in Germany
- GIFT BAG : Gift Bags are available for this product.
Age Recommendations
Why We Love This Product


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Rachel HopkinsBurson-Marsteller(412) email@example.com McLeanTransitions Optical, Inc. (727) 545-0400 ext. email@example.com
Optical Industry Leader Invites Event Attendees to See What They've Been Missing at the Festival's Only Elevated Structure with Celebrity Chef Robert Irvine and Weekend-long Activities
Local Chef and Bestselling Author Ana Quincoces to Educate Children at the Festival's Family-Friendly Event
PINELLAS PARK, Fla., February 21, 2013 – To elevate the importance of enhanced vision and kick-off its 2013 campaign – Transitions® adaptive lenses as the "Official Sponsor of Sightseeing™" – Transitions Optical, Inc. will unveil the "Feast Your Eyes Enhanced Vision Experience" at the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by FOOD & WINE in Miami, Fla., February 21 - 24. Festival attendees will be invited to visit the event's only elevated structure on the beach to see what they've been missing – in Transitions Optical's effort to raise awareness about the important role of vision in connecting with all of the "sights" around you and enjoying life's everyday moments.
The "Feast Your Eyes Enhanced Vision Experience" will be located along the beach at the Festival's Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Village, and will offer several different ways for the more than 30,000 event attendees to see what they've been missing through trials of the Transitions lenses family of products, including Transitions lenses, Transitions® XTRActive® lenses and Transitions® Vantage™ lenses – all of which enhance visual quality and comfort by adapting to changing light conditions. While on the top deck of the Experience, attendees will also have the opportunity to look through customized viewfinders, to get the best view from above of the Festival and the beach.
As part of the Experience, attendees will also be able to participate in an interactive photo shoot, complete with a decorative set made to look like an over-the-top, whimsical dining experience with food and drink-related props, crew and professional photographer.
"From picking out fresh herbs, to visually seeing textures and colors of food when cooking, at Transitions Optical we believe vision plays an essential role in enjoying our interests, passions and everyday moments," said Dan McLean, senior marketing manager, communications, Transitions Optical. "Participating in the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival is a relevant opportunity to elevate enhanced vision through the passion of food and bringing awareness to the importance of proper eye care and eyewear."
Joining Transitions Optical at the event will be host of the Food Network hit show Restaurant: Impossible and long-time Transitions lenses wearer, celebrity chef Robert Irvine, who will be available for meet and greets at the Enhanced Vision Experience throughout the weekend to discuss how vision plays such an important role in his life, both professionally and personally. Irvine also created two sorbet flavors using eye healthy ingredients – Carrot Lemon Thyme and Spiced Green Apple – which will be served during the Experience.
Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival
"To me, enhanced vision means seeing my best by eating eye healthy foods, maintaining an active lifestyle and wearing eyewear that allows me to see clearly and comfortably," said Robert Irvine. "I am thrilled to be at the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival with Transitions Optical, to share my story with others and encourage them to care for their eyes and ask their eye doctor about Transitions lenses."
In addition at the Festival, Transitions Optical will bring the Transitions adaptive lenses tent to the Florida Blue presents Fun and Fit as a Family sponsored by Carnival featuring Kellogg's Kidz Kitchen events at Miami's Jungle Island on February 23 – 24, to educate children and their parents about ways to maintain eye health. Children will have the opportunity to receive free vision screenings, and because one in four children has an undetected vision problem that can interfere with the ability to read and learn, they'll be encouraged to take the "My Eye Promise," pledging to take care of their eyes by getting comprehensive eye exams and wearing proper eyewear.
Celebrity chef and bestselling author of Sabor! A Passion for Cuban Cuisine, Ana Quincoces, created a signature recipe for the Florida Blue presents Fun and Fit as a Family event using eye healthy ingredients including Brussels sprouts, spinach, apricots, and walnuts, and will spend time at the Transitions lenses tent to share tips on making this recipe at home and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Chef Ana will be joined by a nutritionist from the American Diabetes Association, to further discuss the importance of eating a nutritious diet, and the impact conditions such as diabetes, can have on vision. Robert Irvine, who also created a signature recipe for Florida Blue presents Fun and Fit as a Family – Transitions Trail Mix – will appear at the Transitions lenses tent during the weekend as well.
The founder of mobile literacy initiative Bess the Book Bus, Jenn Frances, who travels nationwide distributing free books to children in need, will also host games, giveaways and read-alouds for children attending Florida Blue presents Fun and Fit as a Family. Transitions Optical partnered with Bess the Book Bus early in the week leading up to the Festival to provide free eyecare services and new eyeglasses fitted with Transitions lenses, as well as brand new books, to underserved children in the Miami area participating in Fit Kids Club, an after-school program that partners with by Florida Introduces Physical Activity and Nutrition to Youth (FLIPANY), whose mission is to empower youth and their families through physical activity and nutrition and education programs, particularly in underserved areas of the state.
To learn more about Transitions lenses and where the Enhanced Vision Experience will be next, and for the chance to win exciting prizes, visit www.seemoresights.com.
About Transitions Optical, Inc.
Transitions Optical is a joint venture of PPG Industries, Inc. and Essilor International. The first to successfully commercialize a plastic photochromic (or adaptive) lens in 1990, today the company is a leading provider of adaptive lenses to optical manufacturers worldwide. Transitions Optical offers the most advanced adaptive technology in the widest selection of lens designs, materials and brand names – setting a new standard of advanced performance, enhancing visual quality, and providing more visual comfort and eye protection than ever before.
The Transitions family of everyday adaptive eyewear includes Transitions® lenses, which remain clear indoors and automatically darken outdoors in changing light conditions; Transitions® XTRActive® lenses which maintain a comfortable hint of tint indoors and reach superior darkness outdoors; and the revolutionary Transitions® Vantage™ lenses, the first and only adaptive eyeglass lenses to both darken and polarize outdoors, so that your vision is noticeably crisper with enhanced contrast and sharpness.
All products in the Transitions family of adaptive eyewear block 100 percent of harmful UVA and UVB rays – helping to protect the health and wellness of your eyes – so you can see better in the future as well.
For more information about the company and Transitions lenses, visit http://en-us.transitions.com/ or contact Transitions Optical Customer Service at (800) 848-1506 (United States) or (877) 254-2590 (Canada).


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Available ebook formats: epub mobi pdf lrf pdb txt html
Hallett German is a fiction and technical subject author on various aspects of IT. His works of fiction cross multiple genres including children, young adult, dysfunctional corporate mysteries/fantasies, historical fiction, and steampunk. His books offer a unique and original ride into other worlds and lives.


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Be confident your Glock® pistol will perform to factory standards each and every time with genuine Glock® factory magazines. Manufactured to Glock® specifications in Austria by Glock®. All models include round count indicator on rear face of magazine body and standard factory baseplate.
Compatible with Gen 4 Glocks®.
"GLOCK" is a federally registered trademark of Glock, Inc. and is one of many trademarks owned by Glock, Inc. or Glock Ges.m.b.H. Brownells is an independent dealer of parts and accessories for Glock® pistols, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Glock, Inc. or Glock Ges.m.b.H. The use of Glock on this page is merely to advertise the sale of Glock parts or components. As indicated in the product descriptions, not all parts and accessories on this site are official Glock products.
SPECS: Polyethylene body over steel liner. Glock factory compatible with Gen-4 guns.
Mfr Part: MF17033
Cartridge: 9 mm Luger
Capacity: 33-Round
Quantity: 1
Finish: Black
Material: Polymer
Mfr Part: 47462
Finish: OD Green
Mfr Part: 47463
Finish: Flat Dark Earth
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Please enter your email address and quantity below andwe will send you an alert when the item becomes available.
Please note that alerted inventory is on a first come, first serve basis.
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Thank you for contacting Brownells. You've reached us after business hours. Live Chat is available 7:30 am to Midnight (U.S. CST) Monday - Friday and 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (U.S. CST) Saturday - Sunday. You may also contact us via email at email@example.com.


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Do we want to broaden the the web team's charge to include "communications within LIS"?
Can we clarify what this means!? We have already proposed the LIS one blog as a major communication tool. To consider communications more broadly probably should involve gathering info about current communications, discussion of what various LIS ares/departments/staff need and want etc. etc. Is this something that should happen now?
Comment here!!


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Jefferson County
Jefferson County People
Married In Missouri
Missouri Marriage: Allen D. Howell and Ruie Ann Branson June 20, 1940 Note: Hand written items in [brackets] I do not have any other info. about this couple, and I have no family connection that I am aware of. Bob Loman Page 546 Written on Document [2598] MARRIAGE LICENSE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- STATE OF MISSOURI, COUNTY OF CAPE GIRARDEAU THIS LICENSE AUTHORIZES any Judge of a court of Record, or Justice of the Peace, or any Licensed or Ordained Preacher of the Gospel, who is a citizens of the United States, or a resident of and pastor of some Church in this State, to SOLEMNIZE MARRIAGE between [Allen D. Howell] of [Mt. Vernon] in the County of [Jefferson] and the State of [Illinois] who is [over (21)] the age of twenty-one years; and [Ruie Ann Branson] of [Johnson City] in the County of [Williamson] and the State of [Illinois] who is [over (19)] the age of eighteen years. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - (SEAL) WITTNESS my hand as Recorder of Deeds, with the seal of office hereto affixed, at my office in Jackson Missouri, This [20] day of [June] 19[40] By [] Deputy. [Gust Schultz, Notary Public ] Recorder of Deeds ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- STATE OF MISSOURI SS County of [CAPE GIRARDEAU] This is to certify that the undersigned [Gust Schultz, Justice of the Peace] did at [CAPE GIRARDEAU] in said County, on the [20] day of [June] A.D. 19[40] united in Marriage the above named persons, and I further certify that I am legally qualified under the laws of the State of Missouri, to solemnize Marriages. [Gust Schultz, J. P.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Filed for record on the [24] day of [June] A.D. 19[40]. [E. W. Hink] Recorder of Deeds By [] Deputy.
HOME Please send additions, corrections to Jefferson County Coordinator Cindy Ford © 2005-2014 by Cindy Ford All rights reserved


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HorsePLAY! LIVE
Episodes 17 – Let's Move To Canada.. For Hearthstone!
*** Featuring Matt Bradford of VGO & Zombie Cast ***
In this episode, HorsePLAY! LIVE becomes The Derailment Extravaganza (or is it Bonanza) once again. Matt Bradford from Zombie Cast and VGO (Video Game Outsiders) returns to HorsePLAY! to help us stay raw, silly, and off-topic. Some may know him as @MattoMcFly or "Moto". He's also known as one of the writers for the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition, AllGames, and GamesRadar, amongst other things. We know him as one of our favorite Canadian geeks!
Matt confessed that any time after 11pm Eastern on a week day, he is essentially brain dead. As a result, we get the sillier, more random Matt'O. Somehow, he manages to give spoilers for our own show. There are the usual wild tangents and shenanigans, but we mainly talk about Hearthstone, The Walking Dead, and freemium games.
We don't do nearly as much League of Legends talk these days. Matt groans at the mere thought. It turns out that he may actually enjoy the game but the toxic community as seen on Reddit and other social media scares him away. There are plenty of mainstay games we would like to play with our friends and fans – LoL is certainly one of them so give it a try… Stan Faryna did! #YOHTAI
Show Highlights:
- Golf is just something for bored richies to show off how much money and land they have.
- WWF does not make us think about endangered animals.
- "There's a lot of cool cats on the AllGames network."
- HorsePLAY! LIVE is the perfect show to be brain-dead on!
- Matt Bradford plays the hand harmonica.
- Yogi is a very loud Puerto Rican, NOT a Mexican.
- Sword Art Online is like dot.hack and Photon.. And it's coming back for Season 2!
- Apparently, everyone is too young to remember Photon.
- We all love The Guild.. And Felicia Day.. Wil Wheaton, too.
- Chris Hardwick is a narcissistic douchebag.
- "WTF is in the basement??"
- Twitter is getting rid of #hashtags.. Brilliantly stupid.
- Third-party Twitter apps are WAY better than the official one.
- Twitter is going to kill their existing user base.
- "90% of the population mis-uses hashtags."
- Hearthstone iOS app is available only in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.. Sorta.
- You can now rejoin Hearthstone matches if disconnected.
- Fashionably late The Walking Dead S4 finale reactions.
- When is free-to-play really pay-to-win?
- Hearthstone is NOT a pay-to-win game.. We explain why.
- Did we mention we are now part of the AllGames family now??
- Tons of other geeky antics and train wrecks, as per usual.
Matt Bradford has also put the Canadian bacon debate to bed. This is his official statement, and I am paraphrasing:
Is that even ours? I don't think so.. It's an abomination. Canadian bacon is ham, NOT bacon.
"Moto", you are a man above all men. We love having you on the show and hope to have you join our geeky antics more. Now, we need more G33k Grrlz and a little less Mancrushes.. It's starting to be a sausage fest over on HorsePLAY! LIVE.. Where's the bacon??
In case you missed it, HorsePLAY! is on the AllGames Network Thursdays at 5pm EDT. HorsePLAY! LIVE (HD) is on Twitch at 11pm EDT. Come join us on the IRC and Twitch chats!


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Sand Island may seem like a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there. The remote tropical community is home to the pygmies of Tribe Ooga Chaka, a pint-size primitive culture destined to endure a seemingly endless series of horrible fates--everything from volcanic eruptions to meteor showers to swarms of man-eating fire ants, each set into motion by a single swipe of the fickle finger of fate.
Sand Island is just one of several fantastically exotic locales that make up the ever-expanding virtual realm of the smartphone game Pocket God. A delightfully subversive, unabashedly sophomoric farce with roots ranging from Mad Magazine to South Park, Pocket God grants gamers omnipotent control over the luckless Ooga Chaka universe and rewards them for indulging their most malevolent impulses. Built in just one week, the 99-cent Pocket God ranks among the signature hits of the iPhone era, generating more than 13 million downloads and giving birth to a growing cottage industry spanning T-shirts, toys and comic books.
"The idea of doing bad things to these characters is appealing to a lot of people," chuckles Dave Castelnuovo, the otherwise mild-mannered software programmer whose startup Bolt Creative launched Pocket God in early 2009. "It's so simple. It's something you whip out at a bar and say, 'Look how crazy this is. It's all about killing these little guys!'"
Pocket God's pygmies are on fire.
Pocket God's very existence--let alone its massive success--would have seemed equally crazy not so long ago. Multinational brands like Nintendo, Sony and Sega once dominated the video game industry, devoting many years and millions of dollars to developing console and PC titles that typically sold for $50 to $60. Then in mid-2007 Apple introduced the iPhone, and everything changed: Virtually overnight, handheld computers landed in the pockets and purses of millions of tech-savvy consumers, liberating digital gaming from the living room and propelling it into the world at large.
With the advent of the App Store, Apple further rewrote the rules, giving third-party developers access to its iPhone application programming tools and establishing a direct-to-consumer digital distribution platform that bypassed brick-and-mortar merchants, exorbitant programming expenses and other obstacles that had impeded small, unheralded gaming startups. Fast-forward to 2012: There are now more than 120,000 games available in the App Store and roughly 150 new titles submitted every day, priced at an average of just over $1 each. (In exchange for revolutionizing the mobile software business, Apple claims a 30 percent share of all App Store revenue.)
North American mobile gaming revenue will surpass $1.2 billion this year, exploding from $462 million just five years ago, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The ascent is tied directly to smartphone penetration. Roughly 110 million U.S. consumers--more than one-third of the population--own smart devices like iPhones and Androids, according to comScore. By comparison, Nintendo has sold only about 5 million 3DS dedicated gaming handhelds to U.S. consumers since the product launched in March 2011.
Still, Nintendo and Sony have remained stubbornly dedicated to their proprietary platforms, opening the door for indie developers like Bolt Creative to flourish. A recent report issued by mobile analytics firm Flurry indicates that 68 percent of all smartphone gaming sessions are devoted to titles developed by studios that launched on mobile, as opposed to companies that extended their existing gaming efforts from competing platforms.
"In order to build a console game, you have to have good connections and pitch a ton of ideas, and then executives tell you, 'No, it's not different enough' or 'It's not alike enough' or 'These are the only genres that are selling,''' Castelnuovo says. "The iPhone is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. There are no game manufacturing costs, and no revenue split with retailers. This is a creative experience for us. We're not trying to craft a business model to separate people from their money. We're just trying to create something interesting--and we want people to enjoy it."
God Is In the Details
It's a perfect summer day in San Francisco, home to Bolt Creative headquarters--aka Castelnuovo's house in the Sunset District. Three computer monitors, a Wacom graphics tablet and an array of Apple devices stretch across Castelnuovo's crowded desktop, while superhero plush toys and statuettes immortalizing Japanese anime heroines line his office bookshelves.
His love for popular culture exerts a profound influence on Pocket God's ongoing evolution: In the wake of Charlie Sheen's public meltdown, the game introduced a manic pygmy character named for the actor, and in June Bolt Creative teamed with Parry Gripp, frontman of punk-pop band Nerf Herder, to release "Pygmy Theme," a digital single sold via Apple's iTunes.
It's fair to say the 42-year-old Castelnuovo never imagined Pocket God would carve out its own spot in pop-culture lore. The former aerospace engineering student and self-taught programmer cut his teeth on Sega console projects like Ringler Studios' Clay Fighter and Zono Incorporated's Mr. Bones before launching Bolt Creative in 2001 to create Flash-based apps for the web. Castelnuovo was freelancing on the online game World Golf Tour when the introduction of the iPhone opened his eyes to the creative and commercial possibilities of the mobile platform: Pocket God took shape as one in a series of throwaway apps intended to hone his skills writing software for Apple's iOS mobile operating system.
"I gave myself 10 hours to learn the iPhone, build the simplest of apps and publish it to the App Store," Castelnuovo recalls. "I first came up with this stupid little image-warping program called Fwarp! It ended up selling about 150 units a day, and I realized, This could be doable. If I had 10 of these, I could do this for a living."
Roughly a month after Fwarp!'s October 2008 release, Bolt Creative launched the Spirograph-inspired Slinky Ink app. Both earned scathing user reviews in the App Store. "Those apps didn't have a lot to them," Castelnuovo admits. "I did a few updates, but they didn't evolve a great deal."
Making Ooga Chaka mischief: Pocket God sketches.
Pocket God, Bolt's third published iPhone release, drew its inspiration from an e-learning project that Castelnuovo and longtime creative partner Allan Dye built for client ASK Learning, in which players dragged characters that looked like zeros onto different platforms to create binary numbers (the real fun came from tossing the characters around). Dye, who handles all Pocket God design and animation, sketched out the pygmy characters over a lunchtime brainstorming session, and Castelnuovo completed the programming work in a matter of days.
"Pocket God was meant to be a steppingstone. We knew that if it took off, we could add more features and expand, but we didn't have a time frame in our head," Castelnuovo recalls. "It was mostly a matter of doing something and getting it out there."
Though Pocket God attracted attention during its first weeks in the App Store, online discussion about the game was largely negative, fueled by ill will toward Bolt Creative's previous efforts. "One person on [iOS gaming forum] Touch Arcade said, 'This looks cool, but it doesn't do anything, so don't waste your time,'" Castelnuovo says. "Others said, 'Look at their other games. They don't support them. This is a game trying to sell itself on future promises they're not going to keep. Bolt Creative is not a reputable developer. Don't trust them.'
"How do you deal with that?" he adds. "I felt I needed to be honest and decided to approach it from a low-level, grassroots perspective to get people on our side. I went on Touch Arcade and said, 'We're just a couple of guys. We are serious about this game; we really enjoyed working on it and we hope to do more updates. Trust us.'"
Castelnuovo and Dye proved their mettle by delivering Pocket God updates over 14 consecutive weeks. Designed as sitcom-like "episodes"--complete with titles like "Does This Megabyte Make My App Look Fat?" and "You Always Hurt the One You Lava"--each update added new game-play features while fleshing out the Ooga Chaka universe and solidifying the game's tongue-in-cheek sensibilities.
"Dave and I are used to doing everything on our own," Dye says. "That's not the norm. We work quickly, and we can add all this content quickly because we know the two of us can do everything we need to do. That enabled us to build out this world really fast. It's not as easy if you have a big company full of people who specialize in every different thing."
Bolt Creative also responded to critics by making each Pocket God update free for users who forked over the original 99-cent download cost--a model that remains unchanged more than three years and 46 updates later. Castelnuovo credits the deluge of new content for nurturing the devoted fan base that keeps the game in the upper rungs of the App Store's sales rankings.
"[The updates] built a story for us," he says. "We never got any major press coverage or promotion from Apple, but people started saying, 'These guys care about their app more than anyone in the App Store.' It's all been about talking to reviewers and 12-year-old kids and getting them enthused. That kind of word-of-mouth is more powerful than advertising."
As the Pocket God cult grew, Castelnuovo began to reconsider his original plans to abandon the game for something bigger and better. "I knew from the minute I dropped that pygmy in the water and he started drowning. I thought, Oh my god, that's so hilarious. I knew we had something there," he says. "Once we had all this attention, I felt it would be a shame if we didn't put our all into it. And if we did put our all into it, could we come up with a Sonic [The Hedgehog]? Could we come up with our own Mario Bros. franchise?
"A lot of companies don't learn the lessons of the big guys that put out sequel after sequel after sequel," he adds. "I felt if we had an evergreen app, we could do it the same way the console folks do it, and build this into our baby by building longevity into our life cycle."
Bolt Creative's commitment to constructing a Pocket God franchise also solved one of the most daunting challenges faced by mobile startups: user retention. A study published earlier this year by analytics firm Localytics reveals that 22 percent of mobile apps downloaded by consumers are used only once, and another 13 percent are used just twice. At the opposite end of the spectrum, 31 percent of apps are accessed 11 times or more. With each new episode, Pocket God gives gamers a reason to come back time and again.
"Pocket God is such a great value," says Peter Farago, vice president of marketing at Flurry. "You get it for 99 cents, and [Bolt Creative] keeps adding content and keeps the game fresh. That model is what makes them such an interesting company."
Temple TalesPocket God is, of course, far from the only mobile game that has rocketed to renown via the iPhone. Apple ranks the title No. 9 on its list of the App Store's Top 25 All-Time Paid Apps, behind indie blockbusters like Rovio Entertainment's Angry Birds, Halfbrick Studios' Fruit Ninja and ZeptoLab's Cut the Rope. But mobile games that rely on the premium-download business model are becoming increasingly rare: More and more App Store developers are instead embracing the so-called freemium approach--i.e., games that are free to download but offer premium in-app transactions like virtual currency, weapons and additional levels or lives.
Freemium titles now make up 87 percent of the App Store's top-grossing games, according to Flurry. "Freemium is a great way to get consumers to try your app, because they don't have to make a decision about paying a price upfront," Farago says. "If they like it, chances are good they'll spend money to accelerate their progression through the game."
Imangi Studios' Keith Shepherd amps up the mobile game with App Store hit Temple Run. Photo© Squire Fox
Freemium blockbusters include Temple Run, the wildly popular adventure game created by Raleigh, N.C.-based Imangi Studios, led by the husband-and-wife developer team of Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckyanova. In July, Temple Run--an Indiana Jones-like exploit that challenges players to navigate a series of ancient temple walls, sheer cliffs and booby traps while collecting coins and avoiding demonic monkeys--shattered the 100 million downloads milestone, less than a year after its original release.
"Making it free eliminated any barrier to download," Shepherd says. "Once people started playing, it had the right combination of things they hadn't seen before, like endless running, 3-D graphics and swiping gestures. It's the perfect pick-up-and-play game."
Shepherd and Luckyanova met in 2003 while working at healthcare software developer Vecna Technologies. "I got into the software business because I wanted to make games," Shepherd says. "Before the iPhone, making a game was akin to making a movie: Everything was produced by huge studios with million-dollar budgets. Distribution was such a challenge. You don't publish something in retail without a large company behind you. It's amazing how Apple has leveled the playing field."
Shepherd quit his Vecna job a few months prior to the App Store's launch, and together he and Luckyanova created Imangi, a word game he now dismisses as "really hard and not that fun." A series of premium titles followed, but for every step forward, like the minor hit Harbor Master, Imangi Studios suffered a setback; for example, the 3-D racing game Little Red Sled, scheduled for release during the 2008 holiday season, faced a series of internal delays and didn't debut until late-February 2009.
A tied game: Temple Run adventurer Barry Bones
"We tried to do something too ambitious," Shepherd admits. Max Adventure, which Imangi spent close to a year developing, also fared poorly.
Temple Run began as an effort to streamline the complex user interface created for Max Adventure. "We wanted to develop a more intuitive control scheme, and we realized that if you have the character always walking forward, using swipes and broad gestures to turn, it felt cool--like you're pushing the character around in the world," Shepherd says. "We thought, How can we take this control scheme and build it out into a game? We came up with the idea of a maze with lots of twists and turns that are randomly generated. If you don't turn at the right time, you run off the end and you die." Add in a jungle environment, Aztec imagery and an indefatigable adventurer in hot pursuit of a priceless idol, and Temple Run was born.
Like previous Imangi Studios releases, Temple Run entered the App Store with a 99-cent price tag when it launched in August 2011. "At that time freemium was a new trend in the market," Shepherd says. "We felt like if it didn't catch on we had nothing to lose by making it free." Despite positive App Store user reviews and favorable notices from the blogosphere, Temple Run failed to catch fire, so after about a month, Imangi flipped the switch to freemium, continuing to offer in-app coin packs starting at 99 cents each.
"Almost immediately we were making five times as much money as we were before," Shepherd says. "Every day we saw more and more downloads. Temple Run took on a life of its own and went viral. With so many people talking about it, it kept climbing the charts and finally peaked at No. 1 on the free and top-grossing lists around New Year's."
Shepherd credits Temple Run's success to the simplicity of its game play and the complexity of its virtual world. "You can play for just a few minutes and get a couple of runs in, but there's also lots of depth," he explains. "You can unlock many different levels and characters. There are many reasons to keep coming back. And that's the biggest difference between Temple Run and our other games--people keep coming back."
Gamers weren't the only ones taking notice of Temple Run. Earlier this year, The Walt Disney Company approached Imangi to collaborate on a branded version of the game that would incorporate characters and settings from Pixar's hit summer movie Brave. Although the Disney Interactive unit has developed a host of its own original iPhone titles, including the smash Where's My Water?, the creative synergy between Brave--an animated fantasy about Merida, a gifted archer coming of age in 10th-century Scotland--and Temple Run was simply too perfect to pass up.
"We try to build mobile games around major releases and events, but we only do it if we have a game-play experience to match--we don't want to build something just because a movie is coming out," says Disney Interactive director of communications Brian Nelson. "It was clear to everyone [Temple Run] was the perfect fit."
Imangi and Disney developed Temple Run: Brave in a matter of months, working around the clock to finish the project prior to the Brave theatrical premiere. Shepherd and Luckyanova maintained the original Temple Run's core game-play mechanics but teamed with Disney engineers to update the setting to the magical Scottish forest depicted in Pixar's film, with players controlling Merida as she flees the clutches of the monstrous bear Mordu. Temple Run: Brave, priced at 99 cents, has now topped the App Store bestseller list in 60 countries. (Shepherd declines to disclose Imangi's total revenue to date.)
Next up for Imangi: Licensed Temple Run T-shirts, toys, a board game and a comic book published by Ape Entertainment, the same company that produces the Pocket God series. "We haven't started working on new [properties] or games--Temple Run is such a phenomenon that we can't set it on the shelf to work on something new," Shepherd says. "But we're happy sticking with Temple Run. We're fortunate to be in the position we're in. I never imagined I would create something that 100 million people have seen."
Beyond Gaming
Temple Run: Brave isn't the only sign that mobile gaming is going Hollywood. An Angry Birds animated series is in development, and Rovio Entertainment has hatched plans for a full-length animated film based on the foul-tempered fowl. Meanwhile, Sony Pictures Television, Ryan Seacrest Productions and Embassy Row are developing a TV game show based on Draw Something, the competitive-sketching title acquired by Zynga earlier this year for a reported $200 million.
A Pocket God animated series is also in development, with producer Suzanne Todd (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Memento) onboard. Castelnuovo and Dye are working with strategy and business consultant Jean Mathews on the project, but so far haven't identified a writer with the comedic sensibilities to successfully adapt Pocket God from the mobile screen to the TV screen. In September Castelnuovo, Dye and Mathews released two new lines of Pocket God vinyl figurines manufactured by toy designer Funko and sold through Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com and other retailers. The trio has also been spitballing ideas for new T-shirts to follow a wave of apparel that rolled out in 2011 at Target, JCPenney and Sears.
Idol hands: Temple Run explorers are in endless pursuit of a priceless treasure. Illustrations courtesy of Imangi Studios
The pop-culture junkie in Castelnuovo revels in seeing his creations immortalized as toys and shirts, but the software programmer in him just wants to get back to work on his game. "When you get enough notoriety, there are a lot of things that take up your time--there are more people to correspond with during the day, and more people coming to you with deals," he says. "A lot of those deals don't come to fruition, and you have to put a lot of effort just to get to the point where you realize something isn't going to come to fruition. So you have to look at things from a pragmatic standpoint and ask if it's something we're interested in--and if not, don't pursue it at all. We choose not to pursue most of the deals [Mathews] brings us."
Castelnuovo nevertheless takes particular pride in the comic book version of Pocket God, which he and Dye have plotted roughly 100 issues ahead. "The comic isn't about making money--we're making a tiny bit of revenue, but it's really a passion project," Castelnuovo says. "I love creating a story and creating a world that our characters exist in."
The Pocket God comics were born when David Hedgecock, CEO of publisher Ape Entertainment, recognized the game's multigenerational appeal after playing it with his 5-year-old nephew. "My nephew totally understood it immediately, and even figured out three new ways to kill pygmies I'd never seen," Hedgecock says. "I thought, There's something here. On a whim I contacted Bolt. Dave and Allan both love comics, so they jumped at the chance to do this."
Ape Entertainment publishes new digital issues of the Pocket God comic through the App Store each month, priced at 99 cents and promoted via ads inserted into the original game; when a story line has run its course, the individual issues are collected into traditional printed trade paperbacks. Digital sales of the first issue, published in August 2010, now exceed 250,000 units. (By comparison, milestone issue number 100 of the zombie apocalypse epic The Walking Dead, the bestselling independently published comic of the last decade, topped out at 383,000 copies.)
"We don't make as much money on digital as we do on print on a per-unit sales basis; in fact, we make a lot more on print," Hedgecock says. "But the volume of digital sales makes up for it."
Castelnuovo says Bolt Creative's newest game: Pocket God: The Runs, scheduled for release in early 2013, will highlight some of the characterizations and story arcs introduced in the Pocket God comics. Based on a popular mini-game introduced in a previous Pocket God update, The Runs is a single-button auto-running game in the mold of console classics like Super Mario Bros. "Huge levels, lots of variety, different power-ups and stuff," Castelnuovo notes.
"I know that if we do a new app, we can strike it out of the park, just because of the popularity of Pocket God," he says. "And then if the app is successful enough to stand on its own, we have a very good chance of another evergreen app that drives a lot of revenue for us."
The introduction of The Runs doesn't mean the original Pocket God saga is winding down anytime soon, however. Castelnuovo says he's just getting started--good news for fans; terrible news for Tribe Ooga Chaka.
"We've put three and a half years of solid work into this game," Castelnuovo says. "Every new update is a lot of stuff. With something like Angry Birds, they can do a new update and there's a lot of work that goes into it, but they're not adding a brand-new game with every single update. Most apps now do a ton of content updates, but they don't build in the narrative, and they don't build out a world. As long as I'm learning new things and having fun doing it, it will be fresh for me--and hopefully fresh for the audience, too."
Indie vs. Established Game Sessions
Android and iOS games by indie developers are played more than those by the big guys
Get In on The Action
You don't need a killer concept and programming chops to compete in the mobile gaming segment. The explosive growth of the mobile ecosystem has sparked the emergence of new services and technologies designed to vault game developers to the next level.
Here are the types of companies getting involved.
Mobile advertising networks (such as Millennial Media, InMobi and LeadBolt) connect brands and agencies with developers selling ad inventory within their games.
Social gaming platforms (Gree, PapayaMobile, PlayPhone) enable developers to create connected gaming communities with social features like invites, leaderboards and achievements.
Development platforms (Appcelerator, appMobi, Kony Solutions) help simplify software creation, feature updates, cross-platform porting and related complexities.
Subscription service providers (Big Fish Games, Exent) offer consumers access to a catalog of licensed titles for a recurring monthly fee.
Mobile marketing platforms (Fiksu, buzzdoes, Kickanotch) help developers and publishers promote their games.
Analytics providers (Flurry, Distimo, App Annie) deliver actionable usage and engagement metrics to developers.
Mobile rewards networks (Kiip) are designed to increase engagement by giving users awards, offers and discounts for in-game achievements.
Super Models
Apple iOS and Google Android mobile gaming applications are on pace to generate worldwide revenue of $8.7 billion in 2012, up 60 percent from last year, according to analytics firm Flurry. Three business models--premium, freemium and ad-supported--dominate the segment, with Flurry calculating that premium and freemium games combined will rake in revenue of $6.7 billion this year, up from $4.5 billion in 2011. Here's how the three models shake out.
Premium: Games are priced at 99 cents and up. Premium games make up nine of the top 10 all-time bestselling iPhone applications in Apple's App Store, led by Rovio Mobile's Angry Birds.
Freemium: Games are free to download and play, driving revenue from premium-priced advanced features, functionality or content. These in-app transactions now yield 91 percent of revenue across both the iOS and Android platforms, reports market research firm Newzoo.
Ad-supported: Games are free to download and play; revenue comes from integrated mobile advertisements. Ads are expected to yield mobile app revenue of $2 billion in 2012, up from $980 million a year ago, Flurry reports.


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We have launched a new website for the Government of Yukon. Go to the new site.
The Government of Yukon's performance plan update outlines the steps it has taken and future plans to move the territory forward over the next several years.
The 2019-20 budget builds capacity and plans for a prosperous future for all Yukoners while putting the government's finances on a more sustainable path.
Yukon.ca is the government's new website. We are assessing and rewriting our web pages and focusing on the information and services most important to Yukoners. We are closing out this older site so if you can't find something you are looking for, we've probably moved it to Yukon.ca.


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Improve analysis for multiple outcomes or outcomes over time, analyze data with hierarchical structure or estimate length of time until an event.
The GLM procedure enables you to describe the relationship between a dependent variable and a set of independent variables. Models include linear regression, ANOVA, ANCOVA, MANOVA and MANCOVA.
The linear mixed models procedure expands upon the models used in the GLM procedure so that you can analyze data that exhibit correlation and non-constant variability.
When your data do not conform to the assumptions required by simpler techniques, apply loglinear and hierarchical loglinear analysis for modeling multiway tables of count data.
You can examine lifetime or duration data to understand terminal events, such as part failure, death or survival.