text:
Mrs. Rosa Parks asked a question of the policeman who arrested her for refusing to move to the back of the bus on December 1, 1955. In 2022, it is again, and still, a chilling question, to which we have no good answer.
Rosa Parks: "Why do you push us around?"
Officer: "I don't know but the law is the law and you're under arrest."
From Rosa Parks with Gregory J. Reed, Quiet Strength
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1994), page 23.
Photo: Mrs. Parks being fingerprinted in Montgomery, Alabama; photo from New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection, Library of Congress
Today in History at the Library of Congress provides the simple facts:
On the evening of December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, an African American, was arrested for disobeying an Alabama law requiring black passengers to relinquish seats to white passengers when the bus was full. Blacks were also required to sit at the back of the bus. Her arrest sparked a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system and led to a 1956 Supreme Court decision banning segregation on public transportation.
Rosa Parks made a nearly perfect subject for a protest on racism. College-educated, trained in peaceful protest at the famous Highlander Folk School, Parks was known as a peaceful and respected person. The sight of such a proper woman being arrested and jailed would provide a schocking image to most Americans. Americans jolted awake.
Often lost in the retelling of the story are the threads that tie together the events of the civil rights movement through the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. As noted, Parks was a trained civil rights activist. Such training in peaceful and nonviolent protest provided a moral power to the movement probably unattainable any other way. Parks' arrest was not planned, however. Parks wrote that as she sat on the bus, she was thinking of the tragedy of Emmet Till, the young African American man from Chicago, brutally murdered in Mississippi early in 1955. She was thinking that someone had to take a stand for civil rights, at about the time the bus driver told her to move to allow a white man to take her seat. To take a stand, she kept her seat.
African Americans in Montgomery organized a boycott of the Montgomery bus system. This was also not unique, but earlier bus boycotts are unremembered. A bus boycott in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, earlier in 1955 did not produce nearly the same results.
The boycott organizers needed a place to meet, a large hall. The biggest building in town with such a room was the Dexter Street Baptist Church. At the first meeting on December 5, it made sense to make the pastor of that church the focal point of the boycott organizing, and so the fresh, young pastor, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was thrust into civil rights organizing as president, with Ralph Abernathy as program director. They called their group the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). When their organizing stretched beyond the city limits of Montgomery, the group became the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
- Montgomery Advertiser, December 6, 1955; copyright by the Montgomery Advertiser, via the Memory Project, Library of Congress
Litigation on the boycott went all the way to the Supreme Court (Browder v. Gale). The boycotters won. The 381-day boycott was ended on December 21, 1956, with the desegregation of the Montgomery bus system.
Sources for lesson plans and projects:
- Rosa Parks photo gallery at the Academy of Achievement site
- Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century, Rosa Parks
- Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development
- Scholastic.com resources on Rosa Parks
- "The Civil Rights Era," The Memory Center, Library of Congress
- "We Shall Overcome," music by Silphia Horton, Frank Hamilton, Guy Carawan, and Pete Seeger
- Highlander Center (successor to the Highlander Folk School)
- Mrs. Parks's casket at the U.S. Capitol
- Biography of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at the Nobel Peace Prize site
- Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers Project at Stanford University
- Teaching King, lesson plans and other resources, Stanford University
- The King Center
- Long Island University Library tribute to Dr. King
- "With an Even Hand: Brown v. Board at Fifty," Library of Congress on-line exhibition
Tip of the old scrub brush to Slacktivist, who gave this post a nice plug.


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When something exciting and unexpected jumps at us during one of those cloudy days of our lives, how do we manage the emotion?
Have you ever questioned or struggled with certain circumstances that sometimes come to you suddenly as a pleasant surprise, a shocking revelation or a hurdle of nerve-racking challenges or indecision? A test or a leap of faith?
So, the moment my father's powder blue Volkswagen Beetle drove off the visitor's parking lot of Rima house (my hostel), I knew one thing was certain that day! I-was-doomed!
1- Maybe Mr. & Mrs. Gansallo were not my real parents after all (I was probably adopted or kidnapped as a baby) or
2- Maybe my mother, being the tough 'Up Bendel' woman she claimed she was, was just at her best to frustrate me and drive me to my early grave! While my father, all dressed up in his favorite Cuban shirt was too terrified of showing his emotion in public, and of course, didn't want his wife to nag him all the way back to Lagos, reminding him of how much He had spoiled me rotten! Phew!
I was just 11 years old, and my parents had just dropped me off in the deepest forest, concentration-camp-like boarding school, about 400 kilometers away from home!
Who does that? How did I get here? Why do I have to travel far away for secondary schooling? All the way…to FGGC, Sagamu! Ogun state. Whatever happened to schools down the road from my house?
OMG! They really hated me! I thought to myself as I cried myself to sleep that night on my upper bunk bed, Ohhh, so even my pet name "Atupa Parlor" (the glowing lantern in a room) didn't mean anything to them again. I-have-been-robbed-emotionally!! 😦
In my solitude and grief, I found comfort in the company of about 50% of my old classmates from primary school who were also dropped off by their parents, who had also driven back to Lagos, smiling happily and about to enjoy all the luxuries we were missing here at the boarding school.
It took me days to adjust to the tons of rules passed down by Madame Chaudhry, my bulbous Indian house mistress, the early morning bells, the sluggish and sleepy-eyed tweens and teenagers in fancy oversized nighties or awkward red-checked house wear, the long walk to the massive dining hall where breakfast is usually consumed as fast as it takes to say the grace, the mandatory early morning assembly gathering as our beautiful flawless light-skinned British-accent VP (Mrs. Odusote) begins her 'oh-not-again speech!
'Girls! Girls!' 'Wake up to your future" or "Oh dear! Bad Girls, My heart bleeds for you…blah bla bla!
That's the moment I always remember my parents actually did something great for my future. Yeah, dropping me off in the middle of nowhere to emerge a doer amidst the craziness behind those tall walls overnight. Such transformation! From that fragile, tiny over-pampered girl into a grab-the-horn and move-it woman! – all by the grace of God.
Today, here I am eagerly packing and sending my 10-year-old son off to his school's 5th grade science club camp, deep into the woods and pure lakes of Michigan. Aha!
Here I am feeling my heartbeat double and triple as I merge into the season of change that's launching God's plan for my desire, reflecting on my own younger days away from home, diving into the grace to start well and end well, leaving the past behind and summoning on courage to continue the journey, of my main purpose of leaving home!' but even this kido isn't moved or sober or afraid of change. He's elated! Oh Vinny! 😦
And am here freaking out and remembering the day I had to push all of him, 9lb+ out of me that early morning in April at Pennsylvania Hospital!
"Mom, wake up to your future! I will be just fine!
That was all I needed to hear to bounce back to reality. My VP's piercing words of advice "Wake up to your future" That was my lesson and the booster I needed afterwards that made me travel another 1,000 kilometers away from home to attend college and even further and further as destiny calls…
If you are reading this and feel a kind of disconnection to your dreams or passion or niche for life, honestly ask yourself…'Am I waking up to my future? or 'living it in my dreams?'
You see, because you know you want something! You deserve that GOAL! You crave that PATH! 'It breathes and oozes your name in every aspect, it speaks your language and has your DNA of perfectionist spread all over it! But you aren't really prepared for the pomp and pageantry that could come with it. That was my own personal excuse for years..
The crowd cheers you on, you're like a super star in your little corner, a small fry in a broken pan…a small fish in a big lake, the bill board has your image space vacant, its waiting for you.. 'but what's holding you back? Are you also afraid of taking that bold step into your assigned destiny? Are you afraid of Change? The journey? Transition issues?
The carving process called change knocks us into a deep slumber of uncertainties…maybe, well maybe it isn't time yet! Or maybe I will wait and wait…till the baby boomers launch your ideas in their retirement plan!
How do you manage change or adjustment or transition? Do you look at it as an avenue to finally launch your life's purpose or could it be that you are God's brewing subject in the making all the while? So happens that, NOW is just the right time and right place! You just never saw it coming. Did ya?
Or, have you ever gone through a period of discouragement or disappointment? because you tried once and it failed? Perhaps you're in one right now. Believe me, I've been right there with you. Trust me, I've hidden in the cave with Elijah, under the gourd plant with Jonah, and finally sneaked into the desert with Moses. #FearOfMovingForward
Our fear and discouragement of accepting a change comes when there is a gap between what we always expect and what we eventually experience, like when there is a gap between what we hoped would happen and what actually does happen. #GreatExpectations
Believe me, our blessings is hanging in the atmosphere. It's the move or shift we ignore everyday.
Are we aware that there are people God places in our path for an eternal purpose? The beauty salon or barber shop stylist you patronize needs to see God's love in your smile.
That unplanned stop where you run into an old friend who needs encouragement is really an opportunity sent by God.
You get a text or email from an unwanted friend and ignore the burden of a lonely soul, Does she/he need to know that you care … so she can know God cares?
Where are we looking? Behind us? At things of the past that make us cringe in fear for the future we don't know, are we still reveling in the glory of a past long gone? Let's look for God in our circumstances … in the people we meet … in the unwelcome intrusion of a neighbor … in the infuriating behavior of a co-worker or the exasperating antics of a teenager.
'Moving forward, onward or along is an acceptable shift for our atmosphere.
Rooted to the same circle of confusion is a deadly disease we take for granted, because it's a safe prescription and a very cheap one to manage. 'We are what we MOVE.' – Yinka.
If you are meeting resistance in your hopes and dreams, then you're most likely on the right track. Because the devil wouldn't mess with you if you weren't a menace to his plans and a valuable asset to God. #Goals
Today, I am hoping someone will wake up to their future plans by turning their dreams into reality. By turning uncertainty into sureness. Take the risk and make it happen, surprise your dreams by dragging it into the future.
I am hoping that someone will eventually let go of debilitating discouragement, procrastination, fear of change or just plain old-fashioned waiting on someone for a move first, and take hold of their next shift! Change is the only constant.
I know I just did by moving forward into my next assignment in life, and still in AWE of God's goodness.
In my conversation with God and my daily journal, I've had to pinch myself back to reality saying "No human could have done this for me, But God did! All because of His mercy and compassion, overlooking my craziness, errs and mishaps, He picked me out to be moved and used for his glory! and is still moving me forward". #Praises
**Thanks again to everyone who made my transition easy! Wow! 'am still beaming with love and affection for the book I received during the 'love-filled see-you soon send off dinner' 'I appreciate it.
"It would be all so easy if you had a map to the Maze.
If the same old routines worked.
If they'd just stop moving "The Cheese."
But things keep changing.
-Spencer Johnson, M.D. "Who Moved My Cheese?
Yours in HOPE as I share Jason Nelson's 'Shifting The Atmosphere"

subset: commoncrawl


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A320, A350, Airbus, Boeing, First, Flight, Formation, Milestones, Penalty, performance, Production, Program
MSN 2 & MSN 4 take to the skies for the first time; A350 performance penalties on the first few airplanes; Timelines more important than performance; A350 program gets costlier:why; A320 production ramp up.
Today marks four things: The Airbus Group press conference, the first flight of MSN2, the first flight of MSN4, and the Airbus announcement of the Airbus A320 production ramp-up.
On 2nd January, 2014, EADS, which comprised Airbus, Eurocopter, Cassidian, and Astrium, was been rebranded as "Airbus Group". The Airbus Group press conference must not be confused with the Airbus press conference, which was held on 13th January, 2014. But, very obviously, Airbus was discussed today.
Aviation Week today reported that "Airbus Group is taking a €434 million extraordinary charge in its 2013 results for the A350 program" due to "higher than expected recurring costs for the new widebody aircraft". Airbus, unlike Bombardier: the only other airliner airframer to be engaged in a flight test campaign of an all-new aircraft, has ensured that the program has stuck to schedule, at any cost. And that cost, for now, is an added Euro 434M.
A very interesting insight provided in an article in Aviation Week, in August 2012, which was highlighted today by Rupa Haria, quoted Richard Aboulafia, vice president for analysis at the Teal Group, "If you are missing important milestones, you get beaten up by the financial markets or your customers. . . . You want to meet time guarantees more than performance guarantees."
In other words, the first few airplanes won't be as good as those that will roll out of the line later.
Which also means that the Airbus A350 airplanes that took to the skies today, F-WWCF(MSN2) and F-WZNW(MSN4), could have benefitted from the later roll out at a cost: the cost to Airbus and its suppliers, who have to manufacture different variants of the same part, for the sake of keeping up with the program schedule. Different variants are due to part/product maturity which comes eventually with time. The most important reason for maturing the part is to result in weight savings, which impact the performance guarantees that Richard Aboulafia was talking about. The financial implications arising out of these performance penalties incurred by the first few operators of the A350, will be passed on to Airbus. This also affects the resale value of the first few aircraft, even with modifications that will be effected on the aircraft in service.
Such relatively immature aircraft, very obviously, come cheap to the airlines, but attract higher subsequent costs of ownership.
According to Aviation Week, there will be three batches of Airbus A350s, based on the design changes, and consequently, performance.
F-WWCF is the first of two A350 flight test aircraft to be equipped with a full passenger cabin interior, and features a distinctive "Carbon" signature livery to reflect its primary construction from advanced materials. 53% of the A350 XWB's airframe is made-up of carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) including Airbus' first carbon-fibre fuselage. Hence the registration, F-WW"CF", for Carbon Fibre.
MSN 2 will be the first A350 to transport passengers when it undertakes the Early Long Flights (ELF) later in the year. The "passengers" will be Airbus employees. The eye-candy A350 will do well for promotions, especially when it lands at airports outside Toulouse, and even Europe.
The other aircraft to be fitted with a cabin will be MSN 5, which is in the final assembly line and is expected to fly in a few months. MSN 4 joins MSN 1 and 3, the first two airplanes to have taken to the skies, in being those three airplanes dedicated to avionics, noise testing, and various other systems work through the flight test program. These three aircraft will not be fitted with a cabin, but rather, equipped with heavy flight test installation. The aircraft has on its fuselage the logo of Qatar Airways, and "A350 XWB Launch Customer".
It will, however, only be MSN 6 which will be delivered to Qatar Airways. MSN 6 is already in the A350 Final Assembly Line (FAL). This aircraft is expected to take to the skies in the October of 2014, and delivered less than a month later.
Singapore Airlines will receive MSN 8, the third aircraft intended for commercial operations. Vietnam Airlines will receive MSN 14, and Finnair MSN 18. The 21st A350 airframe is expected to be the A350-800, and the 41st A350 airframe is expected to be the A350-1000.
MSN 2 and MSN 4 flew together in formation close to the southern border of France, over the Pyrenees mountains, for a photo shoot.
Airbus A320
While one program bleeds the finances, the proven narrowbody family: a proven market that allows airliner manufacturers Boeing and Airbus to not only earn their bread but offset costs from other programs.
The A320 program is ramping up production, as announced today by Airbus, to 46 a month in Q2 2016, up from the current rate 42. The new higher production rate will be achieved gradually, with an intermediate step at 44 aircraft per month in Q1 2016.
"Based on the healthy market outlook for our best-selling A320 Family and following a comprehensive assessment of our supply chain's readiness to ramp-up, we are ready to go to rate 46 by Q2 2016," said Tom Williams, Executive Vice President Programmes. "With a record backlog of over 4,200 A320 Family aircraft and the growing success of the NEO, we have a solid case to increase our monthly output to satisfy our customers' requirement for more of our fuel efficient aircraft."
Over the past five years, Airbus has steadily increased A320 Family production, going from rate 36 at the end of 2010 to rate 38 in August 2011, then up to rate 40 in Q1 2012 to reach 42 per month in Q4 of the same year.


text: Pinge and Wang present their long awaited 2016 route map! Feast your eyes on all the places we should be next month that we'll probably miss a flight/train to and end up somewhere else instead. In fact we may as well just throw this map and a few grand out of the window right now.


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Prosta Palmetto™ - Planetary Formulas
|Prosta Palmetto™ - MAn's best friend
|Darrell Miller
June 06, 2005 03:43 PM
Author: Darrell Miller (email@example.com)
Subject: Prosta Palmetto™ - MAn's best friend
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I installed this program several weeks ago. It changes the colors and intensity of your computer screen based on the time of day and level of sunlight so that if you're at the computer in the evening, your brain doesn't get overstimmed by the extra light and make it difficult for you to fall asleep. (For those who do artwork, it has a toggle for when you need to see the true colors of what you're working on.)
I can't tell if it's had a direct effect on me sleeping better, but it does seem like my eyes aren't as tired after my on-line time in the evening.


text:
- What is Perimeter Institute?
- What is Perimeter Institute's mission?
- What do scientists at Perimeter Institute research?
- Why is theoretical physics important?
- How many research scientists and trainees are at Perimeter Institute?
- Is Perimeter Institute part of a university?
- Is Perimeter Institute tied to BlackBerry – or any other private companies?
- How is Perimeter Institute funded?
- How is Perimeter Institute governed?
- Where is Perimeter Institute located?
Q: What is Perimeter Institute?
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is an independent, non-profit, scientific research organization working to advance our understanding of physical laws and develop new ideas about the very essence of space, time, matter, and information. Perimeter also provides a wide array of research training and educational outreach activities to nurture scientific talent and share the importance of discovery and innovation among students, teachers, and the general public.
Q: What is Perimeter Institute's mission?
We believe breakthroughs are realized through a collision of intellect, imagination, and inspiration. We exist to enable the most ambitious research in theoretical physics and share its transformative power with the world. As such, Perimeter conducts:
- Research, at the cutting edge of foundational theoretical physics
- Training, for the next generation of brilliant young thinkers
- Educational outreach, to share a love of science and boost scientific literacy among students, teachers, and the general public throughout Canada and beyond.
Q: What do scientists at Perimeter Institute research?
Perimeter researchers span nine research fields. Together, these fields combine our most important insights into the basic laws governing the universe, from subatomic and quantum scales, to the tabletop scales of condensed matter systems, to the description of the entire cosmos. Perimeter's choice of complementary disciplines is unique worldwide; its emphasis on ambitious, unconstrained scientific enquiry – particularly at the intersections between fields - has led to a vibrant, growing research community. | more |
Q: Why is theoretical physics important?
Foundational theoretical physics is a cornerstone of modern quantitative science, on which so much else rests. It's perhaps the highest-impact yet lowest-cost area of basic research. The goal of the field is to understand how the universe works at the most fundamental level. Its discoveries have advanced human understanding and seeded innovations across fields from mechanical engineering to wireless communication, and from electronics to power generation. Radio, television, semiconductors, computers, cell phones, lasers, fibre optics, holography, the Internet, GPS, solar cells, and diagnostic imagery – they are all rooted in breakthroughs in theoretical physics. As history shows us, one breakthrough in the field can literally change the world. | more |
Q: How many research scientists and trainees are at Perimeter Institute?
Perimeter is home to more than 150 researchers, ranging from master's-level research trainees to eminent senior scientists. It also houses the world's largest group of independent postdoctoral researchers in theoretical physics. Conferences, talks, and research projects (in-person and currently online) spark collaborations with more than 1,000 top scientists every year.
Q: Is Perimeter Institute part of a university?
No. Perimeter Institute is a fully independent, not-for-profit organization advancing scientific research, training, and outreach. However, Perimeter partners with many universities and other theoretical and experimental research organizations across Canada and around the world. One celebrated partnership is Perimeter Scholars International (PSI) which combines the strengths of Perimeter Institute with the nearby University of Waterloo in the delivery of a master's-level research training program. Aside from the many cooperative institutional partnerships, Perimeter researchers collaborate regularly with colleagues at research organizations around the world.
Q: Is Perimeter Institute tied to BLACKBERRY or any other private companies?
No. Perimeter has no affiliation to BlackBerry. The Institute was founded in part through the personal philanthropy of Mike Lazaridis, Founder, Board Vice-Chair. | more |
Q: How is Perimeter Institute funded?
Perimeter Institute is funded through an innovative and public-private partnership - uniting governments, individuals, corporations, and foundations in a shared enterprise to help advance scientific breakthroughs, nurture scientific talent, and share scientific discovery with the public. Perimeter receives public investment from both the Ontario Government and Government of Canada. Private funds come from a variety of individuals, corporations, and foundations – including BMO Financial Group, Templeton Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Delaney Family, and other visionary donors. Members of the public are also welcome to donate. Researchers are also supported by grants and awards from agencies that fund basic research, such as Canada's Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). | more |
Q: How is Perimeter Institute governed?
Oversight at Perimeter includes:
- A volunteer Board of Directors drawn from the private sector and academic community. The Board is the final authority on all matters related to the general structure and development of the institute. Financial planning, accountability, and investment strategy are carried out by the Board's Investment & Audit Committees.
- Scientific direction is guided by Robert Myers, Director of Perimeter Institute, as well as the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), made up of eminent international scientists.
- Additional accountability and transparency through independent, peer-reviewed audits in accordance with Perimeter's public-private partnership agreements.
| more |
Q: Where is Perimeter Institute located?
Perimeter is located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It's facility features award-winning architecture in the original building and the Stephen Hawking Centre expansion, designed to spark curiosity and collaboration among brilliant scientists.


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Not too long ago, I revealed my 10 favorite games I have started playing in 2018. One of these games was Resident Evil 4. Now, I shorty explained why I enjoyed that game so much in that article but I think it's time to give a more in-depth opinion on the game. I haven't finished the game yet, I'm closing in on the mid-way point of the game. I think I have seen enough of the game to give my first impressions on the game and to give my honest opinion on the game. So, will this be the game that drags me into survival horror or will this game be the one that turns me off? As usual, feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts on the game and/or the content of this article in the comment section down below.
Ashley & Leon's "vacation"
In this game, you take on the role of Leon S. Kennedy. A police officer that was involved with Raccoon City that has been sent to Spain to rescue the President's kidnapped daughter. Very quickly after your arrival, you discover that things aren't normal and that something went horribly wrong. It's up to Leon to find and rescue Ashley as quickly as he can.
The writing in this game is excellent. Some story elements are explained in notes you can find in the world and others are explained in cutscenes. The voice acting is amazing, I especially love the voice acting during combat sections since it really helps with building the atmosphere. The only missed opportunity, in my opinion, is that there aren't a lot of interactions between Ashley and Leon during your exploration. Maybe Bioshock Infinite with Booker and Elisabeth spoiled me too much there.
Most of this game is a sort of escort quest. But, Leon isn't taking Ashley on a nice vacation to Spain, at all. Remember the start of this section? Leon came to the village to extract Ashley and get her back to the United States of the Americas.
Now, I'll talk more about gameplay mechanics later but first I want to talk about a flaw with the story of this game. The flaw is that some parts of the story, especially some characters and events aren't explained too well to newcomers. This game is the first Resident Evil game I'm trying to beat and I had to look up certain things. Now, on the other hand, these unexplained gaps in the story made me even more interested to play the previous Resident Evil games so that everything can fall into place.
Since I haven't beaten the game, I won't comment on the writing too much. To be quite honest, I feel that sometimes the story takes a bit of a backseat and is more used as a sort of tool to string different sections together. I even dare to say that you would be able to cut some sections out without it making a (big) impact on the story or the atmosphere. Yes, the notes fill in some of the gaps but since they are optional and can be skipped, the story feels incomplete to me. As if there were sections removed from the final version.
Ashley isn't Elisabeth
Now, I knew in advance that this game was going to be an escort mission sort of game. I have played Bioshock Infinite, so I got used to guiding a character around.
Now, there are big differences between Elisabeth and Ashley. First of all, Ashley can be kidnapped. Whenever certain enemies are close to her, she can be picked up and kidnapped. Whenever she is dragged through a door to another section, it's game over.
There are two other big differences. The first is that Ashley isn't helpful during your exploration. You can tell her to wait, hide and follow you. She can only hide in certain places, she doesn't look for them herself. Now, I tested out how good her pathfinding is. Whenever I called for her when she was in hiding and I ran to a corner of the map, she was always able to find me and team up with me.
The second big difference is that Ashley isn't invincible. If you see the screenshot I placed a bit earlier, you notice that Ashley has a health bar as well. So, you have to be careful that Ashley doesn't take damage. Since you need to rescue her alive. Whenever you use your healing items, you can choose to heal either yourself or Ashley.
Thankfully, both Elisabeth and Ashley rarely get in your way during combat. Elisabeth goes and looks for items while Ashley ducks so fast when you aim at an enemy behind her, it's almost impossible to hit her. Also, whenever I threw a grenade in her direction to try and defeat an enemy close to her, she quickly gets out of the way. Thank god, I would have thrown out the disc if that wasn't the case.
Now, I have been talking about the differences between Ashley and Elisabeth for a while now. But, how does this gameplay? What is the actual gameplay? This game is an adventure-exploration 3D shooter game. I even dare to say that you can compare it to the reboot Tomb Raider games to a certain extent. The big differences are Ashley and that this game focuses more on big bosses and horror than Tomb Raider.
I have to admit that I'm playing this game on the easy difficulty. Because this is one of my first times I'm playing a survival horror game, I wanted to get used to the mechanics before I challenged myself and played through the genre on a harder difficulty. Surprisingly, this game keeps being challenging. I'm always thinking of how I can save the ammo of my most powerful weapons to quickly dispatch groups of enemies.
The biggest thing I dislike during combat is that I can't see a difference between an enemy that is close to dying and one that is full health. What is even more annoying is that it's sometimes, and especially with the bosses, hard to read if you are hitting them or not. In one run, I was sure I hit an enemy but the enemy didn't go down and used her chainsaw to insta-kill me. The red dot at the end of where you are aiming is too small and too little of an indication during hectic combat. Because of this, I'm sure that I have wasted so much ammo fighting bosses.
I think I can summarize it like this: the combat is a bit rough around the edges. While it's a lot of fun, sometimes I got annoyed with the limitations of the mechanics. On one hand, I can understand where the developers were coming from. This game is a survival horror game after all and you have to fell tense and afraid since it's a horror game. On the other hand, it doesn't take away that I would have loved to see a bit more polish on the combat.
Something I'm disappointed a bit by is the puzzles. I feel that most of the puzzles rely a bit too much on the "press the buttons in the right order" cliché. Almost all of the non-combat puzzles have to press switches in a certain sequence. Granted, I'm somewhere in the middle of the game so, it's quite possible that the rest of the game will have a bit more unique puzzles.
It has aged
Because I'm a retro gamer, I don't mind it when games look dated. If you wondered why I didn't play the HD version for this article, I can easily explain that by saying that I was able to pick up a physical copy of the original and that interests me more as a collector.
Now, the game looks fine on PS2. There is a lot of detail in the atmosphere of the game and the monster design is delicious grotesque. I especially love it when characters transform mid-battle because then I have to think quickly and change my strategy accordingly.
But alas, the fact that this game is now almost 15 years old is starting to show. In certain sections, I feel that there isn't enough detail. I also had the impression that in certain sections, the textures on the models were a bit too flat making certain objects like a bed in the castle look like it would belong in a PS1 Tomb Raider game. I haven't played the HD version of the game, but from what I have seen, all the complaints I have about the visuals… well, let's just say that the HD version looks a LOT better than the PS2 version. I even checked some comparison videos between the Gamecube, Wii and this version of the game and I have to say, that the versions on the Nintendo platforms look a lot better.
Now, I'm not saying that this game looks ugly. Remember that I said that this game looks fine? Well, I really stand by that. I love all the detail they put in the world and the animations in this game are amazing. I especially love how destructible the world is. When a huge boss throws a tree to a shack you are standing in, the tree doesn't break on the shack because video games, the tree actually breaks the shack because of realism.
The only "negative" I can say in terms of the animations is that certain death scenes are a bit too scripted. What I mean is for example, when you kill an enemy with a headshot, it doesn't go down right away. It nearly always takes a few steps forward before collapsing. This isn't the only example of that, but it stands out. But, after a while, I got used to it and it didn't bother me that much.
Now, besides puzzles and combat; there is one other part of the gameplay I haven't mentioned. And that are the quick-time events. In certain sections, you have too much a button as quick as you can to survive. These sections were the most annoying sections of the game in my opinion. Thankfully, they are short. So, they are over without too much hassle.
This game doesn't have an autosave. You can save at certain save points scattered around. You can save an infinite amount of times as long as you are at the typewriter. Thankfully, when you get a game over, you don't have to restart from your last save point. You start from the section you died at. For example, when you died during a quick time event with a boss and die, you respawn at the start of that quick-time event. This is a great feature since whenever I died, I learned something new and I got a new idea on how to possibly defeat the boss.
Besides strategy, there is something else that helps with defeating bosses and that are good controls. This game has that. The only things I struggle a bit with are turning while using the knife or aiming with a weapon. Now, turning with a knife isn't too much of an issue. I stop pushing the knife button and press it again when I have done my turn.
The aiming of weapons is a different story. This game is one of the first games I played on a console that involves a lot of shooting. I'm quite used to being able to easily shoot using a mouse of the Wii Remote. I had to get used to aiming with a joystick. To my surprise, I quickly got used to it. When I look at the stats at the end of each level, I notice that I'm improving quite a lot in my accuracy.
To my surprise, I haven't talked about the music and sound design of this game and it's almost the end of the article. The soundtrack of this game is one that helps build the atmosphere quite well. Personally, I wouldn't listen to most of the tracks outside of the game, but I enjoy the soundtrack quite a lot during gameplay.
The sound design of this game gets a big thumbs up from me. The game sound just right, from the sound of the guns to enemies transforming. It all sounds like you would imagine it sounding in real life.
Well, that's everything I wanted to say about this game for now. I know that I haven't talked about everything but I'll leave those things for my review if I ever write one on this game. So, I think it's time to wrap up this article.
Thank you so much for reading this article! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.


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Strategic retreat
Staff Writer
The Sault News
Team Krakken, piloted by Meagan Sundstrom and Devon Ostermiller in front, beats a hasty retreat from Team Chi Omega during "Battleship" night in Lake Superior State University's Norris pool on Nov. 6. Students tried to swamp opposing teams while at the same time avoid being swamped. Winners received commemorative towels with which to dry off. The event was part of a wide range of late-night activities that culminate with Great Lake State Weekend, LSSU's annual homecoming for alumni. Run a Web search on LSSU GLSW for details. Sundstrom is a senior from Lansing, Mich.; Ostermiller is a freshman from Birch Run, Mich. Both exercise science majors are also earning an Associate's degree in health fitness.


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First Richard Kimble found his wife's dead body. Then he was convicted of her murder. Then he found himself on the run with a psychotic nutjob vowing to send him to the death house.
But all of that was a cakewalk compared to what happened when Dr. Kimble fell into the hands of CBS Home Video.
The latest volume of The Fugitive to arrive on DVD, the third such set, has had all of its incidental music stripped out and replaced by an entirely new score composed specifically for that purpose. This is not the removal of occasional snippets of songs, which has (lamentably) become commonplace in the DVD realm because it's expensive to clear the rights to popular tunes for home video. Instead, it's the wholesale deletion of the entire original musical element of the series – and without any warning to consumers beyond a standard boilerplate disclaimer in tiny print. This is the first time any television show has arrived on DVD in such an aurally mutilated form. It's a very big deal.
"Where did they put my music? Is it behind this fence?"
I've sampled the new music in some episodes on the set and compared them scene-for-scene to tapes of the show with the original score intact. The results were dire. To their credit, the new composers have been conservative in their approach, placing the new music for the most part in the same spots as the old – even imitating it note for note in some sections. Roy Braverman, a music editor who worked on the new score, wrote on his website that the "new music library is being composed 'in the style of'" the original scores.
Up to a point, that's true – the new music isn't quite as obtrusive I expected. However, it is pedestrian and generic. As I watched the first act of one of my favorite episodes, "Devil's Carnival," my heart sank. The mournful Pete Rugolo melody used whenever Kimble would amble wearily into a new town, was gone, replaced by new notes that have no emotion at all. The Rugolo score played under William Conrad's basso narration, adding a wistful quality to lines like "Richard Kimble: He travels a lot by thumb, makes many a long, lonely hike between rides." The new music fades out abruptly as soon as Conrad starts speaking, and pops back in with an annoying two-note sting as soon as he falls silent. (The main and end titles of all the episodes have their original music intact, although the musical bridges from the teaser into the opening titles have been effaced in a rather jarring way.)
On a technical level, the new music has a tinny, squawky quality and the remixed audio tracks exhibit a lot of abrupt changes in volume. Even if you've never seen The Fugitive before, and aren't sensitive enough to the styles of sixties music to detect the anachronistic, modern tinges to the new score, this release will hurt your ears.
This week I called Alan A. Armer, the producer of The Fugitive's first three seasons, and broke the news to him about the music replacement. Armer told me that he was "totally in awe of what you're telling me . . . . I'm a bit staggered."
Armer had less involvement with scoring The Fugitive than most TV producers do on their shows; at QM Productions, series producers focused on story while the post-production was supervised by other executives (on The Fugitive, Arthur Fellows and John Elizalde). Nevertheless, Armer expressed dismay that the original cues are gone. "You just have to wonder how much that will affect the dramatic quality of the shows," Armer told me. "I suspect that the show may have suffered as a result of it."
The Fugitive has a somewhat unusual musical history. It was, as Jon Burlingame writes in his invaluable TV's Biggest Hits: Television Themes From Dragnet to Friends, the only major hit series of the sixties for which "no single episode actually received an original score." Instead, QM commissioned jazz composer Pete Rugolo (a former arranger for Stan Kenton) to write a library of cues that could be tracked into multiple episodes. Rugolo composed the theme and basic Fugitive motifs based upon either a screening of the pilot, or possibly just a description of the show's premise.
To supplement Rugolo's library (there were "other things they needed that I didn't write," Rugolo told Ed Robertson for his book The Fugitive Recaptured), Elizalde and music editor Ken Wilhoit pulled stock cues from outside music companies. Cues from the Capitol Music catalog were licensed, along with the CBS music library and, eventually, an archive of scores composed by Dominic Frontiere, the Outer Limits composer who became closely associated with QM during the sixties. The CBS library was an especially important source, and many treasured cues from The Twilight Zone and Gunsmoke (by such famous composers as Jerry Goldsmith and Bernard Herrmann) were repurposed for The Fugitive.
(There's some debate as to whether any of Frontiere's music appeared in the episodes on this DVD set. I'm almost certain that the familiar Outer Limits melodies from the Daystar library didn't begin to crop up until The Fugitive's fourth and final season, but it's possible that Frontiere's scores for Daystar's Stoney Burke or an earlier QM show, The New Breed, were sourced.)
Rugolo's score would have been owned outright by QM and, though there was no connection between The Fugitive (an ABC show produced by QM and United Artists) and CBS Music in 1963, both properties are now owned by the same corporate entity, Viacom. Naturally, then, there's ample cause for speculation as to what element of the Fugitive scoring could have triggered the music replacement – especially since the series' first season, comprised of the same mix of musical elements, arrived on DVD intact last year.
Adding insult to injury, CBS has digitally altered the closing credits of each episode to insert the names of the composers of the new score:
It's a move that reeks of duplicity. Instead of appending a new card containing the modern names to the end of the titles, as one would see on a film that's been restored (although, in this case, these would be the "desecration credits," not the "restoration credits"), CBS has hidden the new names in plain sight to avoid a clear admission that the music was changed. Here's how that same card (from the episode "Devil's Carnival") is supposed to read:
Nothing personal against Messrs. Heyes, Winans, and Komie, but seeing their names embedded among those of the people who actually worked to create The Fugitive back in the sixties gives me a sense of almost physical revulsion.
Somewhat overlooked, given the magnitude of the score-replacement problem, is the fact that CBS sliced out portions of the image in the "Ballad For a Ghost" episode, in which Janis Paige plays a chanteuse who bears a haunting resemblance to Richard Kimble's late wife. The two songs that Paige performs on-camera have been changed on the audio track, and so all of the closeups and medium shots during her numbers were deleted (a total of about a minute of footage). One of the missing shots is a fast-dolly into a closeup of Paige immediately after Kimble (David Janssen) sees her for the first time. The camera move emphasizes Kimble's shock upon discovering his wife's doppelganger; without it, the scene loses much of its power.
I didn't realize this because I haven't been watching any of the affected shows, but CBS has been taking this approach to some of its other classic television releases as well. Often when Jim Nabors sings in Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., or when Jack Klugman or Tony Randall belt out a few bars of a pop tune during the banter of The Odd Couple, those moments have been excised from the DVDs.
Look what they did to my song, Dr. Kimble: Janis Paige in a shot you won't see on the new Fugitive DVD
The high costs of clearing popular music are widely known and many fans have been quick to forgive the studio and buy into the argument that paying the license fees for these songs would give the DVDs a prohibitive pricetag. I won't take a position on that except to suggest that cynicism rather than blind trust would be a more productive attitude toward any issue of corporate accounting.
One fact made clear by the extensive song deletions on various DVDs is the fact that CBS has an active corps of intellectual property lawyers scrutinizing the musical history of their television properties. In off-the-record remarks to me, several people with recent experience in the home video world have characterized both the CBS/Paramount legal staff, and their counterparts at other studios, as inexpert, inconsistent, and overcautious. (As an example, when you hear long stretches of silence in a Paramount or Warner Bros. DVD audio commentary, it's usually not because "these people got caught up in watching something . . . they hadn't seen in over 40 years," as Jeffrey Kauffman suggests in his review of the recent Mannix DVD. It's because the lawyers have scissored out any material that could in theory trigger some kind of defamation claim.) The convoluted nature of The Fugitive's underscoring raises the possibility that CBS' attorneys scrutinized the show's cue sheets, found some unfamilar names, and made a hasty decision to replace the score without fully or accurately investigating the ownership of the music.
(Before publishing this piece I attempted to solicit a comment from CBS, but calls and e-mails to several CBS home video personnel, as well as a Paramount media relations representative, were not returned. Roy Braverman and one of the credited composers of the new Fugitive score also did not respond to interview requests.)
A separate, but very much related, issue is the ignorance and/or sympathy that on-line DVD reviewers exhibit for this sort of nonsense. Ronald Epstein, proprietor of the widely-read Home Theater Forum website, praised Paramount for its "wise decision" regarding the Fugitive music replacement. Both DVDTalk and DVDBeaver, well-respected sites among cinephiles, gave the Fugitive DVD set high marks without noticing the music substitution.
Now, I have some sympathy for DVD reviewers in this situation, because nobody can be an expert on every TV show or movie that's thrown over the transom. And as we've seen above, the studios will do everything they can to disguise the alterations they've made to their product – so each DVD is a little trap for the unsuspecting DVD reviewer to step into. But I feel that the ignorance displayed by DVDTalk's Paul Mavis in this case is inexcusable.
Two days before publishing his review of the altered Season 2 set, Mavis posted a review of the largely unchanged Season 1, Volume 2 Fugitive DVD. How could any remotely competent film historian or "Fugitive fanatic" (Mavis identifies himself as both) watch parts of these two collections back-to-back without immediately noticing the radical changes to the sound of the series' music? After being alerted to his error, Mavis posted a defense of CBS' decision: "I know it feels good to bitch out the studios for doing this . . . but I also know this is a business – pure and simple . . . . I'm not willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I'm going to enjoy the show." As of this writing, Mavis has yet to substantially amend his review, which still claims that the audio on the DVD set "accurately represents the original broadcast presentation." This is not consumer reporting as I understand the concept.
And speaking of consumer reporting, I vowed after February's Route 66 debacle that I wasn't going to turn this into a DVD blog. I also wrote that I was going to balance my reporting with some positive posts about successful DVD editions of early TV shows. But before I've gotten around to doing that, we have yet another crisis to address – another essential series of the sixties that's being butchered in its initial videodisc release. It's ironic that The Fugitive should join Route 66 in the virtual wastebin (and the wastebin, make no mistake about it, is exactly where I'm recommending you file your Fugitive Season 2 discs). The two series have always been paired in my mind because of their peripatetic structure, and because they featured protagonists who were anti-heroes of a sort – social dropouts at a time when television typically celebrated establishment figures (doctors, lawyers, policemen) and looked askance at nonconformists. In this regard The Fugitive, which arrived on the air as Route 66 began its final season, can be seen as a natural continuation of the earlier show – Richard Kimble was a forced exile from society while Route 66's Tod and Buz had left on their own accord and could re-enter the mainstream at any time. Both of them were prescient hints of the years ahead when "dropping out" became a widespread credo for disaffected young people.
Because of that, although I'm not sure that I'd call The Fugitive or Route 66 my favorite television drama of the sixties, I would argue that the two of them have to be considered the most signifant. It's beyond dispiriting that both shows are in real peril of being utterly ruined in their first (and likely only) complete home video release.
It is of – pardon the pun – paramount importance that CBS undo its error, untangle whatever legal or financial morass underlies the music substitution, and give us the real Fugitive. With the release of this DVD set, if not before, I've become convinced that large-scale music replacement is a form of aesthetic butchery that's the equal of panning-and-scanning or colorization during the days of VHS. It took a long time, but those battles have largely been won by videophiles. Now those of us who care about television and movies know what the next fight will be.
Update (4/20/2013): After more than four years of further gaffes – more numerous than I could attempt to report along the way – CBS/Paramount issued a definitive box set with all of Pete Rugolo's music and the vast majority of stock cues intact. For the most part, replacement copies were not provided to consumers who purchased the mutilated sets, and no official explanation for the music replacement was ever offered.


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Fans Mark Marley's Birthday In Jamaica
Since his death from cancer in 1981 at age 36, Marley has become more than Jamaica's most famous musical export. The trailblazing reggae songwriter's message of unity and respect for human rights remains a beacon of hope for some in this Caribbean nation chronically struggling with a sputtering economy and high rates of violence.
"It's the same struggle now as when he was alive. So his music, when you hear it, it's like he's singing today even though he died some 30 odd years ago," said Mutabaruka, a famed dub poet who attended the celebration along with reggae singers like Sizzla Kalonji.
In the early morning light, some of Marley's relations and old friends danced and chanted to the pounding of Rastafarian drums in the yard of his Kingston home, which is now a family-run museum displaying his guitar, clothing and other memorabilia. Later in the day, Marley's songs were blasted from big speakers as people danced and chatted amid clouds of marijuana smoke.
Donisha Prendergast, a documentary filmmaker and artist who is Marley's eldest granddaughter, said her grandfather's message of "one love" and social revolution remains alive and well. But she said more Jamaicans need to heed it.
"I don't think most people here are really hearing it, you know? They know that his music is around and they are proud of it, but they don't live it. Because if they did, then we would be a stronger people, we would be stronger characters," Prendergast said.
The Caribbean country has struggled the last 40 years, due in large part to political mismanagement by the two main political parties. Good jobs are scarce, the local currency is sliding and the government is so swamped with debt that about half of the budget goes to loan payments.
There were 1,087 slayings last year, which was touted as the lowest number of killings in nine years on the island of about 2.8 million people. When Chicago, with roughly the same population, chalked up 506 homicides last year, the bloodshed put the city at the center of the U.S. debate over guns.
On Wednesday, Culture Minister Lisa Hanna encouraged Jamaicans to listen to Marley's lyrics, saying they called for Jamaicans to create a "more wholesome, caring, peaceful and progressive society."
Most young people in Jamaica listen to the brash reggae-rap hybrid of dancehall, but there is a new generation of music lovers who have turned to Marley's albums.
"Bob Marley's music is definitely inspirational to listen to," said Marlene Haughton, an unemployed 20-year-old who enthusiastically sang along with Marley's "Trenchtown Rock," whose lyrics say: "One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain."
Marley's popularity remains strong around the globe, and his music continues to sell steadily. A long-in-the-works documentary about his life was released last year.
Some of Marley's foreign fans journeyed to the Kingston museum to take part in Wednesday's festivities.
A dreadlocked Japanese man who goes by the name of Bongho Jatusy smoked a long wooden pipe stuffed with marijuana and nodded his head to the music.
"Bob Marley, he's universal," Jatusy said, watching his dreadlocked children playing nearby.


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"The Dark Knight Rises" star Christian Bale is in early negotiations to star in Todd Field's "The Creed of Violence."
Universal is set to distribute "Creed of Violence," which is being produced and financed by Cross Creek Pictures. Writer-director Field ("Little Children") is adapting Boston Teran's acclaimed fifth novel, which depicts the 1910 Mexican revolution via the gun sights of an unlikely duo: small-time assassin Rawbone and John Lourdes, a young Bureau of Investigation agent. The two are forced to work together to infiltrate the Mexican criminal underground, encountering thieves, smugglers and professional killers. Bale is in the early stages of negotiating a deal to play Rawbone. It is no sure thing that a deal will close.
Cross Creek topper Brian Oliver, who is producing "Violence" with Michael De Luca ("The Social Network"), previously compared the project to Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and said that "Teran's novel brings a unique perspective to U.S. imperialism for oil in the early 20th century."
Producers are targeting an early 2013 start date in both the American Southwest and parts of Mexico.
Bale, who's coming off an Oscar for his perf in Russell's "The Fighter," recently wrapped Scott Cooper's Relativity pic "Out of the Furnace" and will spend the rest of 2012 filming a pair of Terrence Malick movies. "The Dark Knight Rises" has grossed over $566 million worldwide since opening on July 20. He's repped by WME.


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Tom Rabe
(Australian Associated Press)
Two regional NSW ports have emerged as preferred options for a possible submarine base on Australia's east coast amid reports Sydney Harbour was being considered for the new naval home.
The NSW government on Wednesday floated both Port Kembla and Newcastle as potential sites.
"We know there are a number of viable options for a new submarine base, including Newcastle and Port Kembla, and these are under consideration by the Navy," a spokeswoman for NSW Trade and Industry Minister Niall Blair said.
"The NSW government strongly supports substantial future industry opportunities, such as an expanded naval presence in NSW, and in ports such as Newcastle and Port Kembla."
It followed reports that Sydney Harbour was being considered as the best option for a new fleet of subs.
"Sydney Harbour provides the best three currently available options for a sustainable east coast home port," a Defence Department study obtained by Fairfax Media and published on Wednesday says.
The study refers to a "two ocean policy", under which some of the new fleet of 12 Hunter Class boats could be based at Fleet Base East at Garden Island, HMAS Waterhen at Balls Head Bay or Cockatoo Island and others at the submarine base in Fremantle, Western Australia.
Mr Blair's spokeswoman said the NSW government understood the navy had been conducting comprehensive studies but it was "too early to speculate on what the final decisions might be".
Defence Minister Marise Payne said the first vessel was not expected to enter service until the early 2030s.
"A range of initial submarine basing options are expected to be presented by Defence to government for consideration in late 2019," Ms Payne told AAP in a statement.


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Once upon a time, Thrillist was just an email newsletter with a circulation of about 600 New Yorkers. It could tell you where to grab a nice cocktail, sit down for some amazing pasta, or get a good deal on a fashionable pair of pants.
But today, Thrillist is more than that. It's a massive online machine designed to stoke the consumerist impulses of young guys across the country and then satisfy those impulses. Basically, it's a vast network of blogs and email newsletters that will tell you what (very trendy) stuff you want and then shuttle you to an e-commerce operation where you can buy that stuff. In some cases, Thrillist even manufactures the goods it sells. Melding content to commerce, the service creates a potentially perfect---if vaguely insidious---circle of materialism.
For Thrillist, the result will be something north of $100 million in revenue this year, according to co-founder Ben Lerer. He claims that's higher than the sales of any of 27 online media brands, including Vox, TechCrunch, Business Insider, and The Onion. But Lerer, 32, wants even more. For starters, he wants to grow Thrillist to $1 billion in annual revenue, expanding beyond the narrow clothes-and-cocktail-shakers-for-dudes category the company now plays in. And, more broadly, he wants to reshape how people think about media.
He asks why publishers should settle for online advertising revenue that's relatively meager when publishers are ideally positioned to know and anticipate what kinds of products their readers want. They see what types of products make readers click, he says, and in some cases, they know how much readers spend. Why not tap into that knowledge? Only commerce, Lerer says, gives online media companies the scale they need to be taken seriously as businesses. He wants to see men's mag Esquire team up with clothier J. Crew, the New York Times with fashion-glasses seller Warby Parker, ESPN with StubHub.
>Only commerce, Lerer says, gives online media companies the scale they need to be taken seriously as businesses.
"My thesis---the entire thesis of building Thrillist Media Group, and basically the only reason I get up in the morning---is a belief that there is an answer and it's commerce," Lerer says. "You have an audience of people who are captive, who you have built trust with, who you create content for, who you understand... Instead of just helping the other brands sell them products, you sell products to those people yourself. It makes perfect sense."
He isn't alone. Other outfits---such as PopSugar, Nasty Gal, and Net-A-Porter---have a similar vision. If these companies can prove the value of the content-meets-commerce hybrid, they stand to remake media sites from mere observers into active participants in the industries they cover, turning online shopping from an exercise in redistribution and intermediation into something much more seamless, an experience that vertically integrates taste-making with recommendations, retailing and design. "The next generation of retail brands are all really good at telling a story," says Brian Nicholson, an apparel veteran turned venture capitalist (with no stake in Thrillist). "I'd point to Thrillist for being able to navigate the path better than anyone."
In the world Thrillist is built for, knowing the customer becomes more important than quality or independent taste. Retailers must develop their own distinctive voices and build their own audiences, while publishers must shoulder the responsibilities and risks inherent in actually making things. Those unable to do so will fall away. Those who succeed will find their revenue has grown an order of magnitude beyond what was otherwise possible. Or at least this is how Lerer sees things.
Thrillist used to be a conventional online media company. From 2005 through 2009, the company went from zero to $8 million in annual revenue selling ads just like everyone else, growing through simple geographic expansion. Lerer added newsletters in large cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Las Vegas, Boston, and Seattle. He also added a Thrillist blog to the newsletters.
But Lerer was itching to build a much bigger business and thought he saw a way to do so. Based on its ad deals with online retailers, Thrillist knew it was driving tons of e-commerce business. The company was also growing increasingly adept at recognizing what specific types of products would make its young male audience open their wallets. He was tired of making money for other people, of renting out reader trust to advertisers as he puts it. So, in 2010, Lerer pounced on a Columbus, Ohio-based startup called JackThreads, a flash-sale site for men that had been profiled by Thrillist.
"I see JackThreads and I go: 'this is fucking fascinating,'" Lerer recalls. "So I get in a plane and I go to Columbus, Ohio, and I get to know Jason." Jason is Jason Ross, the CEO of JackThreads, and their meeting was the beginning of a brand new business model. To hear Lerer describe their encounter, it was match made in materialistic heaven.
"I go: 'Why are you advertising with me?' And he says: 'Well, the guys that I'm getting from you are my highest lifetime value consumers. They're my biggest buyers, they're my biggest sharers. They're the exact consumers I want... And I said...'Why don't I buy you? And why don't you teach us how to sell products to these guys and we do this all under one roof and we see if we can build a new kind of media company?'"
The 2010 JackThreads acquisition led to "turbo charging" growth, as Lerer puts it. The company has doubled its revenue for several years running, and fully 80 percent of it now comes from commerce. The company is profitable, with margins "much better than virtually any ecommerce business but not quite as high as some pure-play content businesses," according to Lerer.
Thrillist has also developed a closer relationship with readers. The company has more than a million credit cards on file, along with people's home addresses, where they'll receive more than two million packages this year. It is, Lerer says, an intimate relationship. "We own millennial dudes in a way that no other media company does," he says.
Part of Thrillist's success is that the company owns a customer experience from the moment of desire through the mailing of a finished product. Someone reading about a product on Thrillist---say, a camera case that doubles as a cooler---is one click away from a Thrillist ordering screen. Once there, the reader can use the same account associated with their Thrillist email subscription to get the product is shipped out. If there are any problems, Thrillist handles the customer service call.
Lerer plans to eventually grow Thrillist Media Group far beyond Thrillist.com, which caters to a relatively narrow audience of about 8 million. In November, he launched Supercompressor, a newsletter and blog focused on "lifestyle tech:" gadgets and gear for your living room, car, and bar. Eventually, he'd like Thrillist to publish and sell across a variety of brands, in the same way that media companies like Condé Nast (WIRED's parent company) and Gawker Media create different titles for different audiences.
There's a huge downside to Lerer's model: risk. He's combining three very risky businesses: media, retail, and clothes manufacturing. Although each of those businesses is getting less risky---costly printed media and physical storefronts are now optional---perils abound. Media is susceptible to the unevenness of the creative process, retailers to inventory risk, and clothiers to the changing whims of shoppers.
That puts a lot of pressure on executives like Lerer to manage aggressively across very different lines of business. New York-based fashion publisher Refinery 29 abandoned its own online store because all the work associated with inventory and merchandising became a distraction from the booming media business, says Nicholson, who sits on the Refinery 29 board. "The juice wasn't worth the squeeze," he adds.
Then there's the issue of trust. Thrillist might "own millennials" now, as Lerer says, but it remains to be seen if the company can retain the audience it has built around its media business if readers know the Thrillist newsletter is trying to make them buy things from the Thrillist warehouse. Lerer says commerce stories are written by a team separate from Thrillist editorial and are specially labeled and that, in any case, he has a lot to lose if he pushes crap.
As he navigates this new landscape, others are following. There's PopSugar, the San Francisco startup that runs a commerce search engine and makes money on affiliate fees. Nasty Gal, also in San Francisco, built a $100-million-dollar-plus business in part through lively social media updates and a biannual fashion magazine. Online fashion-retail powerhouse Net-A-Porter recently launched an every-two-months print magazine to supplement its monthly electronic publication. And Gilt Groupe, the online luxury flash-sale promoter, partnered with luxury magazine Du Jour.
But Lerer argues that Thrillist is the only player pairing hyperactive web commerce with hyperactive web publishing. And that's why he's so bullish about the company's prospects. In a talk at the South by Southwest conference in March, he publicly stated his goal of turning Thrillist into a billion-dollar business. But the 32-year-old is taking things slowly. "First," he says, "I'd like to be a $500 million business."
Correction 1:13 EST 08/18/2014: An earlier version of this story mis-stated Thrillist founder Ben Lerer's claims about the scale of Thrillist's revenue relative to other online media companies. Lerer said Thrillist's sales are larger than any one of the companies, not the combined revenue of the companies. Also, he compared Thrillist's revenue to BuzzFeed's revenue in March, and now says BuzzFeed has greater revenue due to growth in the intervening months.


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From: The Audio Intro Team
Tuesday 11:06 AM
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While rational antibiotic use remains an important part of pork production, and is likely to remain so, there are a number of management alternatives that can reduce the need for their use. These management practices also minimize the introduction and spread of disease organisms, including potential food contaminants.
Biosecurity Practices The best alternative to treating disease is to prevent it. Biosecurity systems are put in place to prevent introduction of disease organisms onto a farm and reduce the spread of disease organisms that are already present.
Biosecurity programs should address the potential for introducing disease-causing organisms onto the farm from pigs, trucks, equipment, wildlife and people. A perimeter fence will help with all these areas of concern.
In addition, animal load out areas deserve special consideration. They should be covered and designed so as to prevent the return of loaded animals from the truck back into the premises. Only those trucks that have been properly cleaned and dried should be allowed to approach the load out area. Likewise, passages between buildings should be covered, bird-screened and any curtain-sided buildings should have bird screening in place.
Moreover, the most important aspect of biosecurity is to understand the health status of the source herd providing new breeding stock. The recipient herd and the source herd veterinarians should openly consult with each other to best accomplish this understanding. Breeding stock suppliers must be open with health status information. Their veterinarian should provide the results of diagnostic workups, slaughter checks, recent clinical observations and serological surveillance to your veterinarian.
When you and your veterinarian are satisfied with the health status of the supplier's herd, then set up an isolation/acclimation (I/A) program for the new breeding stock. Standard practices vary widely within the industry. Still, some general measures should be considered. It doesn't take long distances to separate the isolation facility from the farm. But the isolation area should provide for separation of air space and personnel. Animals in isolation can be cared for at the end of the work day by employees who won't re-enter the production facilities that day.
There are two reasons for the initial isolation period. First is to protect the farm from any pathogens the isolated animals may be carrying. Second is to observe the isolated animals for a certain period of time in case any outbreaks occur on the source farm after the animals have been delivered. A common isolation period is 30 days.
The next step in the I/A program is acclimation of the new animals. This involves exposing new stock to pathogens common to the home farm. This allows new animals time to develop an immune response to those pathogens. This exposure may include the use of vaccines, exposure to cull sows or "spent" gilts (females that have been added to the herd but have not conceived), or the feedback of manure.
When animals are delivered from two different source farms, as may be the case when both boars and gilts are delivered, the acclimation period allows them to become acclimated to each other as well. A normal acclimation period runs from 21-30 days. A combined isolation-acclimation period will take 60 days or more.
Movement Technology The biggest breakthrough in disease prevention and control didn't come from biotechnology or the development of new antibiotics - but from the widespread use of some common hog movement practices.
Herd Repopulations: In the past, "depopulation/repopulation" was the most reliable method of eliminating disease organisms from a herd. Other movement methods, discussed later in this paper, have largely replaced herd repopulations due to their relative lack of downtime and less dramatic disruption of cash flow. Herd repopulations are still useful in some situations and if planned correctly, can minimize downtime.
Herd repopulations used to be a popular solution when an unmanageable level of disease organisms had built up in a herd over time. My general advice was to consider repopulation when an operation was not competitive, and when problems exceeded solutions. In other words, repopulation was the method of choice if your herd had excessive, multiple disease problems.
Today, I see herd repopulations in a different light. Repopulation is a tool used in more specific situations, such as a herd wishing to get rid of one or more major pathogens, particularly in breeding stock herds. By using an off-site breeding project, actual nonproductive downtime can be two weeks or less. Downtime will likely be more in a one-site farm.
Partial Depopulation or Phase Depopulation: This is a form of depopulation that is tried in only one phase of production in order to clean up or cut down on the effects of a specific disease, such as endemic transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE) or porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS). It's most common to depopulate the nursery phase, but this technology may be applied to the finishing phase as well.
Before partial or phase depopulation is tried, however, some background work needs to be done. Diagnostic testing should be performed in the breeding herd, the nursery and the finisher to determine level of infection and how and when disease transmission is occurring.
The next step is phase depopulation. Sell feeder pigs or move them to another facility. It may be necessary to wean pigs into another facility for a designated period, depending on the organism being targeted. During the downtime, the phase that is being depopulated is cleaned thoroughly and disinfected. The objective is to break the cycle of transmission of an organism from older to younger pigs.
All-Out Production Systems: Commonly referred to as all-in, all-out production (AIAO), the key element of this technology is complete emptying of a room, building or site, and thorough cleaning before a new group of pigs enters the area. It is a planned, scheduled depopulation on a regular basis. An integral part of the process is washing and disinfecting.
Multi-Site, Isowean Production Systems: In this system of production, pigs are weaned into isolated nurseries or nursery-finishing buildings, thus the term "Isowean" as coined by D.L. "Hank" Harris, DVM, in the late 1980s. The purpose of Isowean production systems is to eliminate infectious agents and to enhance growth and lean tissue deposition. Specifics of the system, including recommended weaning age, may vary on the organisms targeted for elimination or reduction.
But the general principles are the same - move young pigs away from the sow herd so that diseases that affect grow-finish performance are not transferred within the same facilities to susceptible pigs by older pigs or by people. If disease organisms are introduced onto a site, multi-site production offers more flexibility than traditional systems for dealing with the problem. Sites can be depopulated as described earlier, using partial or phase depopulation, without the need to depopulate the sow herd.
Reproductive Technology There is currently one, production-based reproductive technology, artificial insemination (AI), that is being successfully applied to improve pig health and potentially decrease the need for antibiotics. The use of AI as a health strategy was discussed in detail in the April 15, 1997 Blueprint Series, "The Art of AI."
In brief, AI provides these pluses:
It reduces the number of animals brought onto the farm, and
Females aren't exposed to the natural mating process, allowing a more hygienic process if AI is carried out correctly. In some farms, vaginal discharges have declined when AI replaced natural mating.
A second reproductive method that's not readily available, but will allow movement of genetic material with greatly reduced disease risk, is embryo transfer. It is possible to wash embryos after collection, potentially improving health status above that attainable by AI. This technology will be widely used when practical, non-surgical collection and transfer methods become available.
Environmental Modifications Several environmental changes will reduce the need for antibiotics. Start with a good cleaning and sanitation program, together with AIAO production. The keys are removal of manure and all other biological residues with hot water power washing. Follow cleaning with one of many available disinfectants. Scheduled washing in facilities that are not usually run AIAO may be useful as well.
The best medicine for vaginal discharge complex is power washing the breeding/gestation building every 2-4 weeks or washing the area as groups move to farrowing.
A second environmental modification could be to alter stocking density. My observations are that 8 sq. ft./pig is a good starting point, but should be altered to account for the type of flooring, the waste removal system and the disease organism.
For high-health pigs in an environment with good waste removal, good air quality and little disease challenge, something less than 8 sq. ft./pig may be the best stocking density. With a heavy disease challenge or the presence of certain serious organisms, for example Actinobacillus pleuropneumonia, a lower stocking density is advisable.
A third environmental modification related to stocking density is adjustment in group size. As with stocking density, the optimum group size isn't known and likely varies with the type of facility. However, when faced with serious disease threats, decreasing group size may help. Some farms are having good results with large pen/large group systems, but there is little controlled data available.
Finally, providing the proper environment for the pigs will decrease the need for antibiotic use. Major considerations are effective environmental temperature (EET) and lower critical temperature (LCT).
EET is the temperature the pig feels. LCT is the temperature at which the pig must increase its heat production rate, usually by increasing feed intake, to maintain body temperature. LCT varies with pig age and with group vs. individual housing. Pigs maintained at an EET lower than the LCT will be more susceptible to the effects of endemic pathogens and, therefore, more likely to show clinical signs of respiratory or enteric diseases. Additionally, air quality must be maintained in order to reduce pig exposure to airborne bacteria, dust particles and gases.
Diet & Health Interactions The interaction of diet and health is much broader and more complex than deficiencies or excesses of specific nutrients. Nutritionists now recommend specific, daily nutrient intakes based on age, sex, season and genotype. These suggestions must be considered when evaluating disease treatment and prevention measures.
Poor diets can increase susceptibility to disease. But the converse is also true. Diseases alter feed intake (respiratory diseases) and nutrient utilization (enteric diseases), thereby predisposing pigs to other metabolic or infectious diseases.
An example is the pneumonia/ulcer complex. Ulcers are often found in conjunction with pneumonia, probably stimulated by the decrease in feed intake often seen with respiratory disease. In addition to the factors mentioned above (age, sex, season and genotype) it may become more common to consider disease load and immune status when formulating diets. These types of diets may decrease the need for antibiotic use.
Stimulating Immunity The most common ways to stimulate the immune system are to inject vaccines, to expose naive animals to sick or carrier animals and to provide feedback of manure or other biological material (mummies or placenta for parvovirus exposure or intestinal contents for TGE exposure). The goal is to boost immune response to specific diseases prior to exposure. Vaccines and other types of exposure have been used for many years with variable results.
Keep in mind these vaccination tips when attempting to provide immunity for disease prevention:
Vaccination does not always equal immunization. Vaccines and other types of controlled exposure fail for a number of reasons: the animal may have been incubating the disease at the time of vaccination; the animal may already be sick or stressed and unable to respond to the vaccine; or exposure may overwhelm the animal's defenses.
Also, the vaccine may be unable to stimulate immunity against the disease in question. Some vaccination tips:
Vaccines stimulate the immune system; they do not eliminate disease organisms.
Proper vaccination timing is critical to success. The vaccine should be given soon enough before exposure to a disease challenge to allow the animals' immune system to respond. Usually this should be done at least two weeks prior to exposure. Also, many vaccines require two injections, 2-3 weeks apart, in order to stimulate protective immunity.
Genetic Resistance In the future, genetic resistance to hog diseases may be an option to conventional disease control strategies. There have been reports of genetic differences in susceptibility to atrophic rhinitis, respiratory diseases, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, and colibacillosis.
Progress in selection for genetic disease resistance has been slow due to the necessity of selecting for other performance traits (growth, leanness) that may be counterproductive to selecting for disease resistance.
In addition, selection under field conditions introduces many confounders (environment, management systems) to the process. The use of molecular genetic techniques to find genetic markers or the actual genes linked to disease resistance will potentially allow greater progress in this area in the future.
Strategic Medication Strategic medication involves the use of antibiotics at precisely defined times for a well-defined purpose. Often, injectable, water or feed medication will be used just before the anticipated exposure. If the exposure times or stress periods can be defined well enough, this approach can be useful.
Examples of strategic medication include the use of water medication prior to nursery pig exposure to strep organisms, specific injections in a medicated early weaning (MEW) program, the use of antibiotics in an isolation diet for prevention of ileitis, or spot treatment with an antibiotic for chronic urinary tract disease in gestating sows.
Often, the problem with strategic medication programs is that what starts out as strategic becomes routine. The challenge is to use medications wisely and as needed. The economics of production and quality assurance considerations dictate as much.
Summary There are many viable, production-based, management alternatives to the use of antibiotics in pork production. Most of them are available for your use today. Some would require production system changes (i.e., the movement technologies). Some will be applied in the future (i.e., embryo transfer, genetic resistance). None are likely to replace the need for rational use of antibiotics. But, by using the available alternatives when possible, antibiotics can be used less frequently and more effectively.