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Ice-T explains how the mainstream music industry has hurt the power of Hip Hop.
On June 15, Ice-T's Sundance Film Festival selected Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap will finally hit theaters across the country. Now, in a recent interview with Time, the gangsta rap legend speaks on his directorial debut.
Ice explained that the film came out of a growing resentment towards modern Hip Hop and the lack of lyricism in the mainstream. He said that he simply wanted to sit down with his musical peers and delve into what rapping meant to them and Hip Hop culture outside of the industry's influence.
"I wanted to start directing. I've been in film for a while and that's something I want to do down the road, and I said, 'Maybe this should be my first project,'" he said. "I was looking at the state of Hip Hop and I was like, 'I don't feel people respect it as much as they should.' So I went out and called all my friends. I said, 'I want to do interviews with you, but I'm going to talk to you about not the money, the cars, the jewelry, the beef. I want to talk about the craft.' They were like, 'Nobody ever asks us those questions.'"
Ice-T continued on to discuss how he feels the pop music industry is hurting both the art and culture of Hip Hop. He explained that rap was a counter-cultural movement intended to give the disenfranchised a voice, but that music industry pressures are minimizing artists' ability to speak freely. However, he went on to say that true fans of rap will continue to seek out and support real Hip Hop despite this.
"In the movie Mos Def quotes Q-Tip: 'Rap is not pop. If you call it that, then stop.' The true origin of rap is counter-culture. The true origin of rap is say something that they're not saying on the radio," he explained. "When you kind of blend into what popular culture is doing, you're losing the power of Hip Hop. We've got to keep rocking the boat. We've got unemployed people, we've got a black President, we've got election year, we've got Occupy Wall Street. If you're just going to rap about 'I got money and we balling,' and all that, you're not doing with it what it was meant to do. It's meant to rock a party, but it was meant to change the world."
He added, "I think that a rap aficionado, the hardcore rap fan, will always go away from pop, in the same way a hardcore jazz fan will never think Kenny G is really a jazz artist. You gotta kind of know there's always going to be that purist who's going to be like if it ain't beats and rhymes, if there ain't a DJ, then that ain't Hip Hop."


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subset: commoncrawl


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Mmmmmh. I'm intrigued now. You really enjoyed the Goblet of Fire? The fact that you think it's the best next to PoA makes me want to rewatch it and see if I can see it any way other than negatively. A new opportunity to look at something in a different way, if you will. Maybe my problem with the movie is that there's sooooo much in the Goblet of Fire that it seems impossible not to have it all in there. But same goes with Order of the Phoenix and Goldenberg managed(mostly)--with no offense to Steve Kloves of course--. But I guess it's all a matter of opinion and what we both see as essential and what we see as not. Not that I didn't think the Goblet of Fire movie didn't have its moment, I was more upset with its overall output. Dumbledore...running? *shiver* That's silly, I know. lolskylarblue wrote:Now the Goblet of Fire, I totally disagree with you on that. I loved it & thought it was one of the best, next to Prisoner.
What's your favorite book, skylarblue?


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ALS delivers a comprehensive Non Destructive Testing (NDT) services suite, with the latest technologies combined with great technicians
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) or (Non-Destructive Examination (NDE)) is the science of inspecting components and structures for flaws and properties without damaging the integrity of the component itself.
NDT techniques have applicability across all industries. There are few materials or structures for which NDT cannot make useful interpretations as to the presence of physical features and flaws.
ALS boasts very broad capability in regard to NDT techniques, with new and improved techniques researched, acquired and implemented on a regular basis to ensure that our services remain most effective.
Our services are supported by excellent quality systems and we maintain independently certified compliance with ISO 9001, ISO 17025 and NATA.
We combine our NDT expertise with modern access solutions such as Rope Access and Remote Piloted Aircraft (UAV / Drone) to ensure that inspections are delivered in the most cost effective manner.
Destructive Weld Testing is the act of testing a weld by damaging or breaking it to verify its important properties. The properties examined for are typically those that determine if the weld is fit for its application, which depends on both the weld procedure being correct (verify by Weld Procedure Qualification tests) and the welder being capable of implementing the procedure correctly (verified by Welder Qualification tests). Commonly destructive tests include determining the tensile strength of the weld (tensile testing), the impact resistance of the weld (impact testing (Charpy, Izod etc)), the ductility of the weld (ability to bend before breaking), bend tests among a suite of other similar tests.
In the hands of skilled ALS staff, NDT forms a critical part in answering many key questions about your important assets, including:
- Does my component, fabricated structure of vessel comply with applicable standards?
- Have my welds been correctly fabricated?
- Are there cracks and/or significant flaws in my component? What size are they? How is corrosion affecting my component / structure / vessel?
- How are operating conditions affecting my asset?
- Which inspection method will deliver the appropriate level of Probability of Detection (POD).
Choosing the best NDT approach often requires significant technique and engineering understanding. Often a combination of techniques is appropriate to obtain the right information about an asset's condition.
Learn a little more about the different NDT methods and what they can do above. In the alternative contact ALS' NDT experts for more information.


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Here's The Lineup for This Year's Coachella Music Festival (For Real, This Time)
After a few rumors and some (fairly obviously) fakeouts, the really real lineup for the 2013 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has finally been revealed.
Nope, no Rolling Stones, but The Stone Roses are headlining, so that's something. And The Postal Service will make their first appearance since reuniting, so that's another thing.
Blur, Phoenix, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers will also headline this year's retrial of the double-weekend experiment which did so well last two years.
Also on deck are Modest Mouse, Lou Reed, Jurassic 5, the XX, Sigur Ros, Hot Chip, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (who have a new album coming out!), The Yeah Yeah Yeahs (who do, too!), Vampire Weekend, and the Wu-Tang Clan.
Tickets will be on sale here starting Tuesday, January 29th, at 10 AM PST. The festival itself will take place April 12-14 and 19-21 in its Earthly home: The Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.


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Planter manufacturers report strong sales for 2010. Particularly hot this year are twin-row planters and narrow-row planters in 20-in. row spacings.
"We're a little nervous we're going to run out of planters," says Tom Evans, Great Plains vice president of sales and marketing, who credits the rise in sales to the company's Twin Row planter line. "A lot of seed companies have proved we need to push populations into the high 30s and low 40s, even up toward 50,000 plants per acre with the new genetics. They know you can't push populations that high in a single 30-in. row and still have corn. So the Twin Row option is really gaining momentum right now."
Alan Forbes, marketing manager for Case IH, reports similar findings with the company's new 20-in.-row planters. He attributes the popularity to seed company research that shows a yield advantage to planting at high populations in 20-in. rows. "The large professional growers who are interested in pushing yield, which means pushing populations, are understanding that they have to go to narrow rows in order to get there," Forbes says.
Whether you're planting in twin rows, conventional 30-in. rows, or narrow 20-in. rows, manufacturers have you covered with a host of new models. Here's a preview of the new planter configurations you'll see on dealer lots this spring.
Continue reading about the new planters below
AGCO White
Case IH
Great Plains
John Deere
Kinze Manufacturing


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Kate Middleton Pictures With William at Zara's Wedding Cocktails 2011-07-29 15:06:20
William and Kate Get Mike and Zara's Wedding Party Started on a Boat!
William and Kate Get Mike and Zara's Wedding Party Started on a Boat!
Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, boarded the royal yacht Britannia, which was docked in Edinburgh, this afternoon in order to celebrate his first cousin Zara Phillips's wedding with a cocktail party! Kate recycled the green Diane von Furstenberg dress she wore during her visit to LA earlier this month. Prince Harry was also in attendance, and he was spotted ascending the same carpeted stairs that the bride and her husband-to-be, Mike Tindall, walked up. Zara was decked out in a dress from Alice and Olivia. Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie also colorfully turned out, along with the elder's boyfriend, Dave Clark. Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall will marry tomorrow at the city's Canongate Kirk, and her royal relatives will be out in full force. Kate and William often go by their titles of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, but their Scottish equivalents are the Earl and Countess of Strathearn. Scotland is a special place for the couple, as it's where they met and fell in love while students at the University of St. Andrews. Wales, though, has been their home as of late, as it's where William works with the Royal Air Force when not traveling with Kate for family obligations.


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Introducing our website
This blog is to advertise stories from our free website at www.cddtakeninhandstories.com .
This site is made up by 3 woman that have bonded a great online friendship and who love writing. We decided to share our writings with others. We are opening up a Christian Domestic Discipline fictional story website..
These Stories will contain situations that could come up in day to day lives between married, engaged or dating couples that practice CDD (Christian Domestic Discipline.
There will be chapter books where you can grow in their lives on how women learn to be submissive wives and the couples as they deal with life as a couple and the problems that crop up in their lives.
It will also contain short stories. This blog will excerpt from a chapter for each book written. You can go to the site to read the full books. You do need to register but it is a free site.
There will be no BDSM. This will strictly be clean Christian based writing. There will be spanking but no overt sexual content; any sexual references will be discreet in nature. We do not deal in pornographic material, soft or otherwise.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Excerpt from Saving Beth
2 comments:


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Book flights from London to Delhi with Qatar Airways
Arriving in Delhi
India's capital can be overwhelming at first, but once you get your bearings in this huge metropolis it is a fascinating, energetic and eccentric location that will utterly charm you with its warmth and character. Packed full of historical sites, an ultra-modern commercial centre and huge temples, it is an eclectic mix of old and new.
Book a flight to Delhi with Qatar Airways and you'll be enchanted with this incredible city from the moment you touch down. With a heritage that is said to date back over 5,000 years, it has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, turning it into a maze of streets, squares, alleyways and districts that could take a lifetime to explore fully. Its incredible atmosphere is bound to draw you back again and again.
Tourist attractions
At the top of most visitors' lists of places to see is the iconic Red Fort. This vivid red sandstone fort was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (who also built the Taj Mahal) as his palace in 1648. Surrounded by beautifully lush, green gardens, it's still a magnificent sight today.
Sitting between the Fort and the main gate is Chatta Chowk or the Covered Bazaar, where you can buy a wide selection of souvenirs, trinkets and jewellery. Also make time to visit the Diwan-i-Khas, (Hall of Private Audience). A beautiful building constructed entirely out of marble, it is where the emperor received special visitors.
Humayun's Tomb in south Delhi, near Hazrat Nizamuddin station, is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and a truly spectacular building. It is surrounded by immaculate gardens in the Persian Char Bagh (four corners) style.
Dating back even further is another UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Qutub complex in Mehrauli, which dates from the Slave Dynasty of 1206 to 1290. It's a complex of beautiful buildings including the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque and the intricately carved Tomb of Iltutmish.
Travel considerations
Flights to Delhi with Qatar Airways land at Indira Gandhi International Airport. Visa restrictions for entry into the country will depend on your country of origin, length of stay and whether your trip is for business or pleasure. Before you fly to Delhi please check the visa and passport requirements.
Travel to India's vibrant, colourful capital courtesy of luxury fights from London Heathrow to Delhi with Qatar airways, and arrive relaxed and ready for an unforgettable holiday or productive business trip. At Qatar Airways we are proud to operate a 5-star service, welcoming you on board one of our state-of-the-art aircraft, where you can enjoy delicious fresh cuisine and thousands of in-flight entertainment options.
Delhi is India's bustling capital city, a vibrant metropolis brimming with culture, commerce and history. This amazing destination offers visitors a range of amazing attractions, split across numerous districts. The stunning red sandstone of the Red Fort is definitely worth a visit, a magnificent structure dating back to the 17th century. As well as being popular with tourists, Delhi is a lively economic hub too. It's the largest commercial centre in North India and home to international businesses and brands.
Flying from London
One of the busiest airports in the world, London Heathrow is at the very epicentre of the international air transport network. Investment has been poured into its development, and in 2014 the newly constructed Terminal 5 was voted World's Best Airport Terminal in the Skytrax Annual World Airport Awards.
Handling more than 73 million passengers a year, London Heathrow is a remarkable feat of logistical organisation. Fly from London Heathrow with Qatar Airways to a wide range of destinations all over the world.
Transportation and parking
London Heathrow is served by the London Underground 'tube' service, making it easy to reach in just half an hour, from the very centre of London. For passengers with Qatar Airways flying from Terminal 4, the terminal has its own dedicated tube station.
There are also hundreds of buses every day from the capital, and coach services transporting passengers from all over the city to the airport. Parking is at a premium, and although there are both short and long-term options, it is best to book parking in advance. A valet service is available. Note that there is a 2.6-metre height restriction on Terminal 4's forecourt.
Arriving at London Heathrow
Flights from London Heathrow with Qatar Airways leave from Terminal 4, which is located at the south end of the southern runway, and is connected to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 by the Heathrow Cargo Tunnel.
Qatar Airways flights from London Heathrow make use of the very latest A380 airbuses in their service to Doha, as well as a luxury Business Class-only service using a modern A319 for one of its six daily flights to Doha. Passenger boarding gates are situated close to the check-in and security halls.
Amenities and facilities
Because of its international importance, London Heathrow offers a vast array of facilities and amenities, from baby care and children's crèches, to shoeshine services, banking, Wi-Fi access and prayer rooms.
A broad selection of luxury retail outlets stock the very best in accessories, watches, jewellery and fashion, while a number of outstanding restaurants, eateries and snack bars serve everything from full meals to light bites.
Essential facts about DelhiEnjoy a hassle-free journey with all the information you need to know before your trip
Visa information
Check visa and passport requirements before you fly.
Flight FAQ
To get the best price on your {Destination} flights, it is recommended that you book well in advance of your departure date, as booking early means you are likely to secure the flight you want with your preferred departure and arrival times.
From the moment you are welcomed on board by our friendly, professional crew to the moment you arrive in {Destination}, our unparalleled level of service and facilities will offer you an exceptional experience in the sky. Relax in reclining seats that have that all-important extra legroom, and choose your favourite dishes from a menu of delicious cuisine made from the finest ingredients. With thousands of in-flight entertainment options and a host of other services, we make sure your passenger experience is one that you will remember for all the right reasons.


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GIS Data Resources
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources began developing a statewide natural resources database in 1989. Originally, this database was begun to serve a specific project, the Edisto River Basin Project, but has grown to encompass most of the state. This data is being made available free of charge to the public in an effort to facilitate natural resource decision-making, analyses and education in South Carolina. The data layers being developed as part of this effort are: soils, wetlands/landuse, digital line graphs, digital elevation models and digital raster graphics(scanned topographic quadrangle maps). The digital raster graphics files are provided by the S.C. Department of Commerce.
We established Joint Funding Agreements(JFAs) with existing national mapping programs including the USGS(DLGs), US Fish and Wildlife Service(Wetlands/Land Use), and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service(soils). Significant funding was secured from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with additional funds from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Charleston Office) and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC). The S.C. Department of Commerce funded a project to scan all the USGS topographic quadrangle maps for the state and have made them available to this database. This unprecedented government agency cooperation serves as a model for further database development.


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Shop Mixers
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Designed and engineered to withstand years of constant use, A-dec 200 is a technology-ready solution that includes dental chair, delivery system, assistant's instrumentation, dental light, and support centre with cuspidor.
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The major advantage the Sopro 717 has over other intra oral cameras is that the distal area of the camera is the narrowest in the industry providing the user easy access to all areas of the oral cavity. The 717 offers extra oral, macro and intra oral capabilities.
Over the last five years, SOPRO, the global leader in dental video imaging, has applied all of its technical expertise, in conjunction with scientific and clinical researchers, to develop a patented technology which is based on the principle of fluorescence.
The result is a revolutionary new device - SOPROLIFE® which is used for the diagnosis and
treatment of caries.
The "SOPROCARE" concept was developed to assist the dental professional during prophylaxis and periodontal treatment in the dental office.The camera utilizes unique fluorescence technology (SOPRO patent* – 2003) to illuminate dental tissue to reveal caries in CARIO mode, as well as new and old dental plaque in PERIO mode. In addition, SOPROCARE is the first camera on the market to reveal gingival inflammation, in PERIO mode too.
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As part of the ongoing follow-up of the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, the Secretariat for the Rio+20 conference will host a Google+ Hangout on Tuesday, 12 February at 18:00 CET, featuring key experts on Rio+20 and sustainable development from the UN system and civil society.
The first in a series of Google+ Hangouts will highlight the major outcomes of Rio+20 and the key follow-up processes launched at the conference and the Hangout will be hosted on the United Nations Google+ account.
The goal of the Hangout is to provide the general public with a greater awareness of the positive and concrete outcomes of Rio+20, in an effort to improve public perception and optimism surrounding the conference. In addition, the Hangout series will also promote the progress made in the Sustainable Development realm, the highlights of civil society engagement in the process, as well as the next steps going forward in the process.
The Google+ Hangout will also feature a 20-minute live Q&A session with the panelists. Questions can be tweeted to @SustDev using #SDinAction, or can be posted on the Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform Facebook page, or register for one of our Sustainable Development Action Networks to join the conversation there.
Panelists for the first "Sustainable Development in Action" Google+ Hangout on 12 February include Nikhil Seth, Director of UN DESA's Division for Sustainable Development; Elizabeth Thompson, Executive Coordinator for the Rio+20 conference; Kimo Goree, Vice-President of the International Institute for Sustainable Development Reporting Services (IISD); and Jacob Scherr, Director of global strategy and advocacy for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC.)
More information: http://bit.ly/RioHangout
Additional links:
The Brussels based United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe - UNRIC provides information on UN activities to the countries of the region. It also provides liaison with institutions of the European Union in the field of information. Its outreach activities extend to all segments of society and joint campaigns, projects and events are organized with partners including the EU, governments, the media, NGOs, schools and local authorities.
United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC Brussels)
Residence Palace, Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 155, Block C2,7th and 8th floor, Brussels 1040, Belgium
Tel.: +32 2 788 8484 / Fax: 32 2 788 8485


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'Wild Recon' host accused of selling rare lizards
The former host of Animal Planet's "Wild Recon" show has been charged in Los Angeles with selling two endangered Iranian desert monitor lizards without a permit.
City News Service says Donald Schultz, a herpetologist based in Southern California, was charged Thursday with violating the federal Endangered Species Act. If convicted, he could face up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.
A message left for Schultz on his Facebook page wasn't immediately returned Friday.
Authorities say Schultz sold the rare lizards for $2,500 to an undercover federal wildlife agent who answered his 2010 offer on Facebook.
On his now-canceled show, Schultz would parachute into remote locations to take biological samples from deadly snakes and other dangerous animals.


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Handcrafted pixel perfect icons tailored for the Modern UI style. Each and every icon is carefully crafted in Expression Design with vector in mind. Now hosted on GitHub finding new icons and tracking your requests is easier than ever.
What's Included
- ... Handcrafted Flat Icons
- .design Source for Expression Design
- 76x76 App Bar Icons for Windows Phone
- XAML & SVG vectors


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Biggest surprise of Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths? It's not the fast-moving, funny script, nor the best-looking animation from a DC Universe project yet. Nope, it's that Wonder Woman comes away as the most impressive character of the movie.
At times, Crisis feels like the perfect Justice League movie; it manages to mix large scale spectacle and smart writing that, although this could never be described as a character-based piece, still manages to have enough character to keep everyone from devolving into generic superheroes; writer Dwayne McDuffie shows off an economy learned from years of working on the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited shows, managing to sketch each member with just a few words, but make them believable despite everything. He also manages to add all manner of easter eggs and injokes to keep the viewer's interest (Longtime comic fans will be amused by the identities of the parallel world Batman's henchmen, and SF movie fans might be surprised by shoutouts not only to Star Wars and Star Trek but also a completely unexpected, and awesome, riff on James Cameron's Aliens when you least expect it) that never threaten to overwhelm - or even slow down - the main action.
Plotwise, it begins, essentially, as Grant Morrison JLA: Earth 2; a Lex Luthor from a parallel world where moralities are reversed comes to the Justice League's world to enlist their aid in overthrowing their evil counterparts. Granted, there's a lot toned down from Morrison's version - the parallel Earth isn't actually evil, just ruled over by bad versions of superheroes; the evil Flash doesn't get his powers from drugs - but the basic idea is there. Where it differs is in the second half, which has a cohesiveness and satisfaction that Morrison's version lacked; instead of bringing in a threat outside of conventional morality, the trouble comes from a nihilism on behalf of the Crime Syndicate that matches the Justice League's optimism, and both the ultimate threat (the destruction of every parallel Earth) and confrontation have a grand scale much more impressive than the comic version.
Visually, it's the best looking of any of the DC Universe animated movies to date, and arguably better looking than the Justice League's TV incarnation as well. Certainly, the animation is smoother and character design more easily animated than recent efforts, and directors Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu choreograph some impressive sequences throughout that show off their animators' skills to best effect; sequences like the aerial fight scene or the Justice League fighting Owlman's Outsiders are the kind of thing that, CGI-special effects included, live action movies still couldn't pull off as well just yet.
Oddly enough, as I said above, one of the most lasting impressions the movie leaves is how cool Wonder Woman is. The mix of the animation, voice acting (by Vanessa Marshall, not one of the bigger names in the cast, but definitely one of the most impressive. Also a lot of fun is Gina Torres' Superwoman, who manages to sound seductive and evil as only she can, and James Woods' melodramatic Owlman) and McDuffie's script turns her into a character who's not only the most capable of the good guys - Yes, even more than Batman - but also one of the most decisive, when needs be (Again, watch the aerial fight; she lets Owlman fall to a possible death without a second thought), without falling into the "She's A Warrior" cliches that such a portrayal often does. Of all the characters in the movie, she's the one you want to see more of.
...But she's not the only one you'll feel that way about on the DVD. Because, alongside the Crisis movie itself (And two parallel-earth-spanning episodes of Bruce Timm's Justice League series), there's an extra short written by Steve Niles and starring The Spectre that has to be seen to be believed. Surreally - but definitely welcomely - going for a 1970s TV detective aesthetic, Niles' Spectre comes across as creepy and cool in a way that seems entirely different from the Justice League main feature, and will also make you hope that someone can make it into a full series for Adult Swim. It's a wonderful value-add, and almost worth the price of the DVD by itself.
Overall, the Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths DVD is pretty much everything a superhero fan, or even just animation fan, could want; everyone brings their best efforts, and the result is something that puts most mainstream superhero movies to shame.
Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths is released tomorrow.


text: This is what happens when a man asks, in front of an audience full of women, if it's OK to break up with a girlfriend via text message. It seems like he's actually a plant so that Steve Harvey can give his monologue. The fakery seems bad for his brand. Why should we "think like a man" if they're so thoughtless? You know?


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Tampa Dog Boarding
This ain't no catnap
At our Tampa "Unkennel," we make you and your pup feel as comfortable as possible during the time that you are away from each other. For your pup, sleepovers at The Bark are slumber parties with all of their friends in familiar surroundings. As your dog's home away from home, we know your dogs and they know us, which reduces the stress, separation anxieties and other concerns associated with traditional dog kennel and dog boarding settings.
Rest assured that your dog will get plenty of play time each day. Doggy Day Care is included in our sleepovers, giving your dog the familiar routine they need while you're away. Then, after a full day of play (see our Tampa Doggy Day Care Schedule of Activities), your dog spends the night in an appropriately sized crate for comfort and safety. And you get the peace of mind knowing that your dog is getting all the special attention they need from our expert staff at Tampa's premier doggy day care.
When your dog sleeps over, they're still running with the pack!
|One Dog*
(per 24 hour period & includes day care)
|Barkley Pack Sleepover (M-F)*
(per 24 hour period & includes day care)
|Barkley Pack Sleepover (Sat/Sun/Holidays)*
(per 24 hour period & includes day care)
|Regular Sleepover Rates
|Sleepover Guidelines*Day Care enrollment required for all Sleepovers.


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The HP Officejet Pro 8500A Plus is the successor to the Editors' Choice Award-winning HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless all-in-one inkjet we reviewed in 2009. It gets a slight makeover--all black is the new white-and-black--and adds to the already expansive feature set of its predecessor. With the $399 Officejet Pro 8500A, you can send print jobs via e-mail and also directly from iOS devices. These two additions make the Officejet Pro 8500A Plus an incredibly versatile all-in-one printer, but for busy small and home offices, we prefer the Epson WorkForce 840. It lists for $100 less than the HP Officejet Pro 8500A Plus and provides similar features and speeds and crisper text, all in a more compact design with double the paper capacity.
Design and features
Like Johnny Cash, the HP Officejet Pro 8500A Plus comes dressed in black. Its look suits both home and office settings, though you'll have to clear some room for it. It's big and bulky, weighing a hefty 28 pounds and measuring 20 inches wide, 17 inches deep, and 12 inches high. The Epson WorkForce 840 is more compact and 6 pounds lighter by comparison, and has two indented side handles that make it easier to lug around than the Officejet Pro 8500A Plus.
A single 250-sheet input tray protrudes 4 inches out of the front of the Officejet, while a 50-page automatic document feeder (ADF) resides on top. The HP's ADF holds 20 more pages than the Epson WorkForce 840's, but the WorkForce 840 has two 250-sheet input trays. The capacity to hold the equivalent of a full ream of paper is convenient for busy offices, as is the ability to stock two different types of paper. Hewlett-Packard sells a separate 250-sheet paper tray that connects to the bottom of the Officejet Pro 8500A Plus, but that adds $79 to the bill. Lastly, like any modern multifunction printer, the Officejet Pro 8500A Plus features a PictBridge USB port as well as a pair of multiformat media card slots for printing directly from a digital camera.
The HP's ample 4.3-inch touch-sensitive color display makes navigating the print, copy, scan, and fax functions a breeze. The screen is larger than on the Officejet 8500 or the Epson WorkForce 840, but the WorkForce 840 surrounds its color LCD with a larger 7.8-inch touch panel that provides additional navigation buttons. The HP's entire touch panel, on the other hand, resembles an iPhone on its side and measures 6 inches on the diagonal. In the end, both printers do admirable jobs of providing a simple and clear menu system for navigating the printer's many functions. However, HP makes it easier than Epson to enter text with its full QWERTY virtual keyboard; entering data like a wireless password on the Epson requires scrolling through the alphabet for each letter and is akin to entering your initials for a high score on an old arcade game.
Navigating the menu system to find your desired task and settings is quick, but the initial setup process for the HP Officejet Pro 8500A Plus is not. It took 20 minutes for the drivers to install from the included CD before the printer was ready for action. This is in stark contrast to the speedy installation we experienced with HP's new LaserJets, such as the HP LaserJet P1606dn and the HP LaserJet M1212nf, which both feature HP Smart Install in which the requisite drivers are stored on the printer itself and automatically install when you connect the printer to your PC. After installation, the printer takes more than 2 minutes to warm up and perform various checks before it's ready to accept a job. In contrast, the Epson WorkForce 840 is ready to roll within 15 seconds after you press the power button.
In addition to a direct USB connection (like most vendors, HP does not include a USB cable with the printer), you can set up the Officejet Pro 8500A Plus on your network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. We tested the Wi-Fi connection and the process was easy; using the printer's touch screen, we navigated through a few setup screens to find our network, quickly entered its password using the virtual QWERTY keyboard, and established a connection within a minute. Macs and PCs alike on our network were able to see the printer without the need to install any additional software.
Once you connect the printer to a wireless network, you can use HP's AirPrint feature to print from any iOS device without an additional application. Using AirPrint, you can print out a photo from your iPhone photo library by simply choosing the connected printer and hitting Print. You can't adjust any print properties, however; our Hipstamatic test photo printed with a portion missing on both letter-sized paper and 4x6-inch photo paper.
In addition to AirPrint, the Officejet Pro 8500A Plus also features HP's ePrint technology, which enables you to send jobs from any connected device to the printer using the uniquely assigned e-mail address. You can find this address using the control panel (Wireless > Web Services > Display Email). It's a convenient feature, to be sure, but it comes with a few restrictions. For one, the printer must be on and also connected to your network. For another, it can't print Web pages, although you can simply copy and paste the text into a document as a workaround.
Along with the standard Copy, Fax, and Scan options listed on the home screen of the Officejet Pro's control panel, you get a fourth icon labeled Apps. Our test unit came preloaded with 21 apps that let you print new pages from outlets like the Financial Times, Yahoo, Reuters, and USA Today. Others from DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, and Disney let you print coloring pages, paper airplane templates, and other crafts. You can install additional free apps, but you must do so from HP's ePrint Center Website after creating an account. The craft pages were a hit with this reviewer's kids, but we doubt many business users will find them useful.
The standard flat-bed scanner/copier measures 8.5x14 inches, meaning it can scan or copy letter- and legal-size documents. With its 4,800-dpi resolution, scanned and copied documents look crisp and sharp, and you can send scans to a PC, a memory card, a network folder, or an e-mail program.


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San Francisco, CA – Quality search engine optimization at affordable prices is a rarity today. This scenario is changing now with the emergence of the SEO PR Company, whose aim is to bring search optimization within the reach of all companies without sacrificing on quality and expertise.
The SEO PR Company has gained recognition as a top provider of search engine optimization, responsive web designs and a host of integrated services. The range of expertise that it delivers within many budget packages reveals the change it is help bringing about in the SEO industry. Among these are a complete SEO strategy with regular updates, the best keyword strategy, on-site and off-site optimization, deep linking, checks for duplicate content, PPC strategy, removal of bad backlinks and Google penalties if any, and a full refund if the objectives are not met.
Few designs and SEO firms today match the range of expert design offerings of the SEO PR Company. All design services keep in mind pricing and ensuring the outputs are unique and original. In particular, clients can ask for affordable development packages for WordPress, E-Commerce, Joomla and Magento, PHP and ASP.net and enterprise portals.
"We employ the latest technology for best SEO results. Our focus is on quality, not quantity, and so we deliver top quality responsive wed design services," says Antonio Bertuso of SEO PR Company.
SEO practices are now well established on the web due to multiple benefits such as increased and regular traffic, return on investment, targeting of right audience, gains in credibility, improved advertising efficiency and so on. However, SEO is also known to be costly and this is where the SEO PR Company offers a great advantage for companies of all sizes. Its offerings are unique in incorporating streamlined pricing, mobile app development, social media marketing, videos, web analytics and more, all handled by a Google certified team.
Global enterprises as well as small businesses, whether in retail, manufacturing, and public traded companies are welcome to request the best priced package that can bring them the multiple benefits of doing SEO with the SEO PR Company.
"Our team of developers comprises highly experienced and qualified staff that are in tune with technological advancements. We continually upgrade our technology and adhere to strict ethical rules to ensure one hundred percent client satisfaction. All these, backed by many years of experience, help us deliver an affordable web design and development services," says Antonio.
To know more, please visit: https://seoprcompany.com
Media Contact
Company Name: SEO PR Company
Contact Person: Antonio Bertuso
Email: email@example.com
Phone: 0800 424 8769
Address:680 Folsom St
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Country: United States
Website: https://seoprcompany.com/


text: Charles "Chuck" Brady is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Apogee, the nation's largest managed communications provider in higher education. Chuck started the company as a student at the University of Texas in 1998 and grew it from a self-funded, two-person operation to the largest provider of voice, video, and data networking services in higher education in the U.S. today with more than 400 university clients nationally. He still leads daily activity at the company. Outside of work, Brady is active with his four daughters, and loves aviation.


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In the
code block of your index template, add the following code...
Code: Select all
Code: Select all
<link rel="alternate" title="Your Comics Name" href="//yourcomicname.keenspace.com/rss.xml" type="application/rss+xml">
After adding and updating your pages, viewers to your comic should see the icon at the bottom of the FireFox browser window. THis icon allows the viewer to create a bookmark that gathers all of the links in the rss.xml file.
Like I said, I haven't tested this out with the Keenspace RSS.xml file, but a good example can be seen at http://www.macnn.com. All of MacNN's news for the day is displayed in the live bookmark that is created.
Have fun.


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Penguins, Blackhawks to play outdoor game at Soldier Field
New York, NY – The NHL announced Wednesday that the Chicago Blackhawks will host the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 1, 2014, at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears.
The event is part of the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series. The league is planning to play a number of regular-season games at a variety of outdoor facilities during the 2013-14 season, with more games and locations expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
"Our fans and our teams love outdoor games and we are thrilled the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series will present a number of these experiences to a large number of our fans in a variety of National Hockey League markets," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. "The Chicago game, at Soldier Field, will be a matchup of two recent Stanley Cup champions at a landmark stadium. We thank the Blackhawks and Penguins, Coors Light, Soldier Field and everyone involved in what will be a memorable, exciting and fun event."
The Blackhawks will host an outdoor regular-season game for the second time, having welcomed the Detroit Red Wings to Wrigley Field in 2009.
Meanwhile, the Penguins will take part in their third outdoor game. They beat the Buffalo Sabres in the first Winter Classic, which was played at Ralph Wilson Stadium in 2008 and later hosted the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field in 2011.
This will be the second time hockey has been played at Soldier Field, which opened in 1924.
The NHL had previously announced the Toronto Maple Leafs will face the Detroit Red Wings in the 2014 Winter Classic on Jan. 1 at Michigan Stadium.


text:
Tina Rupp
The bold flavor of turkey is a natural with Mexican food.
Fire-roasted salsa can be found in the refrigerated deli case at most supermarkets.
- Yield
- Makes 6 servings
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 red onions, sliced
- 2 bell peppers (preferably 1 red and 1 yellow), seeded, sliced
- 4 cups diced leftover cooked turkey meat
- 3/4 cup purchased fresh fire-roasted salsa
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 8-ounce package grated Mexican 4-cheese blend (about 2 cups)
- 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 6 burrito-size flour tortillas
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and bell peppers; sauté until tender and golden, about 15 minutes. Add turkey, salsa, and cumin; stir until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in cheese and cilantro; season generously with salt and pepper. Remove from heat; cover to keep warm.
- Working with 1 tortilla at a time, heat tortilla directly over medium-high gas flame (or in dry skillet over medium-high heat) until warm, softened, and browned in spots, about 30 seconds per side. Place tortilla on work surface. Spoon 1 cup warm turkey mixture along center of tortilla; fold sides in over filling, then roll up tortilla to enclose filling. Place burrito seam side down on baking sheet, and place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.


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Evidence of ethnic diversity in Britain going back to at least the 18th century has been uncovered by geneticists.
A rare version of the male Y chromosome turned up in seven men sharing a rare east Yorkshire surname during a survey of British men published Wednesday in the European Journal of Human Genetics.
The version, or haplogroup, of the Y chromosome traces its origins to west Africa. As is standard procedure in genetic studies, the surname it is linked to has not been identified by the team from Leicester University, beyond that it begins with "R".
The Y chromosome is passed directly from father to son without being mixed up, unlike the rest of our DNA, so the version each man carries is strongly linked to his surname.
On finding the west African artefact in one individual, researchers were able to recruit six other men with the same surname, and assign all of them to the rare haplogroup, which previously had only 25 known members worldwide, all of whom were African.
The new discovery shows that the huge numbers of Africans enslaved and brought through Britain on their way to the New World may have left a genetic footprint. The haplogroup could have been brought to the north even earlier than the seven's 18th century last common ancestor though; African servants and entertainers were common in Tudor times, and African soldiers were recorded defending Hadrian's Wall for the Romans.
Similar techniques have previously been used to trace male descendants of prolific Mongol emperor Ghengis Khan in Asia. More from National Geographic here. ®


text:
Tom, Jay-Z and Daniel Top Esquire's Best Dressed List
Photo Splash News Online(3)
Esquire magazine just released its Best Dressed Men in the World for 2007, narrowing it all the way down to the 23 men whose wardrobes make women — and men– weak in the knees. Leading the pack is father-to-be and football player Tom Brady, followed by musician and entrepreneur Jay-Z. Other honorees include Daniel Craig, Ryan Gosling and Barack Obama, who's wife Michelle recently made it onto Vanity Fair's best dressed list. Go to usatoday.com to see the complete roster. Don't forget to check out PEOPLE's Best Dressed list, on newsstands September 14th! Tell us: What man would make it onto your best dressed list?


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I picked up on Timothy's Greig's blog a few weeks ago, and this week he posted about a project that really gets at the heart of gaming and gamer's passions - sharing their stories. The idea of gathering stories about game experiences for others to reflect and draw upon. It's within these stories where the meat of why and how games can assist in education. The passion and excitement relaid in these stories can help us understand what grabs and holds a gamers attention. Even if the gamers are recounting specific in game experiences, there are emotional undertones at work.
Ask a gamer to share a gaming experience... and be open to the response. Also be ready to get a curious look that says, "Really? You want to know?" I asked that question of some of the people I talked to waiting in line back in November for a PS3 & Wii. Once they got past the idea that outside there peer group wanted to know, they shared lots of stories. Stories that matter and have deep roots.
Here's the reference & instruction piece - I had a student from one of my classes this spring stop me on the first day to remind me that I had talked with them in a PS3 line. Any hesitation she had about asking questions or asking for help was gone. Asking about games isn't any different than finding out other interests, but it works. Like any culture, like any interest, stories matter.
The Gamer's Oral History Project...
I picked up on Timothy's Greig's blog a few weeks ago, and this week he posted about a project that really gets at the heart of gaming and gamer's passions - sharing their stories. The idea of gathering stories about game experiences for others to reflect and draw upon. It's within these stories where the meat of why and how games can assist in education. The passion and excitement relaid in these stories can help us understand what grabs and holds a gamers attention. Even if the gamers are recounting specific in game experiences, there are emotional undertones at work.
4:58 PM | Tags: assumptions, instruction | 0 Comments
Required Reading: Video Games
The Chronicle of Higher Education picked up the story of Michigan State offering a master's program in serious games. The quick post, here, is on the Chronicle's Wired Campus blog. More and more colleges and universities are offering courses (beyond programming courses) on video games - design, narrative, business, cultural history. While news like this does move me closer to my dream job of a Video Game subject specialist librarian :), it does show progress for video games as an industry and as an artistic expression.
On the same note, today I listened to this week's 1up.com's "1up Yours" podcast, the 1/26 broadcast. It's one of the many gaming podcast I listen to on a weekly basis. The 1up network includes the long standing video game magazine "Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)." The podcast is a great way to stay updated on gaming news and trends. This week the group discusses "gaming literacy." They discuss significant and revolutionary games that someone studying games should know. They take they same approach of a game or film studies college course. While there are academic courses out there that do this same thing, it's interesting to hear it from the perspective of people in the industry.
It is a good discussion for anyone interested in games or wanting a historic perspective. The games as required reading discussion starts about 37:30 minutes into the podcast, right after the first break. As a note, the podcast could be rated PG-13 for crude humor and language.
Give a listen and let me know about your gaming required reading.
4:55 PM | Tags: games, news | 0 Comments
Class Soundtrack?
I just finished listening to 1up.com's Retronauts most recent podcast on video game soundtracks. It's also an interesting (if somewhat geeky) podcast about older games. The history of video game music they discussed brought back a flood of memories and emotions attached to the game's soundtracks. Just like movie soundtrack, (well done) game soundtracks can carry a lot of feelings and even motivation for the listener.
Does anyone out there use music in there instruction? I've been in conference presentations where people have talked about playing music as the class is entering in order to help set the mood. But what about setting a soundtrack or even a few music clips into a powerpoint, lecture, or workshop for dramatic effect?
I haven't tried it, but now I want to. Even a little music to draw attention to certain key points could be useful in grabbing some attention from the class. What do you think?
1:21 AM | Tags: applications, instruction | 0 Comments
theShiftedLibrarian strikes at my library... Thanks Jenny
Thanks Jenny. Jenny Levine's Gaming & Libraries:Intersection of Services from the ALA TechSource just got back to my desk after making the rounds through my library. I've also shared part of this report with a local seminary librarian and have brought it with me to my local public library.It's been out for a while, but I got my copy after returning from the holidays. It's a great resource for libraries interested in getting involved in gaming and finding out more information.The report pulls together background on video games, educational uses, and how public, school & academic libraries are using video games. While I was very pleased that there wasn't a lot of new information for me (good to know that I am current on my research topic), it is great to have it all combined in one place. The report is a great lead in for librarians interested in learning more and getting started with video games in their libraries. Since it's an ALA publication, even the few librarians who are pretty negative about video games were willing to pick up the report and read. Levine writes to a variety of levels of knowledge and experience. She leads off slowly and allows those new with the subject the ability to understand most everything that comes after.
Jenny's first chapter "Why Gaming?" sets up the justification for gaming in librarie collections, programming and scope. It digs into one of the most important aspect of games - what they teach and how we learn from them. Jenny's use of Johnson's "Everything Bad is Good for You" made me go back and review my notes from this summer on his book. I was pleased see the detailed references which provided me a few more articles I hadn't read. Our library also used the case studies to help plan out our stalled gaming night. There are a variety of examples of setups, promotional ideas, and other helpful pieces to help everyone get started on gaming in their libraries.
Jenny's blog, theshiftedlibrarian, is a great read if you are not already, and her ALA report is not any different. Levine's put together a great resource for all librarians and is a must read. Thanks for continuing to push gaming in libraries to a broader audience.
If you are interested in ordering it or finding out more information click here.
11:49 PM | Tags: literature | 0 Comments
Shortsighted and Naïve
Today a coworker showed me a rather alarming blog post sent to her by a faculty member. The post was by a professor at a private Christian college (I'm not linking to for my own emotional well being). His short sighted and uninformed point was that "information literacy" was nothing but tech savvy and computer know-how. He felt there wasn't any literacy without books and "information literacy" wasn't teaching books.
Even after coming off of a few days worth instruction sessions where I felt we didn't stress books enough, I see flaws in his argument. One look at the ACRL standards can tell us that. But his shortsighted post reminded me of another shortsighted post from earlier this week. EDUCAUSE blogged about too much emphasis being placed on digital natives and "eductainment" and more focus needs to be on critical thinking.
I don't argue with the need for critical thinking, in fact I would say that most people would agree with the need for critical thinking and discussion. Games and game based strategies are a great way to engage and motivate students, but like any teaching strategy it can't succeed alone. Textbook reading and individual assignments are not any different. These traditional teaching strategies only take a student so far, and classroom discussion and analysis provide additional learning opportunities. Students learn and grow through games, but also through the analysis of what they are playing and why.
Richard Halverson's Innovate article What Can K-12 School Leaders Learn from Video Games and Gaming? (2006) makes the same point. He uses the example of the off-the-shelf computer game "Rise of Nations." Students learn through playing, managing resources, and strategizing battles, but a large content piece comes from the research and discussion about the individual nations and events depicted in the game. The critical thinking component is key to pulling the full potential out of the game. It's important to have both sides for the education of any student, digital natives included.
My co-worker used the naïve information literacy blog as a way of marketing to the faculty who passed the post along all that the library does for students. The EDUCAUSE blog allows us the same opportunity – We can take the chance to discuss with others not only the success and impact of games in education, but also the importance of discussing the games used. Games are not a magic bullet, but they are wonderful teaching strategy; one of many successful strategies for digital natives.
10:55 PM | Tags: assumptions, instruction | 0 Comments
I'll See Your Turning Point, and Raise You...
I'm not a big fan of long rambling blog posts, and since my last one was turning into that I decided to stop. I was the first person on campus to use Turning Point in a class and like any new technology we had a few hang ups along the way. After going through the "Choose Your Own Lecture" with Turning Point 9 times, I felt very confident with the technology and the content. Thus, yesterday our library director asked me to give a presentation about the "clicker" technology and it's uses for our local area library association. Since I'm always up for a challenge, I said yes.
It was a nice opportunity to not only present the technology in front of librarians from 7 other libraries, but it was a good platform to advocate some gaming strategies: engagement, motivation, choice, & personalization. Using Turning Point is really just another way for the students to interact with their environment and influence their surroundings.
Making other librarians aware of the successful application of gaming strategies is always a good time.
12:26 AM | Tags: applications, conferences | 0 Comments
Choose Your Own Lecture
Choice. Personalization. Freedom. Exploration. All are game based strategies and all helped keep students interested and engaged in the classes I've taught over the last 3 days.Over the past days at work, I've taught 12 class sessions and I've run around like crazy (a good thing). Why? And how does it relate to gaming… read on.
The Librarians meet a total of 9 times, 3 times per paper with each Research Writing class. The first meeting is to provide them with some context and background on the geographic region they will be writing about and introducing them to the research process.
I'm responsible for that first lecture that provides the context and process to each class (another reason I've been MIA during the first week of the semester). Putting together a 45 minute lecture that provides an overview of the social sciences and potential topics within the Mississippi Watershed area would be challenging enough, but add the entire scope of history into the mix – from prehistory to today, and it's impossible. Like any lecture it can fall into the trap of being pretty straightforward and not all that exciting.
So to make an already long story brief, I knew I wanted to do something to keep the students involved as we touched on bits and pieces of history. Enter Turning Point. Some of you may have used Turning Point or other instant polling software for classes or meetings, but briefly it allows you to create quizzes or polls within a Power Point presentation that the students can vote on. I used it to engage students and allow them the ability to direct our discussion during the lecture. In addition to having slides about whether or not they had ideas for topics and slides to evaluate the lecture, there were multiple slides that allowed the students to choose their own lecture.
As the diagram shows, I created slides that allowed the students to choose between a few different topics in order to determine what we were going to focus on. Each student voted and we followed the topics of those with the most votes. By creating a branching content presentation, each class focused in different topics, but the overall content and research information was the same. The questions were created and then I linked the text to each of the corresponding slides, so that the class could directly jump to the topic they choose – hiding the rest of the information.
Well the approach meant that I did not cover the same information with class, but the individualized branching paths resulted in more students being engaged. Voting on the path four different times during the presentation resulted in keeping most students interested and involved in the discussion. I had one student say, "This was great, it kept me from falling asleep." Although I wasn't quite sure how to take that… coming from an class, that was pretty good. I had another student tell me that she was thinking about dropping the class, but now she is interested in the topic and was glad to be involved in the presentation.
Using game strategies to create a personalized path, allowing students the freedom of choice and a reason to stay involved, helped to create a lecture that students were interested in and had a stake in.
Another small, but successful application of gaming strategies.
7:06 AM | Tags: applications, instruction | 1 Comments
Library 2.whatever
We will not go softly into the night, or at least quietly into the future. It's a new semester and our library using technology for some wonderfully innovative (at least for us) purposes.
Two of my co-workers spent time last semester developing a blog for one of our research classes. We see the students in each class for instruction sessions about 12 times during the semester. It's great to be able built and more importantly sustain relationships with these students throughout the semester. The blog will provide us with one more way to build that relationship.
One of the same co-workers worked with me to modify an existing lesson to incorporate GoogleDocs. The instruction sessions help students research the various aspects and impacts (both positive and negative) of a specific charity organization. We traditionally divided them up into groups to work together on a series of questions, and regrouped at the end of class to discuss our findings. Using GoogleDocs to creative a real-time document of their research seemed like a natural fit. The students add their information to the document, and all students then have acces to return to it as they are working on their projects. In theory it is a great way to share their knowledge with each other, to expand all their horizons.
Theory - yes; first try – not so much. Like any first time there are kinks, even after we tested it and played aroundThe problem was that even after inviting the class via email to join the document, very few of them received the email. We think the mass emails from a "@gmail" address got hung up in the networks spam filters, but we're still looking into it. So, where everyone should have be up and ready to work on their shared document, they entered clueless and unable to access the page. Fortunately, since it was a new technology many were willing to be a little forgiving – or they were just happy it was Friday and they were doing very little in class. Regardless, I'm very thankful to my fellow librarian who stay cool in a time of classroom chaos, worked through the technical issues, and ended up with a good class.
I'm sure I'll check in about how the course blog is going, and we have more classes for GoogleDocs so we'll see what happens next. I'm very thankful for my co-workers, they are amazing. It's great to be able to push each other and technology for the student's benefit. Call it "Library 2.0" or whatever; I'm calling our student success.
10:01 PM | Tags: instruction | 0 Comments
Running into the semester
Wow, what a fast week. We started the spring semester on Tuesday and it feels like I've been running since. Actually, it feels like I've been running since the new year. Running isn't a bad thing, actually I thrive on it. But sometimes it's okay to step back.
I've developed a nasty blogging habit of starting a post and not getting back to it on the same day. I started a post on Monday because I wanted to preview the semester, but as I was writing my 18 month son climbed up in my chair and kept repeating, "Games, games." And really how can I as the "video games are good for you" guy say no. And so they played and I watched... and learned.
Video games are a social interaction, or at least they can be. Over the past week, I've had two good conversations with local librarians about the social nature of games and game players. We are not just playing games for hours on end, in our basements, staring at a screen, alone. Since this is the week of the new World of Warcraft (WOW) massive multi player online game (MMPOG) - at least we are not playing alone. 8 million monthly subscribers to WOW, means that as a player you are not alone. Even progressing beyond level 20 in the game is not possible without others.
More and more, video games are a social experience. PC gaming is dominated by gamer to gamer interactions through the games. The XBox 360 Live features connect gamers from anywhere. Players join not just for the freedom and control, they join for the social interaction as well. Granted like any group interaction, everybody contributes something different. But the creation and enjoyment of the social community is a draw. MMPOG's are group projects that our students want to be part of. There is no worry about someone not pulling their weight within an MMPOG, the alternative is game death. Our students can live with those game consequences because the goal that they are working toward is desired. The goal is worth the struggle.
There are education pieces and contributions that we, as librarians, can and should take part in. We need to help find ways to tap into that social enjoyment, if we can create or utilize existing social spaces to foster this sense of social interaction. We will be better off. I'll return to this post tomorrow and talk about a few ways our library is doing that.
11:45 PM | Tags: assumptions, personal | 0 Comments
Obedience & Innovation - Both Play into Games
In my post earlier this week, I talked a little about the Utne Reader article on video games. While I agree with the majority of the article, I disagree with the thesis Suellentrop states at the end:
"Our video-game brains, trained on success machines, may be undergoing a Mr. Universe workout, one that leaves us stronger but less flexible. So don't worry that video games are teaching us to be killers. Worry instead that they're teaching us to salute. "
Suellentrop argues that games teach players not to think outside of the system, to accept the framework they are given and try to succeed within it. Games reinforce living within the rules of the gameworld and this translates to living within the rules of society. Thus, decreasing innovation and potentially critical thinking.
If this thesis is correct, what does it mean for using games within higher education? And why would a professor use games within the tradition of the creative thinking and challenges of a liberal arts education?
But other studies applaud games for pushing players to test the limits of the systems and understand how to use it in order to succeed. The Federation of American Scientists (in my posts from October) found that games are educational because they push players to test the physics of a game and succeed within the system. The FAS report stated that these skills help prepare gamers to be more successful within the existing corporate and business worlds.
I believe that games successfully to both - help players succeed within existing systems and challenge them to them to find new and creative paths. Yes, games encourage and reward the player for exploring the physics of the game and testing the world for success. But there is not a gamer around that at some point has wanted a game to do more. The "If only I could do..." pleads that frustrated gamers can make are a good example that gamers do not settle. They want to innovate and do more... are presented with an opportunity to do so in a real world environment would. The success and frustration within games (the testing and exploring required) has empowered them to propose and try new ideas. Yes, innovate.
The path a gamer goes through find success in a game looks something like this:
- Engagement in the game and interface
- Motivation and desire to succeed and advance
- Testing of the system, discovery of game physics
- Analysis of limits and boundaries
- Evaluation of successful application
- Discussion (internal or external) on desired physics and gameplay
- Generation of new ideas/applications = innovation
The final two steps can often take place outside the game and away from the act of playing. Players often are engaged enough to continue thinking, planning and enjoying the game away from the physical act of playing. It is in this reflection time that creativity and innovation often occur.
3:08 AM | Tags: education, literature | 0 Comments
Adapting to New Higher Ed. Challenges
I love the college where I work. There is a devotion and caring for the students and their well being that I really respect and appreciate, and a day like Thursday, really helps remind me of that. I spent most of the day Thursday in a faculty and staff seminar/workshop on success of at risk students from under served demographics.
My background in politics and teaching are paths I chose to help people succeed, and this topic is a wonderful extension of that. There was a variety of ideas and actions points discussed. Some of which myself and the other librarians will be trying with our students this semester. But there were a few statements about higher education trends that applied to us here about the use of video games.
Robert C. Dickeson, one of the presenters, is a researcher and policy analyst for higher education. He discussed 7 trends within higher education, 3 of which apply to using games within education:
1) "Not taking advantage of innovation"
He discussed about a gap between teaching research and actual practice, and that this gap leads to the lack of innovation. Using games and game strategies bucks this trend. Video games in the classroom is taking advantage of innovation. It is a growing area us as educators and an innovation that our students consider second nature. While all our students are not gamers, surveys show that the vast majority have tried a video game and all had some exposure to games. As I'm trying to show (and have found in my own applications) that using games and game strategies is a great innovation that results in more engaged and motivated students.
2) "The trend of decreasing quality"
There is a trend of a lower level of commitment by the students for the content discussed within classes. Again, games are part of the solution to this trend. One reason for this lack of commitment is that students are not always engaged with the content. If they do not care about the content, they often do not care about the class. The creative use of games in a variety of classes can help engage students and get and keep them interested in the content. If the students care about what they are doing and are committed to it - the quality of their work should rise.
3) "Too few students are prepared to particpate and complete higher education"
Here again, games can be part of the solution. If our classes are filled with a variety of students all at different levels of ability and preparedness, we as teachers/instructors need to find ways to connect with all our student. Games are one medium that almost all students have experience, regardless of socio-economic backgrounds. As I stated above, games can and should be used to help increase interest and engagement from students who traditionally struggle. Video games can also be used to help bring those under prepared up to an average level. Games are self directed, naturally assessing and engaging - all 3 are good qualities for a tutorial. Using games to help increase skills, also encourages discussion with the student about their progress, challenges and successes.
10:53 PM | Tags: applications, education | 0 Comments
Success: Obedience vs Innovation
The latest issue of the Utne Reader contains a well written article on the positive and educational effects of playing video games, Playing with Our Heads. The author, Suellentrop, spends most of the article summarizing much of the positive video game research out there and how gaming is mentally stimulating and beneficial. It's a good overview of some of the past topics covered here on like the work of Johnson and Gee. Overall the article is very positive and helps support the statements of myself and others, that games (even violent games) have mental and educational value.
Suellentrop cites Paul Trachtman, from the Smithsonian magazine, who encourages non-gamers to "ignore the dubious content, the "surface or the imagery or the story line." Underneath that layer, as Trachtman states, is a medium that is "a test of your facility for understanding the logic design that the programmer wrote into the game." The value of games is not about the atmosphere, violent or not, that players exist in. The value is in the analysis, critical thinking and problem solving that games require in order to be successful.
Suellentrop supports this point by stating, "Games, in short, are teachers. And electronic games are uniquely suited to training individuals how to navigate our modern information society."
Read: Information Literacy Skills.
note: this post was written on Wednesday, but due to meetings and a conference at work it is posted a day later.
7:09 AM | Tags: literature | 0 Comments
Gaming Controversy
This radio story from the BBC came through my feeder today from Gamepolitics.com. It compares two controversial media both of which were said to "corrupt the youth" - novels and video games. It's a fitting news story since the UK is currently working to pass video game regulating legislation.
Long View
The story is also fitting since our library walked into a little controversy over video games as well. We are planning on doing a gaming night in the library using a variety of games (Wii Sports, Guitar Hero, DDR, Madden, Halo, and maybe Gears of War). The library staff involved in planning (including the Director) are excited about the possibilities of a gaming night, but we are getting questions from above about the appropriateness of including "M" rated games in an academic library sponsored event.
While these questions delay our gaming night, I am looking forward to the engaging in the discussion about the value of video games. This provides an opportunity to expand the assumptions people hold about video games and advocate the positive aspects of gaming and what it bring to learning. The work of James Paul Gee, Mark Prensky and others including The Federation of American Scientists provide a variety of justifications for the positive applications of games. So I'm pulling together some research and I'm looking forward to discussing video games which others on campus whose opinion I greatly respect.
5:09 PM | Tags: assumptions, news | 1 Comments
Making you think
The Escapist - Shark Bone or Snake Oil?
With the success of games like Nintendo's Brain Age, there is a growing interest in using games to stimulate and increase brain activity. The market has proved these games to be successful and is creating more interest from mainstream publishers.
Games are not a cure, but more importantly they are not the curse either. Even though the "brain games" focus on more traditional skill sets, all games involve brain activity. Whether or not some object to the content of the games is a point for another discussion.
NPR covered this same topic last week
For a Healthy Brain in Old Age, Start EarlyBoth are quick reads and provide examples of games used as teaching tools outside of traditional education settings...
Life long learners = Life long gamers
5:06 PM | Tags: news | 0 Comments
New Year - "Newer" Look
Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone started the new year off as exciting as I did – jumping out of bed post midnight to the sound of a large explosion (due of course to my "fun" loving neighbors).
The new year brings a few site design changes, like including the tag links on the right. I'm also now registered on Technorati. I'll continue to tinker with the layout and color, so let me know what you think.
3:45 PM | Tags: personal | 0 Comments
Pokemon Learning - Gotta Catch'em All
I spent part of my New Year's Day discussing Pokemon with a friend's 8 year old son. It turned into a wonderful conversation as he fleshed out the details of playing his Pokemon game on the GameBoy Advance. He discussed, at length, the strategies needed to capture different varieties of Pokemon and train them. From choosing different Pokemon based on elemental match-ups, to completing multi-tiered quests, to battle commands, he was thinking multiple steps ahead and making decisions based on the information available. And he was loving every minute of it.
Pokemon just finished celebrating their 10th anniversary and really launched onto the American pop culture scene around 1998 with the release of the original GameBoy games and the first movie in 1999. Kids from ages 6 to 16 were playing it, and are still playing. Many of the kids that started playing Pokemon, are now our students and will continue to be. There's an opportunity for instruction and application in the "gotta catch'em all" world of Pokemon.
If the 8 year old student sitting at my kitchen table (and others around the country) can evaluate and maintain up to 386 Pokemon, then keeping track of a dozen specialized databases for research should be a breeze. If he could recite the attributes, strengths and weaknesses of a handful of Pokemon, then understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the resources and databases used by our students should not be a challenge.
Our students are up to the challenge, we just need to help them want to. The sense of completion, social interaction, and motivation to catch just one more all help to make Pokemon popular – now we just have to tap into that. Of course, we'll never be a pop culture fad, but we can take steps to make us more engaging.
Pokemon makes me believe our interfaces do not need to be more simple, they just need to be more interesting. If a student can play out and navigate a world to catch a Bulbasaur, they can "play" through quality research.
2:42 PM | Tags: games | 3 Comments


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Comic books browse by: Shop category:
Scenarist Pierre-Yves GabrionAvailable series in store category "Comic books"
Pierre-Yves Gabrion in the COMICLOPEDIA
" Pierre-Yves Gabrion was born in Morocco and spent most of his early years in Guyana. There, he began his career working as a journalist for television and the press. From 1975, he cooperated with the monthly magazine Pacte while also making illustrations for children's..." [ Read more ]


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By Simone Stromer, MD, CHC [AADP]
The other day I met a friend at a new café that recently opened in the city, and discovered the most delicious iced tea that probably exists—fruity sangria iced tea. It was available sweetened or unsweetened, so I opted for the unsweetened version, which was tasty by itself, and even more so with a dash of honey. Indulging in sweetened ice teas and other flavored drinks are part of surviving the summer, because they are so refreshing; however, many of us opt for drinks that contain unhealthy sweeteners such as high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, or dextrose. I call them unhealthy because they are either artificial chemicals or chemical manipulations of natural products. Even plain old white sugar, which is a highly refined and processed form of sugar cane, is probably better than some of these.
Start experimenting with alternative healthier sweeteners both in your drinks and even in your baking. Some of the best ones to start with are: agave nectar, brown rice syrup, date sugar, honey, and maple syrup.
Many people think of maple syrup as that "fattening sauce I add to my pancakes"; however, in actual fact, natural and pure maple syrup is simply made from boiled-down maple tree sap. In addition, pure maple syrup contains many minerals, vitamins and amino acids. One table spoon of maple syrup contains about 50 calories, which is a little less than in a tablespoon of honey. Maple syrup will provide a really unique flavor to your drinks and baking and trust me you are going to love it!
Simone Stromer, MD, CHC [AADP]
Free one hour initial health and nutrition consultation for gourmetkoshercooking.com readers


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Monday, November 16, 2009
some loot
40 comments:
Love the combo of the frilly dress and grandpa sweater! You look great!!ReplyDelete
Gorgeous outfit! this said, your sense of style is a great inspiration. kudos :)ReplyDelete
Love that dress :)ReplyDelete
this really nice! from girly dress to comgy carigan & boots! love it!ReplyDelete
see, I actually think the headband/bun thing adds a chic appeal to the outfits :]ReplyDelete
you're outfit is ridiculously pretty! I love the tiered dress and neutral browns. thrifting is the best and i love that the look wasn't a fortune.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 16, 2009 at 1:03 PM
I love that dress! You are such an inspiration!ReplyDelete
I like the score of the belts!! Luckyyyy! The way you've styled the boots reminds me of Pradas Winter 09 wader style boots. Looks awesome.ReplyDelete
The layered belts are GENIUS!ReplyDelete
Holy Moly, those tan boots are a SCORE!ReplyDelete
That dress is AMAZING!!!!!!! xxxReplyDelete
Great look!Your dress is lovely :)ReplyDelete
I love the dress! Its so fun with the new belts.ReplyDelete
Love grey with red...you're always super stylish!!ReplyDelete
Wow! I love your blog! I am so happy we introduced each other yesterday. I am sort of new at all of this and just finding out how HUGE / small this world its. I just finished photographing my loot from yesterday. You made VERY good use of those belts!ReplyDelete
the headband bun combo is adorable! and i especially love the way you paired those brown boots with the scrunched up black socks!ReplyDelete
I love this outfit :)ReplyDelete
lucky you on the boots!! i can never find any here in the Bay area!! =( haha soo cute!!ReplyDelete
- Teeney
Those are such gorgeous boots! I've always wished I could thrift some but I've never had any luck. I really like this outfit, even more so because of all the thrifted elements. I really respect people who make secondhand clothes look so great!ReplyDelete
gorgeous dress! and i love that you wore two belts at the same timeReplyDelete
i love the dress with the boots. great finds!ReplyDelete
great style :)ReplyDelete
you got some great stuff!ReplyDelete
yay for thrifting.
i love that blue ruffle-y dress! so pretty.
♥ erica
I love that belt! So cool!ReplyDelete
very likeable!ReplyDelete
veryyyy cute!ReplyDelete
Gorgeous! I love this look!ReplyDelete
Love the entire outfit!ReplyDelete
You look great!
great outfit ! i love your boots and your belts are really great worn as you did !ReplyDelete
love this look! great dress, especially with the bootsReplyDelete
I love every bit of this, including the location hinting in the corner!ReplyDelete
You look gorgeous! I love the double belt thing. xxReplyDelete
Love the color of the boots!!! :DReplyDelete
I really love the dress with the two belts and the sweater makes it more comfortable. Cool boots and I like what you did with the socks! I love your blog! :)ReplyDelete
I love the look of two belts together- very unique.ReplyDelete
Love the whole outfit and that dress is awesome! Keep up the good work! - Natalya of Wear NecessitiesReplyDelete
Hi. I would like this exact outfit for myself, please. Size 8. :0)ReplyDelete
Adored Austin adores you!
Love it! Really like your boots!ReplyDelete
those ruffles are so pretty!! and the socks & boots are perfect... okay, i'll stop gushing now. :)ReplyDelete
I love this ruffled dress with the double belt.ReplyDelete


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This article first appeared in Aviation Week & Space Technology.
It will take another year for export-control reforms aimed at easing the path for the U.S. satellite industry to take effect, time enough for manufacturers and others affected by more than a decade of onerous International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to push for additional changes.
Among issues the satellite industry is likely to address is the status of military hosted payloads, which will continue to be treated as munitions under the proposed rule to be published by the end of April. Industry will be able to enter comments on the proposed rule that will shift oversight of most satellite and satellite-component exports from the U.S. Munitions List controlled by the State Department back to the Commerce Department, where it once resided.
"If the satellite is DOD funded, it would be retained on the U.S. Munitions List," says Patricia Cooper, president of the Satellite Industry Association (SIA). "That's an area where I expect SIA to file a request for reconsideration."
U.S. satellite manufacturers have been pushing hosted payloads riding piggyback on commercial communications platforms as a less expensive way for the Pentagon to field its communications relays and mapping sensors than building dedicated satellites. Removing them from the munitions list could simplify adoption of the approach, a process that many see as lagging (AW&ST March 18, p. 51).
Satellites were placed on the munitions list in 1999 in a congressional reaction against U.S. companies helping the China Great Wall Industry Corp. review the causes of two Long March launch vehicle failures that destroyed their spacecraft. Since then, the U.S. industry has pushed for a return to the Commerce Control List, which was less burdensome.
U.S. satellite manufacturers say their exports have suffered as a result of the ITAR oversight, which requires additional licenses for resale of spacecraft components to third parties and has proved slower than the Commerce oversight at times. In an attempt to gain an advantage over U.S. companies, Europe's Thales Alenia Space developed an "ITAR-free" spacecraft that could be launched on Chinese rockets, such as the March 31, 2012, flight of a Long March 3B carrying the company's Apstar VII satcom for APT Satellite Holdings of Hong Kong (photo).
A panel at the Satellite 2013 conference here outlined the difficult process of repealing the 1999 satellite-export legislation, followed by the lengthy task of preparing the proposed rule that will shift commercial satellites back to Commerce's purview.
Basically, the new law will allow communications satellites, remote-sensing satellites that fall short of specified capabilities, and parts and components from those spacecraft to be exported through the Commerce system, which does not require licenses for exports to 36 friendly nations.
Satellites with purely military and intelligence functions will remain on the munitions list, according to the White House, as will high-resolution Earth remote-sensing satellites and the parts and components of those spacecraft. Launch-service support for all U.S. satellites will continue to be controlled by the State Department, and exports to China, North Korea, Iran and other sanctioned countries will be forbidden.
"It was simply an outright prohibition—thou shalt not export anything to China in this regard," says David Fite, a Democratic staffer on the House Foreign Affairs Committee who was a key player in the congressional negotiations. "That was very important, because that spoke to everyone in both parties who was concerned about the national security implications, especially to China."
Within the executive branch, figuring out just what technology to shift proved to be a time-consuming task because of its complexity, according to Anthony M. Dearth, chief of special projects in the Office of Defense Trade Controls Licensing at the State Department. A single military satellite has more than 700,000 components, all of them on the munitions list under the old law and in need of sorting out line by line by officials from State and Commerce.
The result was a report issued last year that includes a list of satellite technologies that will be transferred to the Commercial Control List. Known as the Section 1248 Report, it is expected to form the basis for the proposed rule that will be issued soon.
Panelists at the Satellite 2013 conference urged satellite manufacturers and lawyers who specialize in export licensing to comment on the proposed rule, and to be thoughtful and restrained in their business activities in the meantime lest they reactivate congressional opposition to the ITAR reform.
"It's very important to push back against any misperception, particularly among small firms, that ITAR is over, and that we don't have to worry about it," says Mike Gold of Bigelow Aerospace, a lawyer who has helped shepherd the reform legislation through Congress. "Because the last thing we need during this implementation process is some sort of giant mistake or blunder or violation, particularly when it comes to China, that will get the China hawks in Congress reengaged. China is the third rail of export control reform."


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Flagship Journals
Resources For
Art & Architecture Community at the DRC. A Digital Resource Commons (DRC) community containing five collections including:
The ART Collection,
The ART Collection provides high-quality, digital images of works of art from museums around the world. Cultures and time periods represented range from contemporary art, Native American and Inuit art, to ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian works, along with Japanese and Chinese works.
Daphne Dare Collection,
This collection includes costume and scene designs from more than fifty productions by British designer Daphne Dare (1929-2000). Dare designed for major theatres on both sides of the Atlantic as well as for television and film.
Saskia Art History Images,
Saskia Art History Images is a collection of digital art images with a special emphasis on the core images required for teaching the history of Western Art. Including titles from the textbooks Gardner's Art Through the Ages, Stokstad's History of Art, and Hartt's History of Italian Renaissance Art.


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Esaote aims to deliver precise and reliable diagnosis to meet any clinical need. Integrated solutions for data and image management ensure safe and streamlined workflow.
Ultrasound is a non-invasive imaging technology used for the evaluation of the musculoskeletal (MSK) system. Growing evidence has shown that the technology is a reliable method for establishing an accurate diagnosis, playing a major role in disease monitoring, assessment of damage, and therapeutics.
As a dynamic study, ultrasound enables the user to see the target area in real-time. Due to the existing compact system solutions, the examination can be performed in the clinic, hospital, or even on the sports field, providing complete feedback for many MSK problems.
The technology is well accepted by the patients. Users are able to interact directly with patients by providing patient education and explaining the details of the treatment.
Clinical applications
As there are many applications of ultrasound in the MSK system, we have identified the main segments as being Rheumatology, Pain Management, and Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy.
The clinical status of a patient with rheumatoid arthritis is linked to the degree of synovial thickening and effusion. The detection of synovitis can be difficult and non-inflammatory conditions can mimic the features of inflammatory arthritis. Typical features such as bone erosions may also not be present in early stages. The use of ultrasound in the patient evaluation may therefore help to overcome some of these issues, allowing the user to establish the most suitable treatment for the patient.
The most common rheumatology diseases where ultrasound assessment is applicable are:
- Synovitis
- Erosion
- Psoriatic arthritis
- Osteoarthritis
- Crystal arthritis
- Vasculitis
- Enthesitis and bursitis
Pain Management
Ultrasound is the method of choice for diagnostics and therapeutic nerve blocks. It enables the user to visualize small nerves in real time without the need for other components.
Advanced technologies such as needle enhancement, wide field of view, elastography, and high-frequency probes allows the users to perform clinical procedures with confidence, resulting in a high success rate in relieving patient pain.
Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy
The three areas where athletes tend to suffer a high rate of injuries are tendons, muscles, and bones. As these injuries may happen on the field and require an immediate response regarding the severity of the injury, Esaote developed portable and advanced systems to address this need.
Quick on-site scanning enables the user to determine a reliable diagnosis. This assessment improves athletes' performance and recovery, and reduces costs caused by unnecessary exams and treatments.
Advanced Technologies
Ultrasound imaging is evolving continuously in order to create tools that benefit the user and the patient. It's important to highlight some of the new key technologies and the reasoning behind their development.
Needle Enhancement
Understanding how important it is for clinicians to have tools that support and guide them through the ultrasound process and increase their confidence, Esaote developed technology that increases needle brightness by combining a dedicated image composition of a standard B-mode with a properly processed and steered image.
Panoramic View (VPan)
VPan technology enables the user to see an enlarged view of the region of interest. This feature combined with an unlimited acquisition length makes this technology perfect for assessing large lesions.
Elastography (ElaXto)
Elaxto technology highlights the soft and hard structures providing the tissue elasticity of the target region. It is a simple and fast exam that improves patient throughput and comfort and avoids the unnecessary superficial palpation of the target area. It's an excellent tool for diagnosis and especially for patient follow-up.
Microvascularization (microV)
microV detects tiny and slow-flow vessels without B-mode interferences (no noise related to hyperechoic structures) to represent the information related to flows that are not detectable with standard Doppler techniques.
Clinical Benefits
- Amazing tool for diagnosis and patient follow-up.
- Reliable and non-invasive technology.
- Accuracy during intervention procedures due to real-time imaging.
- Greater patient comfort.
- Improved workflow and patient throughput.
- Cost reduction and a good return on investment.
Technology and features are system/configuration dependent. Specifications subject to change without notice. Information might refer to products or modalities not yet approved in all countries. Product images are for illustrative purposes only. For further details, please contact your Esaote sales representative.


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Like bears in tutus, 8x8 Tatra 813s are not the best dancers. You'll see what I mean when you watch these 30-ton machines attempt a beautifully choreographed ballet on ice.
These are the same kinds of trucks you see hauling themselves around obstacle courses in truck trials, only this time some teams decided to let their hair down and tie eight little ballerina slippers to their heavy-duty competition machines.
(Hat tip to Klic!)


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Results tagged waffle fries from David Lebovitz
Kuma's isn't the easiest place to get to. It's in Chicago but not anywhere near the city center. And once you get out there, you'll have to wait for your table. And waiting at (or near) the bar is exquisite torture because there's a line up of folks at the bar chowing down on the best hamburgers and macaroni and cheese you'll ever come across….