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Stuff's top 20 rating stories for 2012
What news gripped Stuff readers in 2012? The short answer is natural disasters, bad weather and human tragedies.
The lethal tornado which tore through a West Auckland suburb this month proved the greatest draw, while the ''super storm'' which battered America's east coast in late October proved weather rules, no matter where it happens.
Tongariro's two small but unexpected eruptions also attracted massive interest, as did the hot air balloon crash in the Wairarapa, killing all 11 on board, at the start of the year.
Of the 20 most-viewed stories on Stuff during 2012, only a couple didn't involve death, destruction or crummy weather: namely, the excuse-making from Belarus when that country's Olympic shotputter, Nadzeya Ostapchuk, was revealed as a drug cheat during her competition with New Zealand's Valerie Adams; and the US presidential election.
Here's a run-through of Stuff's top 20 most-viewed stories for 2012.
No.1: Auckland's killer tornado (December 6)
The early-summer day started with weather forecasters warning of a high risk of thunderstorms around Auckland, but nothing prepared the people of Hobsonville for the ferocious windstorm which tore through their suburb at lunchtime, destroying and damaging hundreds of houses, displacing hundreds of people, and leaving three construction workers dead.
No.2: Mt Tongariro's first eruption (August 6)
The small but unexpected late-night eruption of Tongariro in the central North Island sent ash and rock hundreds of metres into the air and across surrounding countryside. The eruption appeared to be short-lived and caused relatively minor disruption, such as the temporary closure of the popular Tongariro Crossing track.
No.3: The Carterton hot-air balloon disaster (January 7)
A weekend sightseeing balloon ride across the Wairarapa countryside ended horrifically when the balloon got trapped under power lines near the end of its flight. It exploded into flames, killing all 11 on board.
No.4: Superstorm Sandy (late October)
The powerful storm pounded America's eastern seaboard in late October, with the worst damage around New York and New Jersey on October 29. More than 250 people were killed in various countries as Sandy swept through the Caribbean. It caused more than $60 billion damage in the United States and is credited with bolstering President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, on the strength of his focused leadership around the storm response days out from the poll.
No.5: Christchurch's winter snow storm (June 6)
A brutal southerly swept up the country at the start of winter with Christchurch taking the brunt in the form of a heavy snowfall which brought the city to a near-standstill.
No.6: Tongariro's second eruption (November 21)
The mountain put on another show in late November - again relatively small, but this time there were plenty of visitors in the nearby area to watch as a plume of ash was spurted high into the sky early in the afternoon. As with the first eruption, the effects were minor.
No.7: The year's big shake (July 2)
A 7.0 magnitude quake centred in the Taranaki bight, off the North Island's west coast, in the night of July 2 was felt widely across central New Zealand, although it caused no significant damage.
No.8: New Zealand triplets die in mall fire (May 29)
Two-year-old Wellington-born triplets Lillie, Jackson and Willsher Weekes were among 19 people killed (13 of them children) when fire ripped through their day-care centre in a shopping mall in Doha, the capital of the Arab state of Qatar.
No.9: Christchurch's shaky start to the year (January 2)
While the city's seismic activity dropped off markedly during 2012, the year started ominously with a swarm of moderately-sized earthquakes early in the new year, continuing on from the thousands affecting the city over the previous 16 months.
No.10: Indonesia's tsunami panic (April 11)
Two large earthquakes off the coast of Sumatra revived memories of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, triggering alerts across the Indian Ocean and chaotic evacuations in areas badly affected in 2004; miraculously, nearby areas escaped with minimal injuries or damage.
No.11: Mass shooting at Batman premiere (July 20)
A masked gunman opened fire on the audience at a midnight screening of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, in the American city of Aurora, Colorado, killing 14 and injuring dozens.
No.12: Not guilty verdict in Scott Guy trial (July 3)
The high-profile trial of Manawatu farmer Ewen Macdonald, accused of murdering his brother-in-law, Scott Guy, ended in dramatic fashion when Macdonald was found not guilty by the jury.
No.13: North Island braces for a ''weather bomb'' (March 3)
Weather forecasters warned a ''weather bomb'' would bring extreme winds to parts of the North Island; the southwest of the island were worst-affected, although the storms were short-lived.
No.14: Nadzeya Ostapchuk's Olympic disgrace - and excuses (August 15)
The London Olympics shot putt gold medal winner Ostapchuk cast around for others to blame after she was revealed as a drug cheat and was stripped of her medal, which instead went to New Zealand's Valerie Adams, capping a rollercoaster Games for the Kiwi.
No.15: Two people fall from Auckland building (October 3)
A Mexican woman and her baby died after being seen to fall from a window high in a central Auckland apartment complex.
No.16: America's presidential election (November 7)
Pundits predicted it would be one of the closest-fought presidential elections in history, ensuring intense international interest in the contest between the Democratic incumbent (and eventual winner) Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney.
No.17: South Canterbury's murder-suicide (late May)
The discovery of two bodies in rugged South Canterbury hill country developed into a murder investigation; eventually, police confirmed that one of the bodies was a missing Czech tourist, 31-year-old Dagmar ''Dasha'' Pytlickova; the other, local man Jason Frandi, who had picked the woman up hitch-hiking, kidnapping and sexually assaulting her before killing her - then himself.
No.18 : Rena's grip stays firm (early January)
The wreck of the container ship Rena, wedged on the Bay of Plenty's Astrolabe reef since October 2011, remained firmly in the public eye and firmly stuck on the rocks as the new year began, despite stormy weather that threatened to see it dragged into the sea.
No.19: Bad spring weather (September 11)
A cold blast hit the country in early spring, with the south and Wellington in the firing line.
No. 20: Death of Jacintha Saldanha (December 7)
The story which triggered international outrage, after two Australian radio announcers tricked their way into getting a patient update on the Duchess of Cambridge from the London hospital treating her for morning sickness. The stunt took a horrible twist three days later when the nurse who handled the call was found dead in a suspected suicide.


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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Authorities are investigating a suspicious death after a 22-year-old Jacksonville woman was found dead in her home near her 18-month old son.
Friends forced their way into the woman's home Saturday night because they hadn't heard from her in two days. They found the unidentified woman unresponsive on the bathroom floor. Her son was also found in the bathroom, but was not injured.
The Florida Times-Union (http://tinyurl.com/bxtroz6 ) reports an autopsy will determine the cause of death. Sheriff's Sgt. Shawn Coarsey said evidence at the scene may indicate foul play. No arrests have been made.
___ Information from: The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union, http://www.jacksonville.com
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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Over the past 30 years, coral reefs have experienced widespread decline.
Large-scale, massive action is required to save the world's coral reefs.
Who We Are
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What We Do
We develop and implement effective strategies for restoring the coral reefs and empower others to use these methodologies within their own coastal communities to better our ocean.
How You Can Help
Your support allows us to continue our efforts to restore coral reefs, educate individuals about our ocean's health, and provide opportunities for others to make a difference.


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August 7, 2009
If the combination of Japan's perilously low birth rate with enviably healthy lifestyles and high-quality health care is not addressed in time, this demographic double-squeeze threatens to be a fiscal disaster that could derail Asia's leading economy, says the Financial Times (FT).
Doom already seems inevitable to some analysts:
- Since the global financial crisis hit last year, the Liberal Democratic party-led government has approved stimulus spending amounting to about four percent of gross domestic product, which could result in a ballooning of the deficit from 3 percent of GDP in 2007 to about 10 percent by 2010.
- Such gloom may be premature; for the moment investors appear content to fund the deficit for meager returns; yet, the situation clearly cannot be sustained forever.
- However, addressing a chronic deficit would be politically difficult at the best of times.
- The added problem for Japan is that budget-balancers will be swimming against an increasingly strong demographic tide.
Furthermore, the implications for tax and spending look calamitous. Projections suggest that by 2055 the number of people in Japan will fall 30 percent and the resulting tax burden on the dwindling workforce is already being felt.
Data show state social security spending reaching $430 billion in 2015, up 42 percent from 2006. With planned extra spending to address ageing-related challenges such as a shortage of doctors and nurses, the actual bill could be bigger, says the Times.
Source: Mure Dickie, "Japan's fiscal frailty," Financial Times, August 3, 2009.
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Sit back, relax, and see the famous Wall Murals along Falls Road and Crumlin Road, Albert Clock, The Odyssey, Grand Opera House plus much more in this Belfast Hop On Hop Off Tour.
48 hours
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Travel north from Belfast to see Dragonstone, Lordsport Harbour, the Kingsroad and other Game of Thr...
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Travel south of Belfast to see the fantasy lands of Winterfell and Riverrun and explore the areas of...
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Belfast, United Kingdom
AVAILABLE Friday, Saturday and Sunday
The port city of Northern Ireland, Belfast has established itself as a cosmopolitan destination in Northern Europe ripe with great attractions. Enjoy the sights with our various tours that give you the best view of the city.
Explore Belfast on a hop on hop off tour and visit famous highlights such as the Albert Memorial Clock, the Odyssey and the Grand Opera House. Walk along the Falls Road and see the famous Wall Murals, then head to the Crumlin Road to see one of the most haunted buildings in Northern Ireland - Crumlin Road Gaol.
Belfast is also known as the birthplace of the Titanic. Travel to the shipyards at Belfast Harbor and see where the Titanic was planned and built.
While there, take an extended tour of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Giant's Causeway, and have a majestic view of the famous hexagonal rock columns forming marvelous stepping stones. En route to the Causeway, you will have plenty of photo opportunities at Carrickfergus Castle and the villages of Cushendall, Glenariff and Cushendun. Before returning to the city, experience an original Irish whiskey at the Bushmills Whiskey Distillery and search for souvenirs at the Dunluce Castle.
If you have time to spare, you can travel further to see the filming locations of the popular HBO series Game of Thrones.


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After months of teasers and speculation, McLaren has finally released details of the drivetrain that will power its new P1 - and in this case the term 'supercar' is justified.
The P1's combination of a mid-mounted 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol engine and a highly effective electric motor gives a combined output of 675kW and 900Nm, for instantaneous throttle response across the rev range, more like that of a big naturally aspirated engine.
The petrol engine is a new version of the M838T unit found in the MP4-12C, upgraded to optimise cooling and durability under the higher loads, and using a special block that also houses the electric motor. McLaren quotes 542kW at 7500rpm and 720Nm from 4000rpm.
The lightweight electric motor, developed by McLaren Electronics specially for the P1, is rated at 131kW and, like all electric motors, produces its peak torque of 260Nm from standstill, for instant throttle response at low revs, allowing the engine techs to tune the V8 more for top end.
The electric motor is mounted directly on the engine, and all the drive is channelled through the dual-clutch seven-speed gearbox for seamless power delivery to the rear wheels.
The electric motor also provides lightning-fast upshifts by reversing the connections to the stator windings for a few milliseconds just as the clutches change over, creating a momentary negative torque that makes the engine revs drop as quickly as possible to the correct speed for the upshift.
Not only that, but as soon as you take your foot off the loud pedal the electric motor switches over to generator mode, slowing the car down and turning waste energy into amps for the battery.
The P1 can be driven in a variety of modes, powered by the engine and electric motor together, or by the electric motor on its own in low-emission zones or for near-silent running in residential areas.
Driven with finesse the P1 can travel more than 10km on pure electric power - enough for most city journeys - and when the battery goes flat the petrol engine will automatically start to keep the car going and charge the battery.
The power available from the petrol engine and electric motor also benefits further from two steering wheel-mounted buttons which activate the drag reduction system and the instant power assist System.
The drag reduction system is similar to that employed on Formula 1 cars; speed is increased by reducing the drag on the rear wing. Where the MP4-28 has a moveable flap on the rear wing, the P1 flattens the angle of the whole wing by 23 percent - until the button is released or the driver touches the brake pedal; then the wing instantly returns to the standard angle for maximum grip.
Instant power assist provides extra acceleration by simply shorting the battery straight through the electric motor, giving the driver an instant 131kW power boost.
It's made possible by a special lightweight battery pack with class-leading power density and an innovative 'intelligent' cooling system. The battery weighs only 96kg and it's mounted straight onto the underbody of the carbon-fibre monocage chassis, which seals the battery into the car and saves the extra weight of brackets and casings.
Shorting the battery out, however, produces a lot of heat, which can do nasty things to cell performance and reliability, so the coolant flow is balanced across the entire pack to maintain each cell at the same temperature.
In addition to the engine using the electric motor as a generator to charge the battery, the P1 comes with a plug-in charger that can recharge it from flat in only two hours. The charger can be docked in the luggage compartment, but it's quite heavy, so it can be removed to save weight and stored in the garage - or the pits.


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5.0 5.0
5.0 5.0
Things I liked: These are getting to find and its great Pyramyd Air is carrying them. If they will just offer the piston seal for these fine guns, everything would be great.
Things I would have changed: While these fit the Tempest and Hurricane, they can also be ground down to fit the older Webley air pistols.................
What others should know: The 3 of these I ordered weigh less than 1/4 oz. I was still GOUGED $7.99 for an item that shouldn't have cost more $1.00 to ship!
|By Jeffrey from USA on 2014-03-30
|By Franklin from USA on 2012-08-02


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Benzinga's Top ETF Gainers, January 25th (NUGT, BOIL, AGQ, GDXJ)
Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X Shares (NYSEARCA: NUGT) spiked 18.44% on Wednesday, and it closed at $23.38. In the space, Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE: ABX) jumped 6.44%, and Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE: GG) added 6.92%.
ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Natural Gas (NYSEAMEX: BOIL) traded 13.92% higher as natural gas continued to trade higher on the news that more producers are planning to cut production.
ProShares Ultra Silver (ETF) (NYSEARCA: AGQ) gained 8.23% as silver jumped above $33. AGQ closed at $59.39 on Wednesday, and it had a volume of 3.74M traded shares.
Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA: GDXJ) added 7.62%, and it closed at $28.96. Minefinders Corp. Ltd. (USA) (NYSEAMEX: MFN) is a component of the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners Index, and it jumped 1.24%.
Posted-In: Sector ETFs ETFs
© 2017 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.


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Jessica Alba was out and about running errands with her darling 3-year-old daughter Honor in Santa Monica, Calif. on Tuesday (September 13).
The 30-year-old Spy Kids 4 actress is looking fabulous after giving birth to her second daughter Haven last month and has been updating fans on her Twitter page about how she's getting her pre-pregnant body back.
On August 30 she tweeted: "I did my first day of wrkout since I had the baby, just cardio for 40 min. – it's a start. Anyone else starting a fitness regimen?"
The beautiful bombshell even offered post-baby fitness and health tips to her Twitter replies:
Start with walking and throw in 3 sets of lunges 20 per leg. U could do it while strolling ur baby. commit to 10 min a day for a wk then add another 10 until u get up 2 40 min a day. It's easier to ease into it. -i would keep ur diet as healthy as possible 6 days a wk and give urself 1 day to indulge"
Congratulations again to the happy family!


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Fri 21st Jun at 8:00pm
UK Subs
@ The Palladium Club, Bideford
Also appearing: The Dead Betas, Oh Captive
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UK Subs
There's not many bands that have the respect of EVERYONE on the punk scene. But Charlie Harpers UK SUBS is that exception. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene (now venerated as the godfather of UK punk) the band has continued and thrived. 2010 marked the fifth decade in which the U.K. Subs had continually graced the Punk Rock scene, widely recognised as one of the most consistently and visibly successful punk bands - they maintain and pioneer the true spirit of punk rock, without the compromise and watering-down that has affected so many of their contemporaries.
UK Subs tour dates
The Dead Betas
From creating our own scene in a musical blackspot with a spell of barn parties, to taking on a 500 cap venue for our own Beta Festival in little over a year, we have proven the drive and ambition we plough into music is extreme. The Dead Betas are a tornado of angry synth-punk from Devon with killer riffs, spiky lyrics, infectious energy and a whole lot of balls. We are the Ritalin-dodging, adrenaline-fuelled, synth-smashing, electronic-smattered punks that you have been waiting for!
The Dead Betas tour dates
Oh Captive
Loud, pop-tinged rock from Bristol-based four piece. For fans of Twin Atlantic and Coheed & Cambria. Since Oh Captive's beginning in 2012 the band has shared stages across the country with some of the UK's premier acts, including Sonic Boom Six, I Divide, Max Raptor, Straight Lines, The Computers, Evarose, Blitz Kids, SHARKS and more.
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Venue: The Palladium Club
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Website: palladiumclub.co.uk
Phone: 01237 478860


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'Thus far, the President has been unable to construct a foreign policy, any foreign policy.'
1. MITT ROMNEY, former Republican governor of Massachusetts, criticizing President Obama on his lack of a coherent strategy for the situation in Libya
'It's grim. The reality is they can shut off all access if they want to ... You are heading into a two-Internet world.'
2. BILL BISHOP, an Internet specialist based in China, on the nation's repressive cybercontrols. Google recently accused Beijing of disrupting Gmail service within the country's borders; China denies the charge
'I resigned without hesitation all my state and political positions ... when I got sick.'
3. FIDEL CASTRO, writing in a piece published March 22 that in addition to having resigned as Cuba's President in 2008, he had (unbeknownst to most) relinquished his role as leader of the country's Communist Party in 2006
'I hope that women who are considering an abortion will use this three-day period to make good choices.'
4. DENNIS DAUGAARD, governor of South Dakota, on his state's new law that requires women to wait three days--the longest stretch in the nation--after consulting a doctor for an abortion; the law also mandates antiabortion counseling
'I would be reluctant to render a judgment against a great athlete like Bonds ... It would color my judgment.'
5. POTENTIAL JUROR, a 61-year-old man, addressing the judge presiding over the perjury trial of former baseball star Barry Bonds; jury selection took place March 21
Estimated cost of identifying all of the world's unknown animal species, assuming some 5.4 million (of an estimated 6.8 million species total) have yet to be cataloged
Drop in Detroit's population from 2000 to 2010, according to Census figures; at 713,777, the count was the lowest in a century
Years since the top-level domain .xxx was first proposed by ICM Registry; the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approved it March 18
Career wins, as of March 20, for Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski; he is the second Division 1 men's coach to pass the milestone and is two victories shy of tying the record; a Final Four win would break it
Sources: The Hugh Hewitt Show; Guardian; Reuters; Huffington Post; AP


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By Jeffrey Fisher, Ask Jeffrey
My husband and I are downsizing into a 2,500-square-foot townhouse from a 5,000-sq.-ft. house. Our current home has a grand front entry that I've always thought of as both elegant and welcoming, whereas our new smaller home has a run-of-the-mill entrance with very little character. Could you please provide me ideas on how I might create an equally stylish vestibule in our new smaller space?
— Joanne
I think every entranceway, no matter how large or small, should bestow a sense of arrival for those passing over the threshold. And just because you're downsizing doesn't mean you should sacrifice elegance. Pay heed to the clichéd saying "You only have one chance to make a first impression," because it applies to the entrance of your home just as much as it does making a new friend.
You fail to provide me the measurements of your new entranceway, but I am showing you two photos from new-build homes that compare with the overall square footage of your townhouse.
If space allows for it, I think every front entrance needs three things:
- A seat for you or guests to sit down and remove boots or shoes.
- A furniture piece to hold keys, gloves and such.
- A mirror for everyone coming and going to give themselves a once-over.
Let's first examine the photo on top. Before everyone assumes I broke Rule No. 3, let me explain that directly opposite the desk tableau is a mirror, measuring 3×6 feet, mounted on the wall. Not only does it help to visually expand a small entrance hall by reflecting the other wall, it provides the homeowners and their guests a full-length mirror to straighten their seams.
I love this antique writing desk used as a console in the front entrance. Joanne, I imagine you have more furniture than your new house will hold, and you can take inspiration from this. Perhaps you have a beautiful piece of furniture you don't wish to part with but hadn't considered using by the front door? It's an ideal way of adding the elegance you reference without having to part with treasured pieces. Think creatively: It might even be a small china cabinet or hutch you use to display a collection of vases; then you can place a small lamp on top with a vide-poche for keys.
The desk drawer provides a spot to tuck away keys, and the colourful artwork jazzes up the neutral palette. The tall lamp balances the height of the painting and casts a warm, welcoming glow in the evening hours. The chairs on either side of the desk provide stylish seating to change one's shoes and allows the opportunity to use extra dining chairs that you may not otherwise have space for. This way they're on hand when needed for larger dinner parties.
In the photo showing the gilded mirror, furniture placement requires less space than the desk photo but still delivers the grand and welcoming sense of arrival you desire. I bet you have more mirrors than you can think where to place in your new townhouse. Choose the most ornate to hang in the front entrance and take note how quickly the space is transformed to an old-world cloakroom. The drawers in the wooden console render plenty of space for keys and scarves while the surface area provides ample area to place a potted plant and candles to set the mood for arriving dinner guests. Because space is limited, the bench tucks conveniently under the console when not in use. And nothing transforms a run-of-the-mill space into a decorative destination quicker than wainscotting. You needn't carry it throughout the entire house. You can apply it to just the entrance area if it's separate from the rest of the house or the entire hallway on the main level to add architectural interest to an otherwise boring new-build. If you really want to add charm and character, wallpaper the wall above the wainscotting to introduce pattern and colour.
Moving from a large home into a smaller one is not always easy when you think you may have to sacrifice style and storage. I hope, Joanne, that I've given you some practical ideas to consider for your entryway when you make the move to your new townhouse. Just because you've cut your square footage in half does not mean that your style has to follow suit.
Send your design question to firstname.lastname@example.com


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Workrite Uniform Company Expands Dickies FR Clothing Line
Workrite Uniform Company has expanded their line of Dickies® FR due to the line's popularity. The Dickies FR line represents the durable, stylish workwear Dickies has been known for since they began manufacturing workwear in 1922, and this line of flame-resistant (FR) clothing brings that trusted heritage to the men and women whose jobs put them at risk of their clothes igniting.
These new Dickies styles maintain the same levels of comfort, durability, fit and protection as the entire Dickies line under the Workrite Uniform umbrella'a leading provider of high-quality FR workwear worldwide. The line is constructed with premium 88-percent cotton/12-percent nylon twill and 100-percent cotton denim and duck FR fabrics.
Thirteen new FR products have been added to the Dickies FR line, including:
- Five Dickies shirts (e.g., standard work shirt, button-down work shirts, snap-front style)
- Two of the most popular jeans (5-pocket and carpenter styles)
- Three new colors of relaxed straight-fit pants
- Two insulated hooded jackets in brown and navy duck fabric
'This expansion is a testament to the consistently strong and positive demand for our Dickies FR line, and the power of the Dickies brand in the American workforce,' says Lew White, Vice President, Marketing at Workrite. 'Like the entire Dickies collection, these new styles are carefully constructed with high-quality materials that meet or exceed safety standards, and are designed with the individual employee in mind.'
High-resolution images of the new styles are available upon request. For more information on Workrite, log on to www.workrite.com.
About Workrite Uniform Company, Inc.
Founded in 1973, Workrite Uniform Company, Inc. has delivered high-quality flame-resistant (FR) workwear for 40 years. They are also the leading supplier for FR station wear for fire service. An ISO 9001:2008-certified company, Workrite is solely focused on the development and manufacturing of FR clothing. Workrite is an affiliate of Williamson-Dickie Mfg. Co. ('Dickies'), the largest workwear manufacturer in the world.
For more information:
Workrite Uniform Company, Inc.
500 E. Third Street
Oxnard, California
United States, 93032-1192
Tel: (805) 483-0175


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Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times reports that contract talks between Miller and the Buccaneers found the teams sufficiently far apart that they have decided to table further conversations. That means Miller will become a free agent on March 12 and his agent's thoughts on that don't make it seem like Miller considers a return to the Bucs to be in the cards.
"Roy is excited to see what's out there for him in free agency," said his agent, Mike McCartney. "He has a lot to offer after an excellent season, helping a team that was last against the run (in 2011) go to No. 1 against the run last season."
Gerald McCoy gave Miller's ability to occupy blockers and space in the middle of the defensive line a lot of credit for helping him make the Pro Bowl, but Miller's a two-down player and there's going to be a limit to how much a team will spend on such a player.
For more on this story visit: Josh Alper, NBC Sports Pro Football Talk


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Select or modify your travel plan
Update date, no of rooms or guest info
Update date, no of rooms or guest info
All of our Rooms feature Free High Speed Wireless Internet Access, Refrigerator, In-room Coffee, Hairdryer, Remote Control Cable TV with HBO, Voice Mail and Dataport Telephones and offer a Free USA Today Newspaper in the Lobby each weekday. FREE limited Guest Parking, ride the 45 to Downtown shopping at Macys, Nordstroms, Bloomingdales and many more stores. Guests have free access to a business center with a printer from 7AM to 7PM There's something for everyone at Presidio Travelodge.
Travelodge San Francisco at the Presidio is located in a quiet area of San Francisco, just half a block from the Presidio National Recreation Area East Gate. With its central location near the Golden Gate Bridge and Downtown San Francisco, Presidio Travelodge is a charming place to stay while exploring the City by the Bay. Enjoy a feast of beautiful architecture built into the hills surrounding Presidio Travelodge. The magnificent Palace of Fine Arts and Exploratorium are just four block's walk away. Hikers and bicyclists will love the extraordinary grounds of Presidio National Recreation Area between our Hotel and the Golden Gate Bridge. And public transportation is available for those who wish to travel the short distance to Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square, The Cannery, Coit Tower, Chrissy Field, or any other attraction in San Francisco. There are plenty of opportunities for dining, lounging, shopping and sightseeing within walking distance of our Hotel, or guests park here for free and take the shuttle to all the major shopping areas.


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Frank Ocean, 'Hotel California' Lawsuit: Eagles' Don Henley Threatens to Sue
After Frank Ocean released his mixtape 'Nostalgia, Ultra,' the crooner scored collaborations with Nas, Jay-Z and Kanye West, writing stints for John Legend and Beyonce and heaps of critical acclaim, including GQ's Rookie of the Year, and a second place slot on the BBC's Sound of 2012 poll.
The mixtape features a "rendition" — along with an uncleared sample — of the Eagles' 1977 classic 'Hotel California' on a track called 'American Wedding.' The song gained the attention of Eagles' singer Don Henley, who is apparently less-than-thrilled.
"Don Henley is apparently intimidated by my rendition of 'Hotel California,'" Ocean wrote on his Tumblr. "He threatened to sue if I perform it again. I think it's f—in' awesome."
Ocean is a member of upstart Los Angeles skate-rap crew OFWGKTA — or simply Odd Future — who are known for their riot-inciting antics. It's likely that the 24-year-old crooner will perform some version of 'American Wedding' at Coachella in April. Although 'Nostalgia, Ultra' was never commercially released, the track has been taken down from YouTube, "due to a copyright claim by Warner Music Group."
Meanwhile, Ocean has been in the kitchen, baking "sonic goodies" for his Def Jam debut, and will be appearing on Odd Future's 'The OF Tape Vol. 2,' which features new material by Tyler, The Creator and co., and hits shelves on March 20. The release comes five days before Odd Future's sketch comedy show, 'Loiter Squad,' premieres on Adult Swim.
Listen to Frank Ocean's 'American Wedding'
Watch Frank Ocean's 'Novacane' Video
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text:
Job Resource Expo
130 East Merrick Road
Freeport, NY 11520
Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr. (R-Merrick) will be holding a Job Resource Expo to help individuals looking for jobs better prepare themselves to find employment. The event will be held on Friday, May 3rd from 10 am to 12 pm at the Freeport Recreation Center, which is located at 130 East Merrick Road in Freeport.
Senator Fuschillo's job resource expo will help job seekers learn tools that will help improve their chances of gaining employment. Those in attendance can have their resumes reviewed, learn interviewing skills & job searching tips, and speak with career counselors.
Participants can also learn about:
- Job training programs
- Upcoming civil service exams
- Higher Education
- Social service assistance programs
- Vocational & Educational Services for individuals with disabilities
- Starting a small business
Individuals who would like additional information about Senator Fuschillo's Job Resource Expo can call his office at 516-882-0630.
Participating Exhibitors:
- ACCESS-VR (formerly VESID)
- Community Development Corporation of Long Island
- Economic Opportunity Center of Nassau County, Inc.
- Education & Assistance Corporation
- Farmingdale State College
- Hofstra University Continuing Education
- Long Island Cares
- Long Island Educational Opportunity Center at Farmingdale State College
- Nassau Community College
- Nassau County Civil Service Commission
- Nassau-Suffolk Law Services
- New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services
- New York State Commission for the Blind
- New York State Department of Labor
- Opportunities Industrialization Center of Suffolk
- Scott Skodnek Business Development Center at Hofstra University
- Small Business Development Center at Farmingdale State College
- Suffolk County Community College
- Suffolk County One-Stop Employment Center
- The Workforce Partnership (Town of Oyster Bay)
- Town of Hempstead Department of Civil Service
- Town of Hempstead Department of Occupational Resources
- US Small Business Administration


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© 2013 Radhe Industrial Corporation. All rights reserved.


text:
These are condensed and anonymized objections to R6RS by the people who voted against it, with comments underneath each that show how R7RS meets (or fails to meet) that objection. Statements about R7RS-large reflect WG votes, but are subject to change. This document is still being edited. All errors and misstatements not present in the original comments are Cowan's responsibility.
The order of the objections given here follows the order of the R7RS-small report as much as possible, which follows the R5RS report as much as possible.
This document is explicitly a work of R7RS advocacy. Its purpose is not to attack R6RS, but to explain why people who rejected R6RS at the time of ratification may find R7RS more to their liking (and should therefore vote for it).
- R6RS simultaneously breaks with the Scheme tradition to favor homogeneity and software-engineering appeal and still doesn't go far enough towards becoming a useful engineering tool.
- Dividing R7RS into large and small languages was intended to meet this objection. The relative sizes of the languages are approximately thus: R4RS < R5RS < R7RS-small < R6RS < Common Lisp < R7RS-large.
- Interoperability should not be achieved by demanding that one size fits all. Requiring all of the many features of R6RS limits the capacity of the implementers to work in small, specialized fields. Embedded devices immediately come to mind, but other things also come to mind, such as applications that may not desire unicode, libraries, or other pieces. R6RS removes the aspects of elegant simplicity and limited scope that make Scheme such a great language for teaching. Right now, Scheme is easy to learn, because the core concepts are simple, and they extend outward in reasonable, predictable ways.
- R6RS is about 340% the size of R5RS. By contrast, R7RS-small is about 50% larger than R5RS, but only the base library is actually required, and that actually defines fewer names than R5RS.
- The change to case-sensitivity flies in the face of Scheme tradition, for little to no benefit. Existing programs that assumed case-insensitivity will have to be massively overhauled.
- The R7RS include/ci library declaration permits case-insensitive code files to be included in libraries and main programs without making any changes to the files themselves. However, it's true that case-insensitive code can't be just typed or pasted into a REPL.
- R6RS has simply suffered considerable feature creep and is vastly overspecified and overcomplex. In a word, it is too ambitious (or presumptuous, depending on your point of view). It will make Scheme too much complicated for a gain not worth it. We should focus on defining vital SRFIs, and that we all agree on portable extensions of Scheme, to implement, say, TCP/IP, non blocking IOs or bindings to a graphical library.
- R7RS-large will consist of a series of optional packages, several of which will be closely aligned with existing SRFIs. Not all portable extensions can be implemented portably, however.
- The standard library report gratuitously eschews important and widely-used existing SRFIs such as the SRFI-1 list library in favor of its equivalent incompatible functionality.
- R7RS-small has changed R5RS in small and upward-compatible ways for SRFI-1 compatibility. SRFI-1 as a whole will be part of R7RS-large.
- Why should features such as, say, byte vectors, enumerations and hash tables should even be included in the RnRS reports in the first place? The SRFI process has proven itself and works better than the committee process being voted on here.
- Bytevectors are provided because existing code has used strings in the same function, which is unreliable when characters require more than 8 bits. The other data structures mentioned will be provided in R7RS-large.
- R6RS has the goal of making Scheme be like C or Perl: a workable programming language like other programming languages. This seems reasonable on its face, but Scheme has survived for a long time by not being a programming language like others, but rather by being an oddball: minimally specified, usable for real-world programming only by using numerous implementation-specific features, but ideal for teaching and research.
- R7RS-small retains the qualities mentioned.
- It is not clear that R6RS even specifies the right things to make Scheme industrial strength.
- Probably not, by the standards of Java or Python, which come with huge libraries built in. The R7RS-large libraries will be mostly (or perhaps entirely) optional, but an implementation providing them all should have plenty of industrial strength. Attributes of industrial-strength languages other than convenient libraries, such as static typing and pervasive object-orientation, are highly controversial, and really would produce a language that is no longer Scheme.
- Each new large feature (enums, records, conditions, identifier macros, Unicode) is individually motivated, but all together we end up with a very large ball of mud. The size of this ball directly impairs one of Scheme's important features from an industrial perspective: its role as a small language suitable for automatic program transformation and other PLT sorts of techniques.
- The design of R7RS should reduce such coupling: no R7RS-small library depends on any other except the base library. (However, loading makes little sense with neither I/O nor eval). Inter-library dependencies in R7RS-large will be minimized.
- R6RS gives a fairly low priority to backwards compatibility. Implementations are evidently expected to provide mechanisms for switching. There's no incremental update path; each Scheme program must be completely transformed all at once, which effectively means it will never happen.
- Whether or not this is true (and moving code from R5RS to R6RS systems does not appear to be that difficult), R7RS has given very high priority to backwards compatibility.
- Libraries and syntax-case are entirely new and declarative sub-languages fundamentally different from the core language, which has always been imperative.
- True. However, this is also true of syntax-rules, which has been around since R4RS (though non-normative at the time).
- The effort required to implement a standard-compliant Scheme becomes much larger than before. This will discourage future implementers, endangering the diversity that is one of Scheme's present strengths.
- Simple R7RS systems are easy to put together from scratch: in principle, they can be smaller than small conformant R5RS systems (they need not have files or the Scheme reader and writer, for instance). It's also expected to be easy to upgrade R5RS systems to R7RS with minimal (or no) code breakage.
- R6RS should be smaller than R5RS, where some of the required features get moved to optional libraries.
- The R7RS base library is smaller than R5RS. All other R7RS-small libraries are optional.
- R6RS mandates too much, trying to standardize insufficient compromise solutions for things that are better left unspecified. The editors seem to be concerned that there is too much variety in the Scheme world, and propose to eliminate it by making the rulebook thicker. That is exactly the wrong approach. Celebrate the variety, and encourage it, so that Scheme implementations can make their own decisions about what is important to them. R6RS is a misguided attempt to make Scheme more suitable for the mainstream, but effectively does the very opposite by removing the assets that always distinguished Scheme from other dialects: smallness and simplicity.
- R7RS-small mandates far less; R7RS-large will probably mandate little or nothing. R7RS-small is not quite as small and simple as R5RS, but focuses on adding a modest amount of function and only tightening up where variety is truly harmful.
- The Scheme community relies in considerable part on the efforts of individual developers, or small teams of developers, who have to implement these reports -- or who would presumably like to do so if it did not take forever. I think the Scheme community would be better served by a much smaller language, whose features included the minimum necessary so that the language could easily be extended by loading Scheme source code itself (and perhaps compiling it).
- The smaller base library makes this possible to some extent. However, Scheme standards have never been about the "minimum necessary", or procedures like length and list would never have been provided. What is more, facilities like sockets can't be layered over a "minimum necessary" core unless that core contains an FFI, which is a large and complex feature. Sometimes the Facade pattern is the Right Thing.
Lexical syntax
- A petty irritant for me is the official sanction of square brackets: they are ugly and unhelpful in reading code. They create a very discordant visual rhythm and should be summarily outlawed. Square brackets are a gross violation of the LISP Party Ethic and offending implementers shall be required to submit thorough self-criticism of their motivations and then will be summarily shot. I really mean this.
- Square brackets are not defined in R7RS lexical syntax.
- There is no convincing evidence of the value of supporting Unicode for program text. That said, the capability of S-expression read makes it hard to avoid. The addition of Unicode escapes is ugly.
- There is anecdotal evidence that Java gained early acceptance in Japan because it was the first widely used programming language that made it possible to write entire programs (modulo reserved words) in Japanese. In Scheme, where there are no reserved words, it should be straightforward to write entire programs in any natural language with the addition of localized libraries that bridge between local and standard identifiers.
Primitive expression types
- Why would one aim to nail down so many boundary conditions without also specifying order of argument evaluation?
- Scheme has always provided compilers the freedom to evaluate procedure arguments in any order desired.
Derived expression types
- The when and unless forms should not be specified.
- R7RS has added them to the base library. Many people find them convenient in imperative programs. However, the return value is now always unspecified, as it cannot be relied on in any case.
- Scheme can live with the R5RS hygienic macros for a while still.
- R7RS-small does live with them.
- Identifier syntax is purely syntactic sugar that complicate the semantics of the language. Identifiers may no longer be simple variable references, making code potentially more difficult to read. This breaks R5RS compatibility by eliminating a specific invariant on which R5RS programs and macros can rely, namely that a reference to an identifier has no side effects. It weakens every macro in the entire language by removing knowledge about the language the macros are expanding. Code-walking macros become more difficult to write.
- Neither R7RS-small nor R7RS-large provides identifier syntax.
- The syntax-case macro system is an unfortunate choice. Both syntactic closures and explicit renaming macros are older, and are simpler and more in the spirit of Scheme. The description of the mark-antimark for the syntax-case algorithm significantly lengthens and increases the complexity of this chapter.
- R7RS-small provides only syntax-rules. R7RS-large provides for explicit renaming; additional macro systems may be added.
- The R6RS treatment of _ and ... patterns. It's unfortunate that R5RS macros can't match ... as a literal in templates, but with the same restriction on _ many existing macros will break, and moreover they have no easy workaround, requiring otherwise simple pattern matching macros to be rewritten in much longer and more convoluted low-level code.
- R7RS-small adopts these conventions of R5RS, but also adopts SRFI 46.
- There is no way of importing set! for a single level. The composite library should not export define-syntax and let[rec]-syntax for level 1, or syntax-rules for level 0. In the context of the (rnrs) import, there is nothing one can do with these bindings at those levels.
- R7RS-small does not provide phasing, as its only macro system is syntax-rules. The question is still open for R7RS-large. Note that identifiers must have the same definition in every phase.
- R6RS links library instantiation and visitation not to import clauses, but instead to the presence of identifier references in the client, and provides no guarantee of instantiation otherwise.
- R7RS requires whatever libraries are imported to be instantiated at least once, but provides no guarantees for or against multiple instantiation.
- The syntax-case system implements a term-rewriting system, with limited programmability, to solve a problem for which there are significantly simpler solutions. This sub-language introduces a new kind of variable that behaves differently from the variables we're used to, and pushes pattern-matching and templating to the center of the macro-writing process.
- R7RS-small does not have syntax-case. It is uncertain whether R7RS-large will have it. This complaint is also true of syntax-rules, however, which has been available since R4RS.
- R6RS utterly neglects the notions of "top-level program" and "top-level environment", which are absolutely fundamental to Scheme as a language and a system.
- Both top-level programs and REPLs are part of R7RS, though there is no requirement to provide a REPL.
- R6RS moves away from the ability to be used interactively through a REPL by removing load and offering only a static linking model for programs. It does not explain how this affects program development and debugging using a REPL, which is the bread-and-butter of a large number of Scheme users.
- REPLs are rather complex beasts, and probably won't be standardized. However, R7RS does provide some minimal REPL semantics. In particular, a variable that appears within a lambda-expression may have its value changed with retroactive effect, but changing a syntax keyword is not retroactive.
- The draft recognises libraries, a top-level and scripts, three variants of what is basically the same thing (see Queinnec & Padget: Modules, Macros and Lisp) - not the Scheme way.
- Minimalism is not always the Scheme way, or we'd have only lists, and only standardize car, cdr, set-car!, set-cdr!, pair?, cons.
- The record system is far too complicated. The constructor-related parts of the syntactic record layer and of the procedural layer are bewilderingly complex. The custom constructor design is a good example of premature generalization and piling feature upon feature, and their current API adversely affects other aspects of the design, such as modularity.The problem of two record systems that don't quite work together. See Will Clinger's essay Fixing the Syntactic Record Layer.
- R7RS-small provides only a SRFI-9-compatible syntactic record layer. R7RS-large will provide a procedure API, possibly SRFI 99.
- You cannot simply take a record value and access one of its fields by name. See http://lists.r6rs.org/pipermail/r6rs-discuss/2007-August/thread.html#3145. We want a container that requires certain behavior of the values it contains while not requiring that theybe on an approved list or inherit from the same ancestor. Importing the accessors of each type of value we wish to contain makes the container's import list the approved list.
- Providing access to fields by name at run-time makes simple fast implementations of records difficult or impossible. On the other hand, it's easy to provide such things along with a specific implementation of SRFI 9, though not portably.
- Despite the last-minute change in the 5.97 draft that attempted to fix things by piling yet another feature, a parent-rtd clause, on top of the syntactic layer, you still have to know whether the base record type was defined using the syntactic or record layer, and you still can't change a record definition from one layer to the other without running the risk of breaking client code. Record types defined by the syntactic layer are not interchangeable with record types defined by the procedural layer: in consequence, the code you write for a record type definition that inherits from some base type depends upon whether that base type was defined using the syntactic or procedural layer.
- This problem will be solved in R7RS-large.
- Both record-system layers are complex, which makes it hard for a casual reader to understand their relationships.
- SRFI 9 is extremely simple, though it takes a little bit of effort to remember exactly what goes where.
- The record procedural layer is the more expressive layer, so the draft's new warnings that try to frighten programmers into preferring the syntactic layer would have limited impact even if they were true.
- R7RS will not try to frighten anyone into anything.
- Scheme needs a simple module system that can be grasped easily.
- Although the R7RS library system has some extensions over the R6RS one, such as include, include/ci, and cond-expand, it is also simplified, removing all talk of versioning and phasing. Phasing may be added back in some form for R7RS-large.
- There is no need to embed library versions in import specifications. Matching library versions should be solved outside of the language. Everything done with versions in the current draft could be added in a backwards compatible manner in future drafts. Also, the version reference syntax is very complex and rather ugly.
- Version numbers are not a feature of R7RS libraries.
- The R6RS library mechanism fails to be modular; users must know and exclude from libraries any exported redefinitions, whether or not they use those identifiers!
- This continues to be a problem in R7RS. A ticket has been filed to permit ambiguous imports of unused identifiers.
- It is perfectly meaningful to say that if a specific library is implemented, it must meet the entire specification. But all libraries must be optional in a base language and a base language implementer does not have to provide all libraries.
- This is exactly the R7RS approach.
- R6RS does not provide unsafe arithmetic or list operations.
- R7RS does not require the safety guarantees of R6RS, leaving the balancing between safety, speed, size, and other concerns up to the implementation.
- The library system is basically a way to tell the linker how to construct programs from parts. Rather than invent a new language to do this, it's possible to build the linker such that the programmer can insert Scheme code to control aspects of the linking process. Such code could do more than the current library system does, and because of the added expressivity, it could do so more concisely in many cases.
- The R6RS and R7RS library systems are designed for simplicity and portability to all kinds of existing implementations of libraries. For those purposes, a declarative system is satisfactory, but doesn't disallow introduction of more complex module systems for other purposes.
- Many R6RS features are useful and definitely should be part of the standard, but rather than arbitrarily including them in the language, the should be defined on top of the language. Only features that are required in order to support the libraries should be carefully added to the language itself. This approach would lead to a core language and a set of extension libraries that is implemented in terms of the core language. These libraries should be optional extensions to the core language.
- While it is not always possible to define R7RS-large packages in terms of the R7RS-small language (i.e. a package supporting TCP connections in the large language cannot be written portably), the overall design of core and extension libraries has been adopted for R7RS. Some libraries are considered part of the small language, though they are technically optional; the rest belong to the large language.
- What is the principled reason why assoc and memq (for example) are exiled to libraries without bringing along the equally derivative append, string-for-each!, vector-map, and so on; the library system fails to delineate a kernel, which I had thought was one of its goals.
- As noted, the base library is not a kernel. However, all these procedures are in the R7RS base library.
- The reason for ABSOLUTELY prohibiting linking to multiple versions of the same library per formal comment 130 is very weak. Scheme and the LISP family in general are incisive, powerful languages that give their users great power that can be easily misused.
- R7RS-small does not formally treat versions.
- Scheme should accommodate the desires of library writers to intermix definitions and expressions (insert usual platitudes about needless restrictions---and how Scheme is perhaps more than anything else a system for communicating to other programmers...).
- R7RS libraries permit the intermixture of definitions and expressions (wrapped in begin), imports, exports, and other library declarations.
- The enforced phase separation in the library system described in the R6RS proposal overspecifies the library system and disallows different implementation strategies, thus prohibiting the Scheme community from experimenting and innovating. In addition, the library system becomes an obstacle to the use of Scheme as a teaching language, because beginners now must deal with it long before it can be explained to them why.
- R7RS-small does not require phase information, because the only macro system is syntax-rules, which does not run user-supplied Scheme code at compile time. (Note that R6RS is not as fully phase-separated as Racket, because while an identifier may be defined or undefined at a given phase, it may not be defined differently at different phases.) The R7RS-large library system is not yet specified; certainly implicit phasing will be one of the options considered. One can write a great deal of Scheme without writing any libraries, and R7RS REPLs are encouraged to import a useful subset of the available libraries.
- R6RS library descriptions need to be enclosed in an additional layer of parentheses, as opposed to a single definition at the top of the file.
- Still true in R7RS. Libraries remain a single S-expression in R7RS. However, the include form in library declarations makes it possible to load another file inside a module, and that file doesn't require the additional level of parentheses.
- It is not clear what problem implicit mantissa widths solve, and they are ill-defined. Explicit mantissa widths are "additional features", the need for which should be eliminated by removing restrictions against non-decimal floating-point values.
- Neither implicit nor explicit mantissa widths are provided in R7RS.
- Requiring the full numeric tower works against using Scheme in smaller environments such as embedded systems, where full support conflicts with other implementation priorities.
- R7RS-small does not require the full tower.
- Procedures such as div0-and-mod0, exact-integer-sqrt simply do not belong in a base language. In fact a lot of the numerical procedures belong in a library.
- Integer division has been moved to a library in R7RS, as have the transcendental and complex number procedures (the latter primarily because inexact and non-real numbers are not required in R7RS). The exact-integer-sqrt procedure is provided in the base library because implementations are not required to provide numbers beyond integers.
- Given that fixnum and flonum types have implementation dependent ranges, there is no need to require fixnum and flonum types in the standard.
- These types are not present in R7RS-small. Flonum and fixnum packages will be provided in R7RS.
- Scheme is best served by retaining its jewel-like character: tiny, beautiful and perfect. There is no need to expand Scheme as the editors propose -- if I want Common Lisp, I know where to find it.
- It's debatable whether the exact set of procedures provided in R5RS is really so jewel-like or perfect. Certainly there were many, if small, changes from R2RS to R5RS.
- Immutable pairs may make optimization easier, but do not fit at all with the practice and spirit of Lisp.
- They aren't provided in R7RS-small, except that literals are immutable (as in R5RS).
- Implementations should be allowed to support characters beyond Unicode.
- R7RS permits such characters, though we don't expect to see widespread implementation of them.
- Scheme has been around for a long time, and has seen many encodings come and go - there's no reason to bind it to a single encoding forever.
- Unicode is unique, being the only encoding that in theory (and to a great extent in practice) allows the encoding of all the world's writing systems. R7RS does not require more than the ASCII repertoire to be supported, but does require Unicode conformance in case mapping, char-integer conversion, etc. If Unicode were to be superseded, a lot more would have to change besides Scheme.
- Character-level case mappings encourage programmers to write broken algorithms.
- Unfortunately, they are an IEEE Scheme feature and can't easily be removed. R7RS, like R6RS, requires that they comply with simple Unicode case-mapping, whereas strings must comply with full Unicode case-mapping. Implementations may forbid certain characters in strings.
- It is perhaps better to remove those features of R5RS that prohibit Unicode implementation (such as char->integer and integer->char), and rely on extended SRFI-13 and SRFI-14 for Unicode support.
- Actually those features aren't problematic for Unicode. In any case, they are IEEE Scheme features and cannot be easily removed.
- The normalization procedures handle normalization at the wrong level. It's inherently an encoding issue, and is best treated as such. Providing this functionality at the string level forbids the implementation strategy of keeping all strings in the same normalization form - a very appealing strategy on many levels.
- R7RS-small provides normalized comparison procedures rather than normalization procedures. This feature is subject to change.
- O(1) string access suggests that all Schemes should use UCS-4 character vectors for their string representation, discouraging the use of alternate representations such as UTF-8 and ropes or trees.
- R7RS does not prescribe O(1) access time for strings, and warns against any such assumption.
- There are competing character sets that may be preferable to Unicode in some circumstances, and requiring Unicode would forestall their use. Unicode necessarily requires more storage space than ASCII, and more complicated runtime support, which may not be desirable in all cases.
- Any encoding may be used internally to an implementation, provided that it covers at least the ASCII repertoire.
- There is nothing to indicate that the editors ever considered the inclusion of multidimensional arrays, even though they are the subject of SRFI-25, SRFI-47, SRFI-58, and SRFI-63, and portably supported by SLIB.
- R7RS-large will include multidimensional arrays, though the form they will take is not yet known. Advanced array operations developed since Common Lisp was standardized will certainly be looked at.
- R6RS does not provide homogeneous numeric vectors. The fact that bytevectors are, by their nature, type aliasing nightmares is too lightly ignored in the draft. Making bytevectors the basic implementation strategy of homogenous vectors makes it harder for Scheme systems that compile to C for portability to implement homogeneous vectors efficiently, due to the C aliasing rules. The suggestion is made in the rationale that bytevectors plus sealed and opaque types can lead to efficient implementations of them. This assumes the existence of a "suitably smart compiler". IEEE-754 does not specify the bit patterns for single- and double-precision floating-point numbers in a way that this report seems to think can be exploited in bytevectors.
- R5R5-small only provides 8-bit facilities. There is a R7RS-large proposal on the table that provides other types (s8, u16 and s16 both big- and little-endian, standard-order and native floats, etc.) in both homogeneous and heterogenous styles.
- The core language must only include the abstract vector type. Having particular types of vector representations is precisely the domain of SRFIs. The R6RS proposal byte vector syntax is not widely agreed upon, and it requires two sets of vector procedures in the core language.
- R7RS does provide bytevectors in the base. The lexical syntax provided is SRFI-4-compatible rather than R6RS-compatible.
- Strings always were a bit sore in Scheme, with their manifestly-typed locations. Instead of solving that, this draft adds bytevectors. Neither can contain variables in the right-hand side of a syntax rule - the kind of arbitrary restriction of which Scheme should be free.
- If you want generic vectors, you know where to find them. Strings are often not used as containers, but as immutable values, and this is even more true in a Unicode world.
Multiple values
- Multiple-return values *still* has not been fixed. The most straightforward solution is simply to make all continuations multi-valued - or rather that applying a single-argument continuation to multiple values results in the coercion of the actual arguments to some list form. It would actually be even better to eliminate multi-valued continuations entirely, but that would be at the cost of breaking existing code (SRFI code even).
- Treating multiple values in this way requires checks and coercions every time a value that might not be singular is passed to a continuation expecting one value, which is almost all the time. Leaving the behavior undefined allows avoiding such coercions and potentially the checks as well.
Dynamic environment
- It has been clearly shown that dynamic-wind (and R5RS call/cc) is implementable in terms of R4RS call/cc, but that the reverse is not true. Given the renaming facilities available in the library system, it would seem really obvious that R4RS call/cc should be in the core and R5RS dynamic-wind and call/cc should be a separate library.
- R7RS provides R5RS call/cc and dynamic-wind in the core.
- The Scheme specification needs a solid model for asynchronous events.
- R7RS-large may have something like this.
Errors, exceptions and conditions
- Far too much of R6RS appears fixated on defining and punishing syntactic errors.
- R7RS sticks with "is an error", as R5RS and earlier versions did. This allows implementations to choose how to handle syntactic and most other errors.
- The exception system is far too large and over-specified. Implementations should be free to experiment with extensions in these areas. The division into simple and compound conditions, along with the infrastructure required to manipulate these, is overly complex and may be awkward to use in practice.
- R7RS-small provides the R6RS exception system, but not the condition system; any Scheme object can be signalled (as is also true in R6RS).
- The exception/condition functionality should be part of the core specification - as is shown by the inclusion of a section on exceptions in the formal semantics.
- R7RS exception signaling and handling are in the base library.
- The R5RS report used the phrase "an error is signalled" to indicate that implementations must detect and report an error, without going into specifics. In contrast, the R6RS proposal requires the signaling of exceptions, and it goes further to propose a complex and very specific hierarchy of exceptions. Once again, common practices in the Scheme community are ignored, and instead of relying on the SRFI process, exceptions are mandated in the core language.
- R7RS-small follows R5RS.
- All condition types should be record types, and compound conditions should be eliminated.
- R7RS-small has no specific condition types (except error) or hierarchy. It's not clear yet what will happen in R7RS-large.
- The I/O system was totally rewritten for no reason, and all aspects of it are controlled with gratuitous syntactic forms - second class forms which discourage high-level procedures.
- R7RS-small provides only R5RS I/O plus a close parallel of it for binary I/O. R7RS-large will have a more complex I/O package, but its content is not yet defined.
- R6RS I/O is lacking support for PGM/PPM files, open TCP sockets, and other features.
- R7RS-large will have a TCP package.
- All but fundamental I/O primitives should be put in a library: non-abstract operations do not belong in the core language.
- In both R6RS and R7RS, there is no I/O in the R7RS base library at all.
- There's simply no reason for enumerations, since Scheme has traditionally used symbols for the same purpose. It is an example of premature generalization and piling feature upon feature.
- Enumerations are not in R7RS-small; the R7RS-large situation is still open.
- R6RS is not good enough for commericial usage since it lacks a FFI to interface it with libraries implented in C/C++, and it specifies too much for an experimental language. Neither fish nor fowl.
- The R7RS-large WG decided not to attempt to specify a standard FFI.
Hash tables
- The core specification must not mandate any particular standard for dictionary structures, as the existing implementations vary widely in APIs. A side effect free association list structure may be permitted, but anything more sophisticated must be relegated to a library.
- R7RS, like R5RS, has the traditional assoc and friends, enhanced to allow any equivalence predicate. Of course, such association lists are not inherently immutable.
- The standard library report gratuitously eschews important and widely-used existing SRFIs such as SRFI-69 hash tables in favor of its equivalent incompatible functionality.
- Partly because the WG could not agree on the appropriate API, R7RS-small does not provide hash tables, though they are present in almost every major Scheme implementation. Note that what matters for compatibility is the availability of specific function points, rather than names and argument order, which can be handled with shim libraries.
- Hash tables, while useful, are not necessary (after all, other equally useful data structures were not added).
- Hash tables, along with other containers, will be provided in R7RS-large, though the exact API is as yet undecided.
Formal semantics
- The operational semantics for the proposed R6RS is nowhere near as clean and succinct as the denotational semantics for R5RS. Considerations of their non-normativeness aside, the denotational semantics presented, in a couple of pages, a clear formalization of the basis of Scheme.
- The R5RS denotational semantics has been retained essentially unchanged.
- It would be regrettable if something becomes a standard because "we didn't have time to come up with a better [idea] by the last couple of days".
- The R7RS process has encouraged continuous feedback throughout the development process, which has taken place entirely in the open.
- Several features specified in R6RS have been tested in existing implementations of Scheme insufficiently to warrant inclusion in the standard. Some features of the draft, such as the I/O system and records, are completely new and clearly suffer from feature creep. The standard is not the place to experiment.
- The WG agrees in general; almost all the syntax and procedures of R7RS are already widely available in Scheme implementations, with the exception of the library system, which is very close to (but simplified from) the R6RS system.
- The jump from R5RS to R6RS is too big for its users (implementers and other programmers) to digest all at once, and has not set a good example for R7RS. To make sure we all continue communicating and learning from one another, the revision process needs to be more open and incremental in the future, I think.
- The R7RS process has been much more open (everything has been done in public, and informal comments from the public have been accepted throughout the process), and its changes to R5RS are quite incremental. We believe that it will be straightforward to implement R7RS on any R5RS system that already has some sort of modules, and on any R6RS system.
- The current thrust of Scheme development raises a concern that the language will go the way of C++, which seems to have given rise to a large variety of mutually nearly incomprehensible C++ dialects and programming styles, and to a great deal of confusion about what the various features are supposed to do.
- This is rather speculative.
- We want to experiment and innovate, and the purpose of standardization is the exact opposite: to prevent experimentation and innovation. The objective of standardization is to get it right on the first try, to allow long term stability and interoperability, when the benefits of such outweigh the benefits of innovation.
- Experimentation and innovation are among the purposes of R7RS-small.
- The goal in R6RS should be to make it easier to achieve conformance and easier to experiment without getting the pedants' backs up. A good standards document helps the documentation effort.
- The small base library makes conformance straightforward, if not necessarily easy. The other libraries must be provided in full if they are provided at all, which also makes conformance straightforward.
- R6RS will likely create a schism between the various scheme implementations, because it ignores the desires of parts of the community, in order to cater to some others. Scheme can't operate under the assumptions of one-size fits all, because the Scheme community is naturally already heavily invested in areas where divergence (to some degree) is encouraged.
- The WG agrees. We hope that R7RS will see wider take-up among the implementer community.
- If R6RS fails, the next attempt should be in the direction of previous revised reports in requiring unanimous consent for the core (which includes the library mechanism, but precious few libraries). Therefore the process in the future must continue to require super-majorities for core ratification and maybe even greater ones than the current 60% -- and that helps to properly draw the line between it and the required standard libraries. Library ratification does not need to be as strict: as long as they are "acceptable" and have nothing dreadfully wrong with them, it is better to have usable standards than no standards at all, and in theory the SFRI process has allowed the community to discover what works in practice and is worth standardizing.
- This is roughly what the R7RS process is doing. The current threshold is 85% to ratify R7RS-small, 75% to ratify R7RS-large.
- R6RS puts too much emphasis on performance. Is R5RS Scheme so slow that we need to introduce into the standard immutable variables, fields, and pairs? I am all for speed, but not at the expense of inconsistencies in the language design. Immutability hinders debugging and "live-repair", and goes against the basic design principles of Scheme.
- R7RS has only the immutability of R5RS; that is, literal constants are immutable, but implementations are not required to detect attempts to mutate them.


text:
Deborah Mucklow
on April 30, 2012, 6:24 pm | 24 comments
A few months ago, I wrote a blog post asking: "Do kids need siblings?" and not too surprisingly, the answers varied. Some folks thought only children meant lonely children (often mistaken for a stereotype) but would be proven untrue if there were lots of friends around. Now comes a variation of the question: Do kids… Read more »
Carolyn Robertson
on April 30, 2012, 5:53 pm | 63 comments
A megastar in her own right as well as being married to music mogul Jay-Z, Beyonce is used to the rumors that come with being rich and famous. The gossip surrounding her pregnancy, though, came as a surprise even to her. "That was crazy," Beyonce says of the strange speculation that she faked her pregnancy… Read more »
Vera and Audrey
on April 30, 2012, 3:26 pm | no comments
Okay, just by looking at these pics, you might have guessed that they were taken sometime in February or March. Think again! On April 27 (yes, April 27), celebrity stylist/designer Rachel Zoe put away her spring cardigan and broke out her fur vest. While many east coasters were left baffled by the unpredictable weather, Rachel actually… Read more »
Joyce Slaton
on April 30, 2012, 2:53 pm | 63 comments
I have finally figured out something that's been bothering me for years. It's the reason I've so often found myself wailing at Violet "Why are you being so crazy on your birthday/Christmas/Easter/the first day of summer?" We have a tendency to get into giant fights on days when special things are happening, and now I… Read more »
Betsy Shaw
on April 30, 2012, 2:41 pm | 17 comments
A CNN Money article reports that the number of men who choose children over their career is rising. This is partially a result of more men being out of work, and, increasingly, the growing rate of women earning more than their husbands. But it's not just about economics. Brad Somerfeld, a school teacher interviewed for… Read more »
Mocha Manual Moms
on April 30, 2012, 2:20 pm | 40 comments
I was confronted with this question while having a random commuter train conversation with an otherwise engaging older white male, who expressed his surprise that I only had two children and they were spaced fours apart. "That's unusual for black women, isn't it?" he asked. Pause for WTH moment. My first thought was to use… Read more »
Carolyn Robertson
on April 30, 2012, 1:01 pm | 11 comments
It's another girl for Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard! US magazine reports that the couple's second daughter Gloria Ray was born in New York City on April 19, joining big sister Ramona, 5. The Away We Go star will likely be better prepared for motherhood this time around – she once admitted that, like many… Read more »
Molly Balint
on April 30, 2012, 12:58 pm | 2 comments
My girls are pretty rough and tumble kids. They're not afraid to get dirty and they play hard. But at the same time, they're all about cute little skirts and sundresses. But since we've never sent them to finishing school, my girls don't always have all the skirt and dress etiquette down pat. You know,… Read more »
Molly Balint
on April 30, 2012, 12:11 pm | 1 comment
I tend to be pretty low-key when it comes to my kids' birthdays. We usually do something with just our family and other relatives that live close by. There's usually a dinner picked by the birthday kid, then cupcakes or cake and presents with the whole family. But this year, we threw a bigger party… Read more »
Gwen Dewar, Ph.D.
on April 30, 2012, 11:01 am | 8 comments
Life would be boring without any stress, and a little stress is good for us. But chronic stress and severe stress can be harmful, even for an unborn child. Studies have linked severe and chronic stress during pregnancy with a variety of unwanted outcomes, including preterm delivery and the development of psychological problems in children…. Read more »
Samantha Schoech
on April 30, 2012, 10:44 am | 75 comments
Mother's Day is nice and all, but don't we deserve more than a single day? Don't we deserve some sort of ongoing pampering, a little luxury for overworked bodies? I think so. And Crabtree & Evelyn thinks so. That's why we are giving away a La Source Vanity Case chock-a-block with lovely little potions like… Read more »
Summer Schiavo
on April 30, 2012, 9:00 am | 14 comments
I really needed to get in a run, and my husband was going cycling with a friend. For him, that's like hitting a bar or watching the game with his buddies, so I consider it very important to support that kind of behavior. But, I really needed to get in a run… Never mind that… Read more »
Katherine Martin
on April 30, 2012, 8:52 am | 36 comments
Would you believe I'm pregnant with my fourth baby and I have never put a birth plan to paper? Sure, I've done research and discussed my options with my doctors/midwives, but I have never formally written out a birth plan. On the August 2012 Birth Club, members are discussing their birth plans. It made me… Read more »
Sara McGinnis
on April 30, 2012, 6:58 am | 7 comments
Gwyneth Paltrow is thanking husband Chris Martin for recognizing something wasn't right after she gave birth to their second child — even if she wasn't open to hearing the truth at the time. The actress, who is mom to nearly 8-year-old daughter Apple and 6-year-old son Moses, recently opened up about how she came to… Read more »
Sarah Welch
on April 30, 2012, 5:28 am | 5 comments
From DVD programs that supposedly expand your brain to speed reading programs, there are a plethora of products on the market that cater to parents looking to give their children a leg up in life. But before you rush out to buy a brain-enhancing product, consider another (free) alternative: instilling a good habit or routine…. Read more »


text:
Terrence Malick Speaks
There was period of time where I became absolutely obsessed with Metallica. I had numerous albums and every time I had more money I'd rush out and buy another one of their classics. I've discovered other music by now, but that love is still strong. So I knew going in the likelihood of me enjoying Metallica Through the Never was pretty high. The real curiosity was how it would blend the concert—basically on steroids, with numerous pyrotechnics and stage props—and the fictional storyline following actor Dane DeHaan. Impressively, it works as a hybrid that should satisfy any casual Metallica fan while hopefully opening the door for future experimentation by other bands down the road.
During Fantastic Fest I had the great privilege to sit down with both the director, Nimród Antal, and Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett. This piece will focus on my conversation with Antal as we discussed how they came about the puppet that DeHaan carries throughout the film, how he spoke to his camera operators during the concerts, the size of the 3D camera rigs, how much of the concert is just for this film, the way they interspliced footage from several different concerts to form one on screen, and how it feels to be part of the Metallica legend. Enjoy the conversation below.
The Film Stage: So, you mentioned that [Metallica] gave you a call. Do you know why they gave a call?
Nimrod Antal: I have no idea. It's kind of one of those things where if you win the lottery, just don't ask. Just sign up and sign the check, or whatever you have to do. But I was honored, when I was approached by an agent initially and they mentioned, "hey, there's a 3D concert Metallica film, but they want to put a narrative into it. Is that something that interests you?" I was like, "yeah." It's an easy reaction.
Can you talk about the camera rigs used? They looked massive.
Yeah, we had steadi-cam operators carrying those 3D cameras and for those who don't know, a 3D system is essentially two cameras, either side by side or one over the other. And it was a fascinating thing to see steadi-cam operators carry those rigs for as long as they did. Beyond that, we had wirecams, technocranes, we had standard dollies, we had locked down cameras — we had all kinds of different toys. The folks at Cameron Pace were the ones, from the get go, were there for us. The have a good sense of 3D already, going into it. I had some really big concerns regarding metal and the cadence of their songs intercut with 3D. I just thought to myself, this is just a perfect way to traumatize viewers. But they immediately alleviated my concerns and explained all the basics of 3D, that you have to kind of get a grasp of, from inner ocular to convergence to all these different things that they do. And I knew I was in good hands and I felt comfortable. It was like one of those things where you get into a car and do you put your hand on the dashboard or can you sit back and just enjoy the ride. With the folks at Cameron Pace, they were just super supportive from the get go.
All the cameras that we see in the film, those are the only cameras out there?
Yes and we did capture four shows, those positions are always varied. I knew that one day we would have 10 cameras, so I would set it up on the exteriors, going inward. On other days, I knew we would have our steadi-cam, so I would turn them over and be on the stage with the band, looking out. My director of photography, Gyula Pados, who is a super-talented guy — this is going to dumb down the process, but this is how we did it — we had a schematic of the stage. We had a schematic of the auditorium and we just sat down with different colored Post-Its and [went] camera 1, camera 2, and we started going through it. That ultimately led to a 30-camera editing opportunity. I use the word opportunity lightly, it was more like a nightmare. But 30 cameras to pick from at any given time.
The way you stitched it together, it's quite impressive.
We had a wonderful editing team too. Joe Hutshing came in and just killed it, did a great job.
You had many opportunities to set things up during these concerts. What was your relationship like with the camera operators while you were filming?
Yeah, it was more like screaming. [laughs] I remember Dan Brown, the tour producer, comes up to me and says, "so how are you going to communicate with your guys?" I said, "oh, we have head sets." He's like, "yeah, good luck with that." Just to give you an example, when the Tesla Coil kicks up in the tests that we did, it was deafening. I mean, you couldn't hear anything else. I thought to myself, "how are they going to play over that?" And you can't hear the Tesla Coil when Metallica starts to play. [laughs] Sorry, I went off on a tangent.
So, how did you direct the camera operators?
Ah, yeah. I had a headset, we had control monitors, we had every single camera on a monitor. We had a basic conversation leading into it, what we were hoping to achieve and the order of the day was intimacy. We wanted to be as close to the band as we could and be on the bridge of the guitar. We wanted to capture the fifth band member as much as we could, so we had cameras turned out on to the fans. These were just basic conversations before it even started. Then once it did start, we had headsets and my director of photography was sitting on one side and Vince Pace, from Cameron Pace, was on the other.
I sat there and if we saw an opportunity, I would call out, "please, can you turn back on the audience for the explosion that's about to come." We had an opportunity to see the show in Mexico City, so we had an understanding of the steps of the concert, so we knew when to anticipate something. And the band was always asking, like, "hey, do you want us to do this or that?" And I was like, "dude, you guys do what you do and I'm just going to try and capture it as best as I can and make sure we're there at the right time and the right place."
All the chaos and props in the concert, it's very intricate. Is this their standard concert or did you ramp it up?
They had done elements of this concert before. They've had Doris before on stage. They've had fire on stage, so there were certain elements that were certainly reminiscent of older concerts, but this concert particularly and this stage, was built for the film. So everything was for the film.
Did you pre-record some of the music or was it all taken from the concert?
It was all live concert.
You're trying to capture what they're saying as well and you can see them emote and say certain things to the audience, and all of that is being captured live?
Some of that was captured live and there was an attempt at one point… our ADR supervisor came in and his job is when you see these moments like you're talking about and [ask] "are we supporting it with sound?" It's his job to ask those questions. And there was a few that went back and we picked up a few things, like James coming out initially, that we didn't capture the sound of what he was saying. So there was a few, but limited — really, really minor compared to the body of the film. But no, the music, the instruments, the singing — it's everything that's at the concert.
You've obviously been a Metallica fan for awhile. Do you hear their music now and see a new connection with them?
I'm part of the Metallica family now?
Yeah, you're part of that legend now.
F–ck, man. If that's true, I'm honored. I'm super honored. I think that whether you are a musician or you build chairs, when you do it at the level that these guys do what they do, it's always an honor. I'm always attracted and inspired by those kinds of folks who just love what they do and do it at that next level. It's always inspirational for me to push myself and I certainly hope one day that I can make movies the way Metallica can play music. [laughs]
The little puppet that Dane DeHaan uses through-out the movie, was that stop-motion? And in 3D?
That's an interesting question and you're the first person to ever ask me that question. The puppet was created by John Frame. And John Frame is an artist, he's a sculptor, he carves and I had the honor of seeing his show, called Three Fragments of a Lost Tale at the Huntington Museum and Frame has a troupe. So what he does, he creates these characters, he carves these characters and uses vintage doll eyes from the '20s and I think his wife helps create the clothes for them and it's really this family endeavor. They make these incredible performers, because that's what they are. Each digit, though made from wood, is articulated. It's mind-blowing, what the guy does. I had seen the show and we started talking about the idea with the story with the band. And I said early on, I'd love for him to have some sort of talisman, something with him.
I immediately thought of John Frame and I reached out to him. I had reached out to him after seeing his show and I just expressed — he didn't know who the hell I was — gratitude and enthusiasm for his work. I was like, "Man, that's just incredible." So when the Metallica thing came up and I realized this puppet character would be part of the story I called John and said "Hey, Mr. Frame. Is there any chance that you could build us a puppet?" And he did. Now what John Frame does is he takes these performers, and not only are they displayed in museums, but he makes stop-motion films with these characters.
So the little man is a stop-motion puppet, he has an armature like Jack Skellington, a great animated character. He's made from wood, his eyes move about. What the actual puppet is capable of doing is really freaky. But then the gentleman up at Method, up in Canada, who did the CG for the film, had to come in and they had to 3D model the puppet. So the puppet is a mixture of actual puppet mixed with a 3D augmentation of the puppet, or rather a 3D model of the puppet and then stop-motion is interjected into the actual computer. [laughs] I think we took frames out and stuff. I'm happy that you noticed it because he does have a little kind of stop-motion movement to him and that was our intention from the get go. I want that puppet so bad. I've been hitting up production consistently, like, "can I buy the puppet? Please."
Metallica Through the Never is now in theaters.
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text: On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 12:23 AM, Gael Varoquaux <email@example.com> wrote: > On Tue, Nov 04, 2008 at 09:19:54AM +0100, Olivier Grisel wrote: >> > It could be a good policy to tell people developing scikits to upload >> > sources to pypi whenever they do a release (I am as guilty as other in >> > that department). > >> As a scikit user, +1 for using pypi more systematically for scikit >> releases (being source only release without setuptools if setuptools >> is unable to manage the binary properly). I think it would help >> scikits gain more visibility in the python community as a whole and >> hence scipy too. The pypi RSS feed is relayed on various (sometimes >> manually postfiltered) aggregators and it can help gain a lot of >> pagerank. > > Actually, I am +1 on that too. My caution about setuptools is just what > it is caution. I am not saying we should not be using it, or PyPI, to > provide services that nothing else provides. Anyone who wants to should feel free to add a note about this on the scikit's dev page: http://scipy.org/scipy/scikits/wiki/ScikitsForDevelopers I don't think anyone would disagree that new releases should be posted to pypi. -- Jarrod Millman Computational Infrastructure for Research Labs 10 Giannini Hall, UC Berkeley phone: 510.643.4014 http://cirl.berkeley.edu/


text:
Raleigh, N.C. — Fifteen people spoke out Monday on legislation that would change how members of the Wake County Board of Commissioners are elected, with most saying they were disgusted by the partisan nature of the bill and suggesting that the proposal be studied further before any action is taken.
State lawmakers from Wake County held a public hearing on Senate Bill 181 as part of their regular meeting. The bill is scheduled to be voted on Tuesday afternoon by the Senate Redistricting Committee – more public comment will be heard before the vote – and could reach the Senate floor by Wednesday.
The bill would add two commissioners to the current seven-member board. It would also redraw districts to align with the school board districts that were put in place by the legislature in 2013. That new configuration would include two regional districts, one of which would be focused on the urban core of Raleigh and the other which would take in the outlying areas of Wake County.
Under the current system, commissioners must live within geographic districts, but all county voters have a say in their election. Under the legislation, which would take effect in 2018, each voter would end up selecting one local district representative and voting for one of the two regional representatives.
Bill sponsor Sen. Chad Barefoot, R-Wake, said the changes would improve the representation on the Board of Commissioners, giving voters in rural sections of the county more of a voice.
Some residents with ties to eastern Wake County echoed that sentiment during Monday's meeting.
"Five of the seven commissioners live within the city of Raleigh," Frances George said. "Seventy-five percent of towns in Wake County don't have a single representative on the county commissioner board. ... Everyone needs a voice."
Dick Hilliard, who lives in north Raleigh, agreed that the needs of rural voters are different from those who live in the city and need to be reflected on the county board.
"The transportation system in this county is being decided by the county commissioners with little or no attention given to outlying areas," Hilliard said. "Giving attention to outlying areas makes sense.
The overwhelming majority of speakers, however, said Barefoot's bill was a solution in search of a problem.
"If the term representation implies my involvement in electing the person who will be doing the representing, then I will be going from having seven members represent me to having two," Brian Fitzsimmons said. "We can say all we want that this bill is increasing representation, but the facts do not back up that argument."
Several people questioned the timing of the proposal, which comes four months after Democrats swept Republicans off the Board of Commissioners.
"This thing is being raced through in the interest of really reversing the decision of the voters in 2014," said Harvey Richman of Cary.
"As a former social studies teacher who preached to my students day after day that we live in the best representative democracy in this world, I am appalled that we would use the kind of techniques being used to push through this piece of legislation," said Tom Benton, who represents eastern Wake County on the school board.
Some called for a bipartisan study committee to look at ideas to change the make-up of the Board of Commissioners or even put a proposal on a county ballot to ensure local voters get a say in any change.
Morrisville Town Councilman Steve Rao noted that a number of state lawmakers want an independent redistricting commission to draw congressional and legislative districts, and a similar effect could be used in Wake County.
Earlier in the day, the Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution opposing Barefoot's bill.
Chairman James West said the proposal would "fragment" the county.
"It's ridiculous for (the legislature) to even consider this bill," Commissioner Betty Lou Ward said.


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Beethoven: Quartet No. 4, Op. 18
(the Paganini String Quartet; Victor, 6 sides). Robert Maas, onetime cellist with the famed Pro Arte Quartet, founded the crack Paganini Quartet three years ago. In this recording, the last one made before his death, he has left the most finished performance on records of Beethoven's passionate early quartet. Recording: excellent.
Gould: Spirituals for Orchestra (the Philharmonic-Symphony of New York, Artur Rodzinski conducting; Columbia, 6 sides). Composer Morton Gould, a master of syrupy orchestration, has sweetened this music (some of it his own) until it smacks more of cotton candy than hominy grits. Performance and recording: good.