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Updated 5:45 p.m. ET Tuesday, Aug. 23
Former Vikings OT Bryant McKinnie has reached a two-year deal with the Ravens, pending a phsyical, the team announced Tuesday afternoon.
The Vikings cut McKinnie on Aug. 2. The former first-round pick began training camp on the non-football injury list before being released.
The Ravens signed former Patriots OT Mark LeVoir earlier in the week and drafted Jah Reid in the third round. They did not re-sign OT Jared Gaither.
McKinnie was a Pro Bowler in 2009.
The way we see it
It will be interesting to see where McKinnie will play on the Baltimore line. He played left tackle in Minnesota, but Michael Oher holds that position for Baltimore. McKinnie gives the Ravens an experienced option at left tackle if they want to move Oher to the right side, where he played as a rookie. Should McKinnie play right tackle, he figures to play ahead of Reid and Levoir.


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Gold futures inched lower on Wednesday on signs of waning investor demand for the metal as an alternative asset. The most actively traded contract, for December delivery, recently fell $1.20, or 0.09% at $1,284 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold prices rallied Tuesday, after Kiev released videotaped interrogations of Russian soldiers it said had been captured on its territory just ahead of talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko. Moscow played down the allegations, saying the soldiers ended up in Ukraine likely by accident.
Some investors buy gold during bouts of political unrest, betting that precious metal will retain its value better than other assets. Still, many market watchers say gold shouldn't make a big move before October, when the Fed is expected to end its stimulus effort. Prices rose 6.9% his year through yesterday as violence in Ukraine boosted demand for a haven asset.
Gold, like other commodities, costs money to hold and doesn't pay interest. That makes it less attractive than bonds or other investments that pay interest when rates are climbing.
The WSJ reports:
Gold traders had a sense of certainty throughout much of 2014 that the Fed would continue to reduce its monthly bond purchases by $10 billion increments. The final such cut comes in October, paving the way for the central bank to raise interest rates for the first time in years. The Fed has signaled that it is prepared to raise rates if the economy continues to rebound at a faster-than-expected pace, but is also willing to leave policy unchanged or step in with more help should growth slow.
The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and the iShares Gold Trust (IAU) were both up slightly during intraday trading, while the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) fell 0.15%. The leveraged tools Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shares (DUST) rose 0.56% and Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X Shares (NUGT) fell a like amount.
With the S&P 500 yesterday closing above 2,000 for the first time, it's little wonder that the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is once again the most actively traded ETF of the day with more than 15.5 million shares exchanging hands as of 11 a.m.
The PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQ) also cracked the top 10 list with almost 4.76 million shares trading hands.
These two names are among 67 ETFs that aim to provide core large-cap U.S. equity exposure. It's an enormous chunk of the overall market with more than $363 billion of assets under management. And $171 million of those assets are parked in the SPY.
But over at ETF.com, writer Dave Nadig warns that these funds are not interchangeable, and "all too often, investors simply fish from the top of this list because it's easy." Read his commentary here.
Nadig's choice? For long-term investors who want to track the S&P 500, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) has outperformed the SPY this year in part due to its due to costs and its structure. But Nadig also liked the Vanguard MegaCap ETF (MGC).
ETF.com writer Paul Britt offers up some good advice to ETF investors when gauging the day's biggest winners and losers among exchange-traded funds — don't get fooled by poorly traded ETFs as they produce a distorted snapshot of the day's trading activity.
Or as Britt puts it, "funds flagged as the day's biggest movers are often the sleepiest traders in the ETF realm." In fact, some ETFs can go for days without trading a single share, so their last prices can get extremely stale and misleading.
Britt writes:
Data sources typically rely on the prices of the ETF to determine daily winners and losers, which makes sense, except when those prices aren't current. A thinly traded ETF that makes one trade on Monday at 10 a.m. Eastern time and then sits quietly for the rest of that day gets stamped with that 10 a.m. price as its last price. When markets move during the rest of the day, the fund's price just sits there, no longer reflecting the market's consensus of the fund's value. Fast-forward to the next day—Tuesday—and the fund makes another trade at 10 a.m. The change in price reflects the time between the two trades—in this case, 24 hours—rather than measuring the change in Tuesday morning's price relative to Monday's close… consider that more liquid ETFs on the top-gainers and -losers lists really do reflect moves in overnight prices, since their last price is likely set at the market close. That means the price comparison isn't an apples-to-apples measurement when less liquid ETFs are in the mix.
What should investors do? Britt advises "that the most foolproof way to check for a stale price is to look for the time of the trade on the previous day—or at the start of whatever period you need to accurately establish its changing value."
Also, there are numbers of free sources that provide information on liquidity, or the number of shares traded in a day.
Other red flags? Look for extremely wide spreads or very low assets under management. Or ignore price altogether and measure performance with the fund's fair value or its net asset value.
U.S. stock indices opened largely higher on Wednesday, but quickly began to dip. The S&P 500 inched lower to 1,999 having started the day above 2,000 after closing yesterday above that milestone for the first time. The DJIA rose almost five points to 17,111 and the Nasdaq fell 6.4 points to 4,564.
With no major economic reports on tap, an earnings report from Tiffany & Co. (TIF) was in focus. Later in the week, however, the data calendar gets busier, with the second estimate on second-quarter U.S. gross domestic product on Thursday and the Chicago PMI and consumer-confidence numbers due Friday.
Crude-oil prices advanced ahead of the latest inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Gold and silver prices were both in the red.
MarketWatch: In a column published today, Thomas H. Kee Jr., president and chief executive of Stock Traders Daily, says a considerable risk of a gap down in the market means investors should implement profit stops to protect their positions. Here's a MarketWatch Q&A with Chris Philips, a senior analyst at passive pioneer and $3 trillion juggernaut Vanguard, arguing that the use of index-tracking mutual funds and ETFs still has legs.
Bloomberg: The ECB has appointed BlackRock (BLK), the world's biggest money manager, to advise on developing a program to buy asset-backed securities. Also, the news service reports that a group of Harvard alumni that has previously criticized the Ivy League icon for how much it pays its endowment managers is again finding fault after compensation more than doubled in three years at the investment arm. Katherine Burton writes a feature on Neil Chriss, the math doctorate turned hedge-fund manager who founded Hutchin Hill Capital LP more than six years ago and built it to cater to large investors.
Reuters: Charles Schwab (SCHW) has lost a $15 million arbitration case against Morgan Stanley (MS), which it accused of improperly recruiting brokers from a Schwab San Francisco branch who left with confidential information. Also, the SEC will hold a public meeting on its overhaul of the securitization market on Wednesday to consider rules likely to require greater disclosure of the quality of loans and other assets underlying securities.
It's no great secret that the mutual fund business is undergoing a sea of change as investors increasingly opt for products that track the market rather than relying on stock pickers to choose winners.
Many fund managers have lagged the broader stock market. Fess and expense ratios for passively-managed funds are lower than their actively-managed counterparts, which could help boost returns. Vanguard has become a Wall Street darling as investors have poured their money into the firm's index-focused products.
But Bill Smead, chief investment officer at Smead Capital Management, teals a line from Mark Twain, insisting, "The demise of active management is greatly exaggerated." He writes:
There is a lot to like about competing with the index. Numerous studies show that common stocks which sell at discounts to their similar peers based on price-to-book value and price-to-earnings produce significant forward additional returns (alpha). Traditional indexes don't weigh their holdings by valuation and many times gets stuck with massively over-priced securities. At the height of the tech bubble, tech and telecom made up as much as 45% of the S&P 500 Index. There was no discipline in place to reduce ownership of maniacally priced common stocks….We believe that low leverage (strong balance sheet), high and sustainable profitability, and low earnings volatility are employable in a discipline designed to outperform the index…In effect, these four factors (cheapness, strong balance sheet, long history of high profitability and business stability) provide an outstanding template for seeking to outperform the index. If they are used in conjunction with the practice of very low turnover, the long-duration common stock owner might be at a big advantage to the index! The only disadvantage would be the difference in annual operating expense and minor trading costs.
That's not to say that the Seattle-based firm, which has $992 million in assets under management is an enemy of indexing.
Smead agrees investors are better off with an index fund if "you don't have the ability to practice high margin of safety, long-duration common stock picking or don't have access to someone who does."
When it comes to banging the table about Bitcoin, fans of the virtual currency are not shy. In their minds, it's only a matter of time before it becomes widely accepted as a means of payment and the wild price swings are simple growing pains.
Not so, says Steve Englander, a currency specialist at Citigroup, who argues that mining costs make "volatility inevitable."
Mining costs? That's industry lingo for the piles of cash being invested in the sophisticated technology required to create Bitcoin.
In the mining process, bitcoin enthusiasts essentially generate the currency by solving complicated math problems with their computers. The growing popularity and rising prices of bitcoin are fuelling a race among companies and people to build ever-more-powerful computers to jump into the market.
Today, Bitcoin trades at $513, up 1.9%compared to yesterday.
Skepticism of the virtual currency remains as few consumers use it and retailers that do accept it often shift immediately into fiat currency. And then there's the mining costs.
In a note released today, Englander writes:
Bitcoin mining has evolved from cottage industry to heavy industry over the last couple of years and mining equipment has become very expensive. This may add acute instability to Bitcoin price dynamics because of an imbalance between supply and demand…If miners pay out a lot for their equipment, the more the initial outlay, the bigger the incentive to sell quickly any Bitcoin that they mine into the market in order to recoup their investment. So we have daily transactions volume of 60-100k in recent months, with volumes higher in periods of falling bitcoin prices. Many and possibly a majority of these transactions are shuffling Bitcoin between wallets. About 3.5k Bitcoin are mined daily. If the miners are a steady source of supply and there is no increase in final demand we have this overhang of Bitcoin being sold into the market. In consequence we have downward price pressures. This may change if there is some pickup in demand for Bitcoin, but for now we have miners looking to sell and not much of anyone looking to buy. The market structure I am describing inherently generates extreme volatility. Bitcoin advocates often describe volatility as a growing pain but in fact the cost structure of Bitcoin mining may make this volatility inevitable.
Barron's and other authorities have long advised investors of the importance of expense ratios when picking an investment fund. It's not the only metric one should look at. But researchers have found that less-expensive funds often generate better returns.
Thus, greater sums of cash have flown into the cheapest funds.
But not in the case of alternative funds. Morningstar analyst Jason Kephart writes in today's Fund Spy column that when it comes to investing in alternative funds, investors have forgotten some important lessons. As Kephart writes:
Over the past three years, alternatives were the lone broad Morningstar Category where investors seemed to favor higher-cost funds over lower-cost funds. From 2011 to 2013, only 36% of the net $58 billion that has flowed into alternative mutual funds has gone to funds in the cheapest quintile. Across all mutual fund categories, 121% of the net $432 billion of inflows has gone to funds in the cheapest quintile over the same time period. The figure is greater than 100% because as money was coming into cheap funds, it was leaving more-expensive funds
Why do expense ratios matter? Simply put, every dollar you pay in fees is a dollar not added to your total return. Morningstar another researchers argue that cheaper funds are more likely to outperform than more-expensive rivals. My former colleague Brendan Conway, in one of his last posts for this blog, advised investors to be stingy on management fees for actively-traded funds unless the fund manager is worth the extra cost.
But Brendan also warned investors about sacrificing returns for a low expense ratio. In other words, you can be too cheap.
Morningstar's Kephart warns that investors appear to be performance chasing when it comes to alternative funds. The problem is that this relatively new type of fund has seen a surge in numbers in recent years. But few funds have length track records by which investors can gauge performance.
Kephart writes:
Although some alternative funds will look cheap relative to others in the broad alternatives group, alternatives look pricey relative to mutual funds as a whole. For example, to qualify for the cheapest quintile among alternatives, a fund has to charge less than 1.29%. That price tag is nevertheless expensive compared with traditional categories. An expense ratio of more than 1.25% in the large-cap category, by contrast, would be above average compared with its peers.
There is some good news. The fees charged by alternative funds re falling. In 2013, the asset-weighted expense ratio of alternative funds fell to 1.36% from 1.41% in 2011. Meanwhile, a handful of funds have been more aggressive about cutting fees as assets have increased namely the John Hancock Global Absolute Return Strategies (JHAIX), and the Neuberger Berman Absolute Return Multi-Manager (NABIX).
Vanguard, best known for its focus on low costs, has shown just how cheap alternatives can get. Because of its unique mutual ownership structure, funds are offered at the price they cost to run. Vanguard Market Neutral (VMNFX) charges just 0.25%, far less than the 1.87% category norm.
U.S. stocks are climbing this morning. The DJIA rose 50 points, or 0.3% to 17,126.5. The S&P 500 gained 4 points, rising to 2,001.52 and the Nasdaq climbed 4.3 points to 4.561.3.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) was the most active ETF on the market today with more than 6.7 million shares changing hands.
Barry James, manager of the James Balanced Golden Rainbow Fund, offers up his five stock picks — Barrons.com
KKR agrees to buy 18% of Chinese chicken producer Fujian Sunner Development Co for $400 million — Reuters.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett is helping finance Burger King Worldwide (BKW) takeover of Canadian chain Tim Hortons (THI) — The Wall Street Journal
Activist investor Bill Ackman is on his way to a profitable 2014. Pershing Square Capital's oldest fund has gained 30% this year via big wagers on a small group of companies, including Burger King — Bloomberg.
Paul Crone, chief investment officer at Citrine Capital Management, says zinc and nickel will probably lead advances in base metals next year as global demand outstrips production — Bloomberg.
Hedge funds are sinking their teeth into Apple (AAPL). The WSJ's MoneyBeat blog reports that hedge funds amassed position in the tech icon at a fast pace during the second quarter as a stock split and strong financial results fueled a sharp rise in the stock price.
As the WSJ reports:
Hedge funds purchased $855 million in new positions in the iPhone and iPad maker during the second quarter, the second-highest level of new buying activity among S&P 500 stocks, according to S&P Capital IQ.
The amount of new purchases stands in contrast with the first three months of the year, when hedge funds were both buying and selling Apple in droves. Apple ranked as both the second-biggest buy and second-biggest sell among hedge funds in the first quarter, according to S&P Capital IQ.
In the three months ended June 30, Apple wasn't among top 10 stocks sold the most by hedge funds, according to the data.
Last week, Apple hit a near record high, surpassing $100 on a split adjusted basis for the first time.
InterMune's (ITMN) acquisition by Roche (RHHBY) hardly comes as a surprise. The stock has been the topic of takeout talk since earlier this month.
Still, the news is fueleing specualtion regarding which small- or mid-cap drug maker will be next to get snatched up by a bigger rivals, boosting share prices and sending the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index climbing 2.3% during Monday market action.
My colleague Ben Levisohn weighed in on the topic earlier today, citing a UBS report highlighting companies that could be in play, a list that included Achillion (ACHN), Puma Biotechnology (PBYI), Incyte (INCY) and Medivation (MDVN).
Meanwhile, ISI Group analyst Mark Schoenebaum surveyed investors regarding potential takeout targets. Among 140 respondents, 35% identified Puma as a potential target, 30% identified BioMarin (BMRN) and 29% favored Intercept (ICPT).
In the ETF arena, the ProShares Ultra Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (BIB) surged 4.6% to $103.30. The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) has climbed 3.1% to $158.42, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) jumped 2% to $271.88 and the Market Vectors Biotech ETF (BBH) rose 2% to $105.02.
As exchange-traded funds and other investing vehicles have ballooned in number, the task of figuring out what works well and what doesn't has only gotten harder. Barrons.com's Focus on Funds looks under the hood of ETFs, mutual funds and hedge funds for overlooked values, actionable ideas and the latest pitfalls for fund investors.

subset: commoncrawl


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Hi Everyone! My friend Matt and I are headed to Utah next week, and we are looking for a guide. We would be willing to give you a solid 2 days pay + food and beer for 2 days of showing us around, leading some moderate stuff for us, and teaching us as much as you can. I lead easy trad and my friend Matt is newer to climbing, but strong and ambitious. I'm an east coaster, so multi-pitch trad is a real treat for me. That being said, we would be most interested in long and easy trad routes. We will be in Moab next Wednesday the 15th and Thursday the 16th, then we will be in Zion on Friday the 17th and Saturday the 18th. These dates are flexible and we can adjust to your schedule if need be. If you or anyone you know is a solid trad climber and wouldn't mind showing some noobs around for extra cash, please get in touch or put us in touch. Obviously if you ever for some unknown reason left Utah to climb in the mid Atlantic region, please get in touch and I can show you around some decent spots (New River Gorge, Seneca Rocks, etc.). There's actually some decent stuff out here. Thanks Again! Anthony firstname.lastname@example.com
Just hire a real commercial guide from one of the many guide services around Moab or Zion. It is illegal to use pirate guides in the national parks.
I work for a guiding company in zion. I can take you out through them. I guide Multi-pitch trad and teach courses.I agree that Pirate guides are a bad deal. they do not have insurance and give all of the outfits that work within the rules and framework a bad rap. if your really interested please check out our website. www.zionadventures.com/ www.zionadventures.com/zion-park-tours/rock-climbing/ our shops number is 435 772 1001
PM sent


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Celebrity Central / Top 25 Celebs
Jun 26, 2009
Celebrate Janet's late brother Michael's life with pictures from their childhood
Michael Jackson
From his memorable moves to his peculiar lifestyle, the King of Pop never failed to create iconic hits and eye-catching headlines
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Reviews for
I Am Half-sick of Shadows : A Flavia De Luce Novel
AudioFile Reviews 2012 January
Dare I say it? Flavia de Luce is my favorite detective, and her crime-solving expertise and charming cleverness are gloriously enhanced by Jayne Entwistle's stellar performance. Entwistle vocally embraces the 11-year-old sleuth's spunk, bravado, intelligence, and innocence. When a film crew and movie stars descend on Buckshaw manor during Christmas week, murder and mayhem ensue, with most of the village of Bishop's Lacey stranded there in the midst of a huge snowstorm. Even with the plethora of suspects, Flavia is undaunted as she methodically and scientifically pursues clues to this locked-room mystery. Entwistle's portrayal reflects the main character's macabre glee, droll wit, and precociousness and makes every metaphor and perceptive observation a wicked joy to hear. A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine


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Discover Author
Kim Harrison was born and raised in the upper Midwest. After gaining her bachelors in the sciences, she moved to South Carolina, where she remained until recently moving back to Michigan because she missed the snow. When not at her desk, she's most likely to be found landscaping her new/old Victorian home, or scouring antique shops to fill it.
Kim Harrison's Author-Led Discussion Board at Barn
Kim Harrison's Blog / Drama Box
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A spacious and elegant reception hall with large glass doors, leather sofas and wood panelling welcomes guests to the Hotel Beverly Hills Rome. The warmth of this initial welcome is also found in the 183 guest rooms and suites, with their classic interiors and modern comforts, in the elegance of ristorante Mascagni, in the lovely Puccini Bar and in the five meeting rooms which can host a wide range of business and private gatherings.
more ...
Among hotels in Rome, the Grand Hotel Beverly Hills offers useful services for every type of customer, from WiFi Internet connections you can enjoy in all ambiances, welcome by the business traveller, to the "Family Perfect" ad hoc packages for those who stay with their family and children.
The Hotel has: Reception desk, Lobby, Drawing rooms, 2 Internet points, TV room, 5 meeting rooms, American bar, Ice machines on floors, Restaurant, Breakfast room, Parking.
The 183 rooms of the Grand Hotel Beverly Hills offer a full range of services to insure the maximum comfort of its clientele. The rooms, completely soundproof, are equipped with ADSL and Wi-Fi Internet connections, satellite TV, SKY TV, telephone and minibar.
With its strategic location, Grand Hotel Beverly Hills, an exclusive hotel in Rome, takes its guests on a discovery tour of the wonders of Rome.


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Square Enix
Welcome to hell: the first hours of Tomb Raider show a woman on the run
Disclaimer: Square Enix paid for air travel and a one-night hotel stay. Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider reboot was always attention-grabbing, even before the controversy over its "Crossroads" trailer. It looked dark and brutal, something quite opposite for the hot pants-wearing heroine of yesteryear. But how did it play once it was experienced outside the showfloors of E3 and PAX? Crystal Dynamics invited the Report to find out, and gave us three uninterrupted hours with the game, away from handlers and PR. In fact I played in a dark room, with the curtains drawn. I was able to play anything in the game's first three hours, and there would be no one interrupting or guiding the experience unless I asked.
Welcome to hell
Tomb Raider doesn't so much start off with a bang as a catastrophe. We're introduced to the new Lara Croft in a beautiful CG opening; a young archeologist out to "make her mark" and find adventure. The Endurance, her ship, crashes, and just after you watch Lara nearly drown and subsequently plummet into the ocean's depths, the game proper begins.Lara managed to make her way to shore, where she attempted to catch her breath. The rest of the Endurance's crew was gathered atop a nearby cliff, and Lara called out to them. A figure struck Lara on the back of the head, and the screen went black. When she woke, she was upside down, wrapped in what looked like a blood-stained leather canvas that wouldn't be out of place in a Silent Hill game. A cultish-looking altar decked in red candles was nearby, and another body, long since dead, hung alongside Lara. Lara swung side-to-side until her wrappings could reach the nearby flames. The fire engulfed her, but it also destroyed enough of the cocoon to free her; she broke loose, and crashed into a pit of human bones and wreckage, where a piece of metal pierced her abdomen. Lara ripped the rod from her side and pushed forward through the cavern, where she found one of her crewmates dead, strung up before another altar. As she moved beyond the grisly scene, she waded through chin-high water that nearly filled a small path through the rock. After that, she crawled through a claustrophobia-inducing gap in the cavern, where she was grabbed by a man. She kicked him off as boulders fell on the crawlspace, crushing the pursuer and starting a chain reaction. Lara scrambles toward a small beam of light as the tunnel around her collapses, narrowly escaping entombment. This was the game's tutorial area, and it's been shown before. Most video games have tutorials which teach you camera control and button assignments, but Tomb Raider teaches something different: that this island and the people on it will not hesitate to kill you. The game's introductory segment goes a long way to reinforcing that, and it does so without mercy or hesitation. It felt like it'd taken me an hour to get Lara standing in clear sunlight, when in reality it had been just a handful of minutes. We're used to games that are intense, but Tomb Raider seems to invoke something close to the fight or flight response as you play.
Just a hop, skip, and a juuu – oh God, don't look down
Although the volume starts out cranked to 11, it doesn't stay that way. Once Lara exited the cavern, things began to slow down. If you played Tomb Raider at PAX Prime this year, this is where your demo started. There's a lengthy platforming segment where Lara must scale a crashed plane and cross a fallen tree over a cliff, and each obstacle contains its own sense of drama. It's very much like Uncharted in this sense. As Lara crossed the tree for example, the camera panned overhead to give a sense of vertigo, and the tree wobbled under Lara's footsteps. These moments are exciting in their own right, but it's not the bombardment of the collapsed cavern. The game has a sense of pacing, and you can feel when you've moved from one sequence to the next. The game looks amazing with tons of detail, but Lara's movements aren't quite as smooth as they could be, and her jumps in particular can feel jerky and overdramatic. Regardless of the context of each jump, it feels like her animation is always meant to convey a life or death situation. The accompanying grunts and whines are constant, and while they work well in some situations, they feel a bit too much in others.
Embrace the hunter within
As Lara made her way inland, she found a portable radio, which she later used to contact other survivors of the Endurance. She took shelter from the developing storm by making camp underneath a rocky overhang, where she shivered like a small dog in the cold. With her last match, she successfully started a fire and, having spent all her energy, fell asleep. When she woke up, she was hungry. It was time to hunt for food. Lara moved into the forest, where she found a wooden bow attached to another corpse. Pulling the left trigger pulls up the bow, while the right trigger draws the string. A small circle indicates the strength of Lara's pull, and releasing the trigger sends an arrow flying. In this case, the arrow collided into a nearby deer. Although it's not the most lethal, the bow is the most satisfying weapon to use; pulling the string tight feels appropriately tense, and the distinct thwip! of the arrows gives the weapon a sense of punch. Deer aren't the only things Lara will hunt, and the bow and arrow won't be Lara's only weapon. I acquired a handgun, climbing axe, and assault rifle in the game's opening hours, though the latter of these only had one clip of ammo, and I never found a refill. Lara is not a walking armory, nor is she a remorseless killing machine. Instead of quipping one-liners and jokes, Lara will occasionally say things like, "You don't have to do this!" She's scared to kill, but cornered. It's an interesting dynamic.Fights are exceptionally deadly and using cover is both essential to survival and risky. Those crates you're hiding behind are wooden, and some of these scavengers fire flaming arrows. When you survive a brush with enemies you'll often be sighing with relief instead of cheering. Lara isn't a superhero.
A survivor isn't born, she's molded
Kills give Lara XP, which are fed back into her skills. These skills come in "Survival," "Hunter," and "Brawler" flavors, and you can upgrade Lara's abilities or give her new ones altogether. Survival upgrades focus on resources and increased XP, Hunter upgrades focus on weapons, and Brawler upgrades focus on melee. Here's how it works: once you've acquired enough XP, you earn a skill point, which you then spend on one of several abilities. You could increase the time Lara can hold her bow's string at max pull, or give her the ability to recover arrows from fallen enemies. Survival upgrades boost the amount of XP and salvage you can recover, so I figured these would be the best to start with, as they'd prove to be the most beneficial down the road. Even in the earliest sections the game seems to prompt you to think in the long term. The upgrade menus are accessed at camp sites scattered throughout the game, where you can also upgrade your weapons, provided you've recovered enough salvage by breaking open crates found on the island. Tomb Raider can feel almost suffocating due to its minimal HUD and reticle displays, but the leveling system is very game-y, with a good number of menus and selections separating you from Lara and the island. As with Far Cry 3, the game tries to blend character, game, and story progression into one system. The difference here is Lara won't develop a tattoo sleeve every time she picks a skill. Lara apologized as she approached the deer, which lay kicking futilely and whining in pain. She plunged an arrow into the beast's neck and stomach, slicing it open. Lara had the meat she needed. She returned to camp, where her radio crackled with the voice of Roth, Lara's mentor.
Unsolved mysteries
The game's plot takes off at a galloping pace from this point, and while I don't want to spoil anything, it's not quite the "survivor in dire straits" story you might expect. It's also not the action-packed Lady Bond/Indiana Jones adventure of previous Tomb Raider games. This new Tomb Raider lies somewhere in the middle. Trailers and screenshots thus far have shown the game to be exceptionally dark, but by the time I was done with my play-time, Lara had re-united with her mentor and pushed herself beyond her initial, paralyzing fear. I'd also ditched spooky caves for jungles, mountainsides, waterfalls, and abandoned WWII installations. Although the game is always giving you an objective, design is not so linear as some demos or videos may suggest. There are lots of pleasantly large, open hub areas, each with a camp site that not only acts as a place of access for upgrades, but waypoint system as well. Once Lara discovers a camp, she can fast travel to it at her leisure. Each map is also chock-full of secret items. Some of these items are simple collectibles that net XP, while others help provide context and clues as to what's happening on the island. You might find a mask from an ancient Chinese dynasty, or a journal written by a soldier who was stationed on the island during WWII. The island has a rich history, with a surprising variety of environments. When I entered a cave from one side, which faced deteriorating Chinese architecture in a grassy jungle, I wasn't expecting to emerge in a WWII base covered in snow. Snow in the middle of a tropical island? Ships and planes from all eras wrecked upon the shores? A possible cult of scavengers? Yes, there is something strange and perhaps mystical happening here. Lara Croft has seen Atlantis and held Excalibur in games past, and that sense of magic and mystery hasn't been abandoned for this reboot. Neither has tomb raiding, for that matter. It's just been skinned a little differently.
Raider of the lost tombs
Earlier I mentioned the tutorial section of the game, in the gloomy caverns of the island. This is where players face the first puzzle of Tomb Raider. As Lara entered into a large chamber of the caves, a waterfall doused her torch. To her left was the exit, but it was blocked by debris. The debris was flammable, but another waterfall stood between Lara and the only source of fire. Behind the waterfall was a pulley system, with two cages attached on either end, though one was tied to two posts in the ground. Lara could set fire to these bindings, which dropped one of the cages down to water level. Crates began to flow into the lowered cage, and these too, were set ablaze. Since the weight was now off-set, Lara had to scale and jump onto the cage which was previously tied down to raise the cage with the flaming boxes. When she did, they tipped into yet another cage. This cage bypassed the waterfall and dumped out near the flammable debris blocking Lara's exit. She scaled the platforms in the room once again and banged against the cage, rattling the flaming boxes loose. They splashed down in the water, and, still on fire, moved to the debris. The fire spread to fuel barrels, which exploded, dramatically clearing Lara's path. If you were concerned that puzzles had been left on the cutting floor in favor of action or scenes of brutality, don't worry; the quintessential Tomb Raider puzzles are still here, and they still require Rube Goldberg-influenced thinking. The game's main plot will have you move through several such areas, but there are also areas called Challenge Tombs, which bring puzzles even more to the forefront of game play. There's no giant wheel turning, no orbs to place into receptacles, so nothing like previous Tomb Raider games – at least not that I saw – but these still feel like satisfying brain-teasers, and should you complete one, you'll net a large XP and salvage bonus.
The beginning
Action, platforming, and exploration: Tomb Raider divides itself quite evenly across these three styles of play, and it always feels like you're making progress, because something is always happening. When Lara isn't caught up in intense firefights, she's uncovering a mystery. When she's not uncovering a mystery, she's exploring and digging up history; all appropriate things which jump to mind when you hear the name "Lara Croft." This new Tomb Raider may be a reboot, but there is deep connection to the games which spawned Lara's legacy, and fans of the series will feel more at home than they might think. In the span of three hours, I watched Lara Croft get burned, impaled, shot, sliced, choked, caught in a bear trap, and bitten by wolves. I watched her fall down a seemingly endless chasm and wade through chin-high water in a cave. I watched her scale mountains and fight hordes of vicious scavengers. "You can do this," she told herself as she stood before each towering obstacle. I believed her.


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text:
Item#: 4962
Manufacturer: I See Spot
Just because your little guard dog is one tough cookie doesn't mean they don't like to be pampered! Made of comfortable cotton with a hint of lycra for stretch. Simply ties around your dog's neck. Gray with black print and trim. Made in the U.S.A! Why We Love It: This Guard Dog Bandana Scarf is cute and clever. This super soft cotton is comfortable and luxurious for your special pup. Made in the USA. Sizing Information Small: Fits neck sizes 8-14" Large: Fits neck sizes 15-20"


text: Warning: fetch_template() calls should be replaced by the vB_Template class. Template name: googlescript in ..../includes/functions.php on line 4591 View Profile: reemul - Pen & Paper Games Register Help Remember Me? Home Forum FAQ Calendar Community Groups Albums Member List Forum Actions Mark Forums Read Quick Links View Site Leaders Contribution Actions Contribute What's New? Blogs Find Players Groups Contribute Downloads Chat [2] Advanced Search Recent Chat Activity (Main Lobby)Join Chat Loading Chat Log... Player Registry reemul Prefer not to see ads? Become a Community Supporter. Welcome to Pen & Paper Games, an online community dedicated to bringing roleplayers together!You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will automatically be added to our player registry (unless you opt not to) and will be able to privately find and communicate with other players in your area. You will also be able to post and reply to topics, vote in polls, and many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today! If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. Site News: Pen & Paper Games Gets New Leadership! [Read More] reemul Lurker Find latest posts Find latest started threads View Articles View Blog Entries Mini Statistics Join Date 02-10-2010 Last Activity 01-19-2012 12:11 AM Blog Entries 0 More 1 Friend Rivak Recent Visitors The last 14 visitor(s) to this page were: AGCIAS, Alvin, anubisSGC, Borcen, cthulew, Deyvantius, Gripmann, Kafka0622, MDT, policemanpluck, Pulaski, Rivak, robv10, romulus This page has had 935 visits Badges and Icons My Icon: Player Tab Content reemul's Activity About Me Friends Tab Content All reemul Friends Photos New Activity () Please reload this page to view the 200+ new activity items that have been created. Older Activity More Activity No More Results No Recent Activity About reemul Basic Information Badges and Icons My Icon: Player Location City: Round Rock State: Texas Zipcode: 78664 Country: US Willing to Travel: 15 miles Availability LFG/LFP: LFG Availability (Days): Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday Availability (Times): Mornings, Afternoons, Evenings Desired Gaming Frequency: Weekly - 3 or more games per week Gaming Preferences Player/GM: Player Preferred Genres: Dark Future, Fantasy, Horror, Modern, Post Apocalyptic, Science Fiction / Futuristic, Space Opera, Super Heroic Favorite RPGs: Pathfinder, SW Saga, Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun, Vampire Preferred Playing Style: 75% Roleplaying / 25% Combat Ideal Group Size: Medium Groups (Between 4 and 6 players) Online RPGs?: No What are you looking for?: I'd like a stable group that enjoys roleplaying, not just kill-monster-take-treasure-level-up, though I do still like *some* action. I'm more interested in how well done the world is than the ruleset. I'm a guy who will generally over-prepare in reading rules and background material. Just say no to 4e - I gave it a year in a sanctioned RPGA group, not going back. I particularly like modern fantasy/supernatural/horror, or anything gaslight/steampunk. I like the adventure and using my brain, not just the killing stuff and breaking things. Occasional hack-and-slash is OK, but I don't want it to be the main game element - if I wanted a miniatures based wargame, I'd play Battletech, not D&D. About Me Biography: I'm a single guy in my late 30's who has been gaming since the old D&D Basic red box back in '81. I've played every edition of D&D since then, plus some d20 variants including Modern and Star Wars Saga. I *can* gm, but outside roleplay heavy systems like WoD/Storyteller I'm not that great at it - I lack an artist's touch for making good combat encounters. I've played several versions of Shadowrun, Call of Cthulhu, a tiny bit of GURPS, lots of old World of Darkness (every single game, including Wraith, which I quite liked), Mechwarrior and Battletech, Paranoia (old systems, not recent reboots), and lots of one shots of everything from Fading Suns to Toon. I just like to game. I have ridiculous amounts of free time for gaming, and a pretty open schedule. Statistics Total Posts Total Posts 0 Posts Per Day 0 Downloads Downloads 0 Uploads 0 General Information Last Activity 01-19-2012 12:11 AM Join Date 02-10-2010 Referrals 0 1 Friend Rivak Showing Friends 1 to 1 of 1 -- P&PG v4 -- Default Mobile Style Contact Us Pen and Paper Games Archive Privacy Statement Top All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:49 AM. Powered by vBulletinCopyright ©2000 - 2014, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. Donation System provided by vBDonate (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2014 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.Copyright ©2006-2014 - All Additional Rights Reserved - Robert A. Howard


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« back to Movies
The Master
- Release Date: None
- Genres: Drama
- Cast: Amy Adams, Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rami Malek, Laura Dern, Jesse Plemons, Kevin J. O'Connor, Lena Endre, W. Earl Brown, Darren Le Gallo
- Directors: Paul Thomas Anderson
- Official Site: http://www.themasterfilm.com/
- Distributor: The Weinstein Company
- After returning from the Second World War, a psychologically troubled drifter returns from the war and meets the charismatic leader of a new religion. The Master befriends the drifter to help him sort out his life and provide meaning. The drifter becomes his right-hand man and, after a while begins to question both his belief in the leader and his teachings as the organization grows and gains a fervent following.
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I don't know what the story of the day is in Major League Baseball, but it might be Marlon Byrd's 50-game suspension. The free-agent outfielder tested positive for Tamoxifen, which is a banned substance, and now if he signs with any team, he'll have to serve the suspension first. There's a chance that we've seen the last of Marlon Byrd as a big-leaguer.
Byrd's a free agent because he was having a nightmare of a season in 2012. This did not go unnoticed by Dave Cameron, at FanGraphs. I quote:
It's worth noting that Byrd is in the midst of the worst year of his career and has been one of the least effective players in baseball this year. In 153 trips to the plate, he hit .210/.243/.245 with three extra base hits, good for -1.0 WAR in about a quarter of a season's worth of playing time. Obviously, we can't know when or what Byrd has taken in the past, and it's possible that he was also using PEDs when he performed better in prior seasons, but hopefully people will notice that a guy can be using performance enhancing drugs and still be absolutely awful. They are not a miracle cure that can make up for a lack of talent.
Cameron's absolutely right -- while people have a certain impression of PED users, there's a ton of evidence that PEDs don't really help. Freddy Galvis was just suspended, and his offensive numbers are terrible. Even if they do help, they can't turn a bad player into a good one. With that said, it's possible that Byrd wasn't taking Tamoxifen for reasons related to performance enhancement, as he claims that this has to do with a personal health condition. If Byrd's telling the truth, then he doesn't work as an example as Cameron uses him. But oftentimes players aren't telling the truth.
To close, a Byrd quote from this past spring training, included at the bottom of Cameron's piece:
"I'm always going to watch what I take. I'm not going to say I have a bull's-eye on my back, but I think a lot of people are waiting for me to get my first positive test and miss 50 games. They'd like that just so they can say, 'We told you so.' I know that won't happen. I know I'm clean. I know the supplements I take are clean. I'm going to make sure of that."


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Two men are behind bars, accused of beating a former friend and recording the incident.
Volusia County sheriff's deputies said Scott Lakhan, 18, and Casey Shoemaker, 22, both of Deltona, approached former friend Timothy Dankel last month on Howland Boulevard.
The 20-year-old Dankel says Lakhan was mad, because he accused him of using a stolen credit card, even giving deputies a sworn statement. Dankel says Lakhan said he was going to punch Dankel once in the face, and he would forget about it all.
Dankel agreed, but he says Lakhan didn't stop at one punch. While he was being beaten, deputies say Shoemaker recorded it all with his cell phone and posted it on Facebook.
Dankel tells FOX 35, "He hit me in my face, I had a busted lip, and on the back of my head he hit me. I didn't even know he kicked me in the face until I saw the video with the cops."
Deputies are not releasing the video, which has been removed from Facebook.
Follow @myfoxorlando
4739 NW 53rd Avenue, Sutie BGainesville, FL 32653
Phone: (352) 371-0051


text:
Email: email@example.com | Twitter: @WWLTV
NEW ORLEANS - On Monday, we told you the deadline to register a claim in the class action settlement against the German company that manufactured defective Chinese drywall had come and gone.
That may or may not be true.
Attorneys in the case are asking for an extension for people to sign up.
Russ Herman, one of the lead attorneys in the case, is filing for the extension.
Herman joined us with what could be some troubling news if you had tainted Chinese drywall that was not manufactured by the Knauf.


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The next time your child whines "I'm bored," don't do a thing.
A former educator says boredom is good for children. Julie Robinson, an education and training director of the Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) says that boredom can prepare children for dull moments in adulthood. She adds that cramming children's schedules with extra-curricular activities could hurt their development and make them manic and anxious. In addition, children working too hard could lose their competitiveness or get burned out.
Robinson suggests using that down time for reflection and meditation. In addition, Robinson recommends tactile play and movement to develop social skills, dexterity and other good traits.


text:
Our curriculum allows you to explore any aspect of the law that interests you. This breadth is matched by an analytic rigor of in-depth study in many areas of concentration, so you can master your specific focus. Traditional course electives are augmented with interdisciplinary instruction in emerging fields in the study of law that deal with issues such as climate change and the application of new technologies to legal concepts. Our acclaimed clinics provide hands-on experience with real cases and our international program offers compelling options for you to study abroad.
Our curriculum is grouped into seventeen areas of concentration, with almost 250 courses, nearly 30 clinics, and a legal writing program ranked fifteenth in the nation in 2010.
"Brooklaw," the BLS Seal, and Logo are service marks of Brooklyn Law School. Contents Copyright © 1995-2013 Brooklyn Law School. All rights reserved.


text:
According to the Baltimore Sun, the Ravens are "debating between" using the exclusive-rights franchise tag or non-exclusive tag on free agent Joe Flacco.
Steven Jackson (hamstring) confirms he's ready for Sunday's opener.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick says the team hasn't made a final decision about Rob Gronkowski's (knee) Week 1 status.
Coach Mike Tomlin confirmed Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount will both play Week 1 against the Browns.
Colts owner Jim Irsay pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle under the influence on Tuesday, and has been sentenced to one year probation and random drug testing.
Yahoo! Sports' Rand Getlin reports the Saints have signed OLB Junior Galette to a multi-year extension.
The Titans have elevated rookie Bishop Sankey to No. 2 on their tailback depth chart.
Coach Mike Pettine continued to praise Ben Tate as a three-down running back, calling Tate the "guy you can trust the most right now."
Texans signed LE J.J. Watt to a six-year, $100 million extension, including $51.8 million guaranteed.
FOX Sports' Jay Glazer reports the Raiders will start Derek Carr in Week 1 against the Jets, and have sent Matt Schaub to the bench.
Rams claimed QB Case Keenum off waivers from the Texans.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll revealed Monday that Christine Michael (hamstring) is still "banged up."


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The wait is over! Download the BeerAdvocate app on iTunes or Google Play now.
Get 12 issues / year of BeerAdvocate magazine for only $9.99!
Unibroue 15 - Unibroue
Displayed for educational use only; do not reuse.
Ratings: 247 | Reviews: 212 | Display Reviews Only:
3.75/5 rDev -7.2%
08-10-2014 00:49:23 | More by Brewski
3.25/5 rDev -19.6%
08-09-2014 23:53:01 | More by kbuzz
3.5/5 rDev -13.4%
08-09-2014 22:47:08 | More by GRG1313
4/5 rDev -1%
07-18-2014 03:53:10 | More by beernads
4/5 rDev -1%
07-01-2014 09:14:41 | More by zestar
3.5/5 rDev -13.4%
06-08-2014 00:24:02 | More by emalc
4.25/5 rDev +5.2%
04-10-2014 00:06:06 | More by afsdan
4.36/5 rDev +7.9%
Pouring a cellar temp into a snifter. Figured it was time to go after this one after many years maturing in the basement. The beer pours a clear but sediment laden copper hue with a fizzy eggshell white head of 1 cm that fades to a sturdy edge layer rapidly after the pour.
The aroma is evident immediately with citrusy fruit and spice notes leading the way, I get some cloves and pear with a little musty funk buried in for good measure. I also get bready yeast notes that mix with the fruitiness to remind me of scones or muffins.
First sip reveals an average body with fine tingly carbonation and a little bit of a stickiness on my lips after the sip. The carbonation leaves a lingering feel on my tongue. I also get many burps from one sip, didnt think the carbonation was very high, but rethinking that now.
Flavor is sweet and spicy with toffee, pear, white grape, and then moves to cloves and some black pepper. the carbonation lingers on my palate after each sip, amazing.
Flavor is also some grain and bread with a little musty blanket on the finish. As the beer is warming now, I also get some anise, which i personally dont like as a flavor, but I suspect many would approve of in this beer.
I dont get any warming alcohol or other hints of the booze and this 10%er goes down a little too easy IMO.
Glad I sat on this, would be happy to have another downstairs, but I do not. Unibroue and the anniversary beers are usually good for many years and this one continues that trend. Bon Biere de la Quebec!
02-15-2014 02:55:34 | More by sulldaddy
Quebec (Canada)
3/5 rDev -25.7%
12-29-2013 19:12:38 | More by tom10101
South Carolina
4.25/5 rDev +5.2%
07-03-2013 22:26:16 | More by WOLFGANG
4/5 rDev -1%
06-24-2013 00:18:32 | More by jaxon53
New Hampshire
4.5/5 rDev +11.4%
04-16-2013 09:51:26 | More by Kelp
4/5 rDev -1%
03-15-2013 08:22:14 | More by beer64nut
4/5 rDev -1%
Pours a hazy dark golden orange color with tangerine edges and a half finger off-white head that quickly settles into a thin, lasting ring. Spotty lacing left behind.
Slightly funky, earthy aroma with a decent balance of zesty spice, bready yeast, grassy hops and estery light fruit notes. Some pepper and clove followed by hints of bread, banana and bubblegum. Subtle earthy straw/hay character along with more banana, pear and apple. Seems to have held up well and still smells pretty nice.
On the fuller end of medium bodied with tight carbonation and a slight creamy texture. Heavily spiced up front with some pepper, clove and coriander lingering over the musty funk, bready yeast, light fruit and earthy hop notes into a dry, slightly tart finish. Strong bread/yeast presence with sourdough flavor followed by sweet banana, apple and pear flavors. Some earthy, grassy hops toward the end of the palate balance things out and prevents it from becoming too sweet. There's also some subtle alcohol sweetness in the finish but the high ABV is very well masked.
I didn't know what to expect going in but this beer has held up surprisingly well. Complex, flavorful and well balanced. Very slight oxidization but is still drinking very smoothly and the high alcohol content is toned down, giving off little to no heat. I'm having no problem going through this 750ml rather quickly.
02-20-2013 05:38:11 | More by corby112
4/5 rDev -1%
10-22-2012 17:28:27 | More by imperialking
3.5/5 rDev -13.4%
07-01-2012 20:16:09 | More by aasher
3.25/5 rDev -19.6%
04-23-2012 21:35:00 | More by ygtbsm94
Ontario (Canada)
4.08/5 rDev +1%
750ml Bottle - Thanks to Pushkinwow for sharing
Appearance - Hazy copper colour with a small size fizzy off white coloured head. There is a below average amount of carbonation and there isn't much lacing. The head was gone in a few minutes.
Smell - Malts, raisins/grapes, yeast, apples
Taste & Mouth - There is a below average amount of carbonation and I can taste malts, grapes/raisins, and apples. There is also a fair amount of yeast and spice and a bit of a honey sweetness. It ends with a fruity and spicy aftertaste.
Overall - I really enjoyed this one and even though it is an older bottle the flavours were still very vibrant and full. The booze was well hidden and the beer is extremely drinkable. I'd like to have a few bottles of this in my cellar for special occasions.
04-18-2012 19:03:24 | More by spinrsx
4.25/5 rDev +5.2%
04-13-2012 14:05:12 | More by whatname
4.23/5 rDev +4.7%
750 ml bottle into signature tulip glass, bottle date of 1/6/2006. Pours a very hazy and cloudy golden orange color with a fairly dense 1-2 finger off white head with decent retention that reduces to a thin cap of lace that lingers. Some slight bits of lace on the glass. Aromas of big banana, orange, honey, grape, caramel, molasses, candi sugar, clove, and yeast spices. Some nice and well balanced aromas with good complexity. Taste of big banana, orange peel, grape, honey, pepper, toffee, butterscotch, clove, molasses, apple, candi sugar, and yeast spices. Lingering notes of caramel, citrus, toffee, butterscotch, clove, molasses, and yeast spices on the finish for a good bit. Medium carbonation and body; with a fairly creamy and slick mouthfeel. Very smooth to drink for 10%, but is still a bit of a sipper. Alcohol is extremely well hidden, with hardly any warming noticed at all after the finish. Overall this is a highly excellent Belgian strong pale. Tons of great balanced flavors with good complexity; and very smooth to drink for the gravity. Definitely highly enjoyed this one. This has held up very nicely over 6 years.
04-13-2012 03:11:12 | More by superspak
4/5 rDev -1%
02-19-2012 00:58:32 | More by jfcaa193
5/5 rDev +23.8%
02-18-2012 17:09:11 | More by zonker17
4/5 rDev -1%
01-16-2012 23:14:04 | More by drummermattie02
New Jersey
3.5/5 rDev -13.4%
01-15-2012 02:31:21 | More by djrn2
4.43/5 rDev +9.7%
I forgot about this one in a dark corner of the basement, and was a bit nervous about how well it aged. Popping the cork yielded a whiff of alcohol and berry. Pouring yielded light copper body with a very sparse layer of foam. Mouthfeel is prickly with a good bit of carbonation that is unexpected based on the weak head. A bit of alcohol is evident, fruity with a touch of tart and just enough bitter to balance things out. Glad I hung onto this one, it held up very well.
01-01-2012 05:23:21 | More by Sixpack595
Unibroue 15 from Unibroue
90 out of 100 based on 247 ratings.


text:
Funding opportunities
Funding Type:
Comprehensive Grant
Grant Number:
Funds requested:
$2 419 036
Funding Recommendations:
Not recommended
Grant approved:
Public Abstract:
The goal of this proposal is to design and engineer neural stem cells that have been derived from several lines of human embryonic stem cells. We will use both lines established on mouse cell feeders (NIH approved) and on human feeders (non-NIH approved). The cells will be specifically designed to serve as prototypes for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a disease of young adults that is chronic and due to the destruction of white matter and the nerves that course through it. The destruction is due to the inflammatory response characterized by cells and substances. Some of these substances called cytokines and chemokines are destructive and some are helpful in repairing the disease. We plan to engineer cells to either secrete the positive substances or to inhibit the negative influences that have been shown to affect stem cells. We will transplant these cells into different models of MS that have similar clinical course, immunology and pathology as the human disease.
Statement of Benefit to California:
We believe that very soon human stem cell lines that have been grown under GMP conditions without contamination from other species and meet FDA specifications for human use will become available. One of the diseases that we think will be an early target of stem cell treatment will be multiple sclerosis (MS). All treatments of MS use a preclinical model of murine experimental allergic encephalomyelitis prior to Phase 1 human trials. The studies proposed here will have addressed the preclinical issues such as which cell to use (more or less differentiated), survival within a hostile inflammatory environment, efficacy in repair and regeneration, allelic variability in the host, whether murine or human feeders are factors in the ability of donor cells to repair MS damage and the questions related to tumor formation, transdifferentiation and rejection. Laboratories both in California industries and universities will require this information before considering Phase 1-2 studies in humans. This data will place them in an advanced position for manufacturing the cells for a specific disease.
Review Summary:
SYNOPSIS: This application is based on the hypothesis that simple cell replacement, using human neural stem cells (hNSCs) and oligodendroglial precursor cells (OPC), is unlikely to be a successful therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) because endogenous stem cells of these types are present in MS lesions, but are unable to reverse the disease course, presumably due to the robust inflammatory conditions present in the lesion. The applicant proposes to address this problem by using hNSCs derived from hESCs in vitro and genetically engineered to maximize their ability to survive and reverse MS pathology. Thus the aim is to determine the "optimal design" of hESCs and hNSCs to treat MS. Specific Aims 1 and 2 will use gene transfer technology to engineer hNSCs derived from both NIH (mouse feeder) and non-NIH (human feeder) lines. GFP-hESCs will be constructed, and transplanted into the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)- induced EAE (experimental autoimmune encephalitis) mouse model of MS. hNSC derivatives of these cells that are constructed to over-express a variety of chemokines and cytokines that positively influence hNSC proliferation and migration, as well as hNSCs in which expression of receptors for molecules associated with destruction of OPCs will be reduced in "knockdown" experiments. Specific Aim 3 will address the question of allelic variability by examining by testing modified hNSC lines that are successful with MOG-induced EAE in other EAE models using different genetic backgrounds. IMPACT & SIGNIFICANCE: MS, a debilitating neurological disorder that strikes individuals in the prime of their life with an estimated prevalence of 1 in a 1000, is thought to be an autoimmune disorder in which the patients develop an inflammatory response in the CNS that is directed against components of the myelin sheath, produced by oligodendrocytes, producing demyelination and axonal loss. Therapies that result in enhanced remyelination will thus likely provide significant benefit to MS patients. Failure to remyelinate does not appear to be the result of an inadequate supply of endogenous oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) in the CNS, as these are prevalent in the lesion. The key idea in this proposal is that cell replacement therapy for MS must do more than increase the number of oligodendrocytes. The aim of the proposal is thus to design stem cells that are optimized for survival and differentiation into both oligodendrocytes and astrocytes in the inflammatory environment. The concept that stem cells must do more than produce oligodendroglial precursors to remyelinate the central nervous system is interesting and important. The idea of designing hNSCs that may be more resistant to the harmful inflammatory environment in MS patients is particularly interesting, as is the proposed approach of getting the hNSCs to express various factors that enhance proliferation and differentiation. The proposal could provide important information about the fate of hNSC derived from hESC, following transplantation into the central nervous system (CNS). In particular, the study will follow these cells in EAE, a mouse model of MS. All reviewers agreed that if a cell therapy could be developed for MS, based on the principles outlined in the proposal, it would be an important step forward. QUALITY OF THE RESEARCH PLAN: There are some serious concerns with the design of the research plan that substantially lower enthusiasm for this application. First, the proposal fails to clearly articulate the goals and the anticipated mechanisms of action of the transplanted cells. For example, it is unclear whether the embryonic stem cell line will be used primarily as a carrier for the delivery of immunomodulatory cues, such as the selected chemokines and cytokines, or whether the transplanted cells themselves are likely to selectively or preferentially differentiate into OPCs, myelinating oligodendrocytes or astrocytes, and repair the lesions. The proposal appears to be built on the basis that these things are going to happen yet there is no data in the application or in the literature to support either supposition. Second, the applicant fails to provide a compelling rationale for the use of the selected cell lines and many of the studies testing efficacy are likely to be difficult to interpret. There is no evidence that the expression of the selected cytokines will render the cells refractory to the disease and so these studies seem highly speculative. Finally, the research plan is considered to have a critical weakness in that it does not at all discuss immunosuppression, which will be necessary for the transplanted human cells to survive in the mice. Since the disease model depends on the immune response, use of immunosuppression may alter the disease course. These concerns are not identified as either conceptual or experimental problems, nor are they addressed in any way. The reviewers had an additional concern that while the work proposed is novel and has the potential to provide important information relevant to the use of stem cells in the treatment of MS, the large amount of work proposed may mean that the aims of the proposal cannot be achieved. STRENGTHS: The problem to be addressed is of substantial medical importance and one that appears well-suited for a stem cell approach. The concept of using hESC lines to enhance repair in MS is extremely attractive. It seems likely that this disease will be among the most amenable of neurological diseases to cell therapy, and thus reviewers consider the overall goal of the proposal a strength. The PI is a well-respected clinician-scientist with considerable experience in MS research, the EAE model and with genetic manipulation of stem cells. Moreover, the PI has assembled a group of talented and excellent collaborators that will assist in the studies, including many collaborators at USC in the area of microfluidics, and also with John Rossi at the City of Hope, who is experienced in the design of shRNAs and their expression from lentiviruses and Outi Hovatta who will be providing human ESC cells grown solely on human feeder cells. . The preliminary data demonstrates the ability of the investigators to grow hESCs and to develop substantial numbers of cells that express oligodendrocytes lineage markers by manipulating environmental conditions. The evidence that these cells can generate myelinating cells in vivo is, however, weak. WEAKNESSES: A major weakness of the proposal is the lack of clear cut hypotheses relating to the function of the transplanted cells in the treatment of MS. This translates into a very confused research plan in which the fate of cells is being traced with GFP, using promoters that are only on at certain times. Cytokine expression is dependent on promoter activities that are uncharacterized in the context of a lesion and it is not clear if the transplanted hESCs are intended to contribute directly to the repair of the lesion or if they are intended to promote repair through activation of endogenous cell populations. The design of the experiments in either case is quite different. There also is a methodological concern that quantitation of repair/protection in the different experimental paradigms will be complex and no clear description of how this will be done is presented in the application. A second major weakness of the proposal is that it does not discuss how it is that the human cells would not be rejected when transplanted into mice. If immunosuppression will be used, how will it affect the EAE disease process and the transplanted ESC cells? One reviewer described this omission as a fundamental and fatal flaw in the proposal. A third weakness is the very large amount of work that is proposed. There are approximately ten different hNSC lines that will be engineered for use in in vivo studies. The analysis of each line (in vitro, as well as in vivo in the described EAE model) will represent a substantial amount of work. Without preliminary data demonstrating the feasibility of such an ambitious approach, there is concern that the proposal is unrealistic and overly ambitious. The use of human stem cells in a mouse model may generate misleading results. There is a varying degree of species specificity in the growth factor and cytokine interactions with their receptors. The species specificity of these interactions is well documented in the literature, but not addressed in the proposal. MOG-induced EAE results in inflammation and demyelination in the spinal cord, yet the investigator proposes to inject the stem cells into the brain. The rationale behind this peculiar choice is not developed. Also, it is not clear why the stem cells will be injected so late in the disease course (6-8 days after disease onset). A better explanation behind the choice of this time point would have been helpful. The investigator proposes to generate separate stem cell lines that will express fluorescent markers under the regulation of neuronal, astrocytic and oligodendrocytic transcriptional control regions to follow the fate of the injected stem cells. It is unclear why a common transcriptional control region is not used in combination with antibodies specific to cell-specific markers. The first specific aim appears to be poorly developed. In this aim the applicant proposes to drive a reporter construct off developmentally-specific promoters to examine the distribution, fate and survival of transplanted hESC cells. Since the reporter will presumably only be expressed when the cells are either immature (nestin) turned into astrocytes (GFAP) or oligodendrocytes (MBP) these studies will be impossible to interpret. A loss of labeled cells will not distinguish between divergent fate and cell death. Furthermore, since there is no evidence that the transplanted cells will develop into GFAP+ astrocytes in the demyelinating environment, the ability of these cells to deliver exogenous growth factors as proposed in aim 2 is unclear. A quantitative assessment of the fate of the different cell lines would also be useful, but this requires the ability to trace all progeny of transplanted cells, not simply those that express a specific temporally and spatially-restricted promoter. Reviewers suggest that for an improved proposal, the plan must address the issue of immune rejection in animals models that have xenografts. In addition, several other groups have shown the restorative activity with different populations of cells transplanted into animals with EAE, and inclusion of a comparison of the efficacies between different cell lines would be an important addition to the field. DISCUSSION: Discussants agree that the PI is a well-respected clinician-scientist in this field. A major flaw of this proposal is that there is no apparent recognition or discussion of the requirement for, and difficulties with, immunosuppression in using cell transplantation in the EAE model. Additional concerns included the lack of a suitable rationale or supporting evidence for the experiments proposed, the lack of a plan to track the cells, the unrealistic scope of the proposal. and the site of cell injection.


text:
Secord Lake Waterfront Vacation Rental in Gladwin
- bedrooms 2
- baths 1
- sleeps 5
- pool no
- hot tub no
- pets allowed yes
- type House
- community Gladwin- Secord Lake
rates (USD)
/ night
$ 450 - $ 700 / week
vacation rental description
Two bedroom, fully furnished lakefront cottage. Located on the east
shore of the main part of
Secord Lake in Gladwin, Michigan. Cottage sleeps a maximum of five
Cottage is located on 100 feet of water. Rental includes use of 20
ft. dock perfect for docking your
boat and/or jet skiis.
Area is great for boating, fishing, and swimming. Located near
several golf courses and ORV trails.
Smoking not allowed
vacation rental location
property availability
- dates with deals
- unavailable dates
Last modified on 08-10-2014 at 4:11 PM.
email owner view full calendar
Pat Bernier
house rental amenities
Kitchen: Full kitchen with refrigerator, stove, microwave, dishes,
cooking utensils, toaster, and
coffee pot. Table with seating for six.
Living room with cable television and DVD/VHS player. Television in one bedroom.
Two bedrooms each with a full sized bed and dressers.
Additional sleeping: Full sized hide-a-bed in front sun porch
Bathroom: -One bathroom with shower.
Other amenities:
Lakeside deck with beautiful views of the sunsets.
Charcoal grill.
Patio picnic table with umbrella.
Four patio chairs for relaxing on the deck.
20 ft dock - renters can use north side of dock for docking boats
and/or jet skiis.
Five gallons of bottled water are provided each week. Additional 5
gallon bottles are $7.00 each.
Includes utilities and trash pick up once per week.
Renters are requested to bring their own sheets, towels, and paper
products. Blankets, pillows, and
mattress pads are available from the owners.
Parking for 2 cars. Parking for boat trailers is available across
the street.
activities and attractions in Gladwin Michigan
Swimming - Water is approximately one foot at seawall. Sandy bottom
near seawall.
Boating - Lake has over 90 miles of shore line and is great for long
leisurely rides. As this cottage is located on the main lake, it is perfect for skiing and
other boating activities.
Fishing - Secord Lake is excellent for fishing. In fact, there is
good fishing right from the
dock. Typical fish caught in this lake are perch, pike, crappies,
and bass.
Located 13 miles from Gladwin and it's grocery store, antique stores,
as well as other stores for your shopping convenience. There is also a very nice restaurant and spa located on the riverfront
in Gladwin.
There are many golf courses and ORV trails within a 20 to 30 minute
Located 30 miles from West Branch which has an outlet mall and
several restaurants.
Pontoon rentals available from Secord Lake Marina
vacation rental rates
For weekly rentals, check in time is 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Check
out tine is 10:00 a.m. on the
following Saturday.
June 1st through September 13
$700.00 per week $100.00 per night.
$250.00 per weekend (Friday through Sunday) Weekend rentals are not
available during July.
May 1 - May 24 and September 13 - October 15
$470.00 per week $75.00 per night
$200.00 per weekend
Holiday Weekends - $110.00 per night
Security deposit is 300.00 for weekly rental and $150.00 for weekend
Rental deposit is 1/2 of the rent plus the security deposit. This is
due when booking the cottage.
Cancellation/refund policy:
Two months or more before the reservation: 100%
1 to 2 months before the reservation: 50%
2 wks to 1 month before the reservation: 25%
2 weeks or less before the reservation: 0%
One smaller dog may be allowed at the owners discretion with an
additional fee of $5.00 per night.
Pat Bernier
accepted payment methods
Prior to paying a reservation deposit, always verify payment instructions by calling the phone number displayed on this listing page. By contacting the owner directly and paying by an approved method - credit card, paypal, check or bank transfer - your reservation payment will be protected up to $1,000.Learn more in our Security Center
Top things to do in Gladwin
- Boating
- Fishing
- Golf
- ORV trails
- Tubing
Top things to do with a family
- Boating
- Fishing
- Swimming
Pat Bernier , owner


text:
Compares Derrick Rose with other great young point guards. These six young point guards have been considered players who can instantly make a franchise relevant. If they were all available (and it seems most of them have been on the market), who would you pick to be the face of your team for the next 5-10 years?
He goes to conclude that Wall may end up being better than both. I for one would rather have Rose. For those w/o insider: We're in an unusual era in the NBA. Make a list of the league's top five players and chances are there won't be a point guard in the bunch. But a similar exercise to name the league's most exciting young players will yield almost nothing but point guards. Actually, the point guard position has three generations competing for supremacy right now. The Steve Nash-Chauncey Billups-Jason Kidd generation is still holding on, and considering they each made the All-Star team last year and each won at least 54 games, it's not time to conduct their funeral dirge just yet. Then there's the mid-to-late 20-something, in-their-prime generation, consisting of Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Rajon Rondo and Tony Parker. They still hold the conch in the point guard debate, with Williams generally being considered the best when Paul has been injured and Paul the best when he's been healthy. Rondo's stellar early season play has pushed his name into the debate, too. Yet they might all be taking a backseat soon, because three young guns -- Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and John Wall -- are moving rapidly up the ranks. And what's unusual about this group is that they play the position much differently than the previous generations. Their older peers are mostly traditional, pick-and-roll point guards who succeed with quickness, guile and court vision. These guys? Raw, unadulterated power. With awesome combinations of size and strength, they're among the best finishers in basketball despite playing the point. They're not great shooters and it doesn't matter. They don't have great court vision (though Wall has shown a lot of potential as a distributor; more on that below). That doesn't matter, either. In today's NBA, where the ability to beat opponents off the dribble is king and perimeter defenders can't use their hands, burst and power are at a premium. How much of a premium? Consider that Rose and Wall were the No. 1 picks in their respective drafts after just a year of college (after a generation in which point guards were almost never considered to be top-pick material), while Westbrook went fourth despite not even playing point guard as a collegian. And the irony is that they end up doing a lot of damage with midrange jump shots. Opponents are so fearful of their blinding quickness off the dribble that they back up, go under screens and concede shots they'd never permit to almost any other opponent. [+] EnlargeRafael Suanes/US Presswire John Wall is already rising on point-guard lists around the league. So while Rose, Westbrook and Wall live on the dynamic finishes at the rim, in between highlights they build up their numbers by hitting easy midrange jump shots, often shooting little more than a free throw with a defender still several feet off of them. You don't have to be a great shooter to nail a high percentage of those shots. Similarly, the respect opponents have to show for their jets makes it easier for them to set up teammates, too. You seldom see Nash-like magic from these three, but they're in the paint so often that they almost can't help but set up teammates for easy shots. Additionally, their perimeter passes are rarely obstructed by opposing hands because opponents play so far off them; as our David Thorpe noted when discussing Rondo, the respect opponents show for their driving ability makes the other parts of their job vastly easier. For now, Rose is the most advanced of the three. The third-year guard was an All-Star in 2010 and has put up some phenomenal numbers in his first four games this season. Like his cohorts, he's definitely more of a scorer than a passer -- yes, he's averaging 10 assists a game, but he's also averaging 21.5 field goal attempts and put up 31 shots in 31 minutes in Chicago's season opener. He's also not a deep shooter (with a 27.8 percent mark on 3s this year and 24.7 percent for his career) or a particularly accurate foul shooter (he owns a modest 77.5 percent career mark from the free throw line). But he is a brilliant finisher at the rim and has augmented his ability to get into the paint with a very good floater. The next step is to use his athleticism and power to draw more fouls -- despite his physical gifts, Rose averaged only 4.3 free throw attempts per game last season. He's also just begun to tap the massive potential he has to be a defensive force with his physical skills. In terms of power, Westbrook might be the most dominant of the bunch. Like Rose he's in his third year, and he's an even more awesome force physically -- he has the most raw power of the bunch, exploding to the hoop going right and using his physique to take contact and finish at the rim. Russell's muscular game also shows up in his unusual ability to offensive rebound, a rarity at the point. Westbrook pulled down nearly two offensive boards a game in his first two pro seasons, and last night had a pair of putbacks to keep the Thunder in the game. As with the other two, his rough edges are still rounding into form. Westbrook still can't make 3s but he's shooting 93.6 percent from the line this season. As a point guard he's had the longest learning curve of the three and his instincts are strongest as a scorer, but either way he's a handful for opposing guards. In fact, he's second among all point guards in PER so far in the young season. Westbrook's brute strength also makes him a major pest at the defensive end, where he can easily step up to take shooting guards and has the quickness to keep most opposing point guards in check. The only item on his checklist at that end is to contain some of his youthful exuberance -- he needs to learn to gamble and leave his feet less often. Rose and Westbrook, however, may have to take a backseat to the new prototype, Wall. He combines the power and size of the other two with an extra gear in his motor. Wall is so fast that Hawks coach Larry Drew had to go back two decades to find a comparison (former Utah speedster Rickey Green) before conceding that Wall still might be faster, and is much bigger, too. In three pro games, Wall has used those jets to average 23.7 points and 10.2 assists. He's the most advanced passer of the three, and the fastest, and he might be the best shooter. He hit a pair of 3-pointers in his second pro game and already appears vastly more proficient in the midrange game than Rose or Westbrook looked as rookies. This is, mind you, after just one year of college ball. Like the others he still has rough patches to work on -- those 14 turnovers in three games come to mind -- and right now he overwhelms opponents with his physical prowess more than with his skill level. But to date, he seems the best combination of the wily nature of his predecessors and the raw power of the new generation. But with three such players entering the league in the past three years, and all making a huge impact almost immediately, one thing is for certain: Scouts will be looking high and low for the next one. With rules favoring point guards with the quickness to get a step to the rim and the size and explosiveness to finish, the power point guard phenomenon looks like it's here to stay.
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text:
The cordwood project at Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Uncasville is one of those ideas that are at once inspired and simple.
The facility is bordered by densely treed woods, and between felled trees because of age, disease or storms, and clearing to build on the site, plus wood from the Town of Montville and the state Department of Transportation bringing in lumber from its work dealing with downed trees, there's more than enough wood to go around.
Warden Scott Erfe agreed to the program which, using inmate labor to cut and split that wood, has over the last five years brought about 40 to 50 cords of wood each year to folks in need, especially seniors, who heat either partly or primarily with wood and whose incomes make it tough to buy enough for the winter season, especially at $200 a cord.
The prison coordinated with Montville Senior and Social Services, which provided a list of people in need of firewood, and so the program was born.
And for Lois and Bob Goodrich, it's been a blessing. Bob, who spent 30 years as a working member of the Mohegan Fire Department, 10 years as an EMT/first responder, uses a wood-burning stove to heat his home. He said he was thankful for the efforts of the town, prison, officers and inmates.
"This will help," he said as two inmates unloaded nearly a full cord of split wood and stacked it neatly on the side of Goodrich's house.
"It's better than putting four sweaters on when you go to bed," Bob said. "It makes a big difference. Thank you."
Inmate workers Adrian Nadeau of Bristol, David Stebbins of Plainfield and Ryan Crute of Jewett City agreed that in addition to being a great way to get outside and get a good workout, it's something more.
"This is definitely a way for us to give back and maybe even earn a little forgiveness," Stebbins said.
Waterford, Griswold, Salem and other nearby towns have received firewood from Corrigan.
"We're part of the community. We like to be good neighbors," said Andrius Banevicius, Department of Corrections public information officer.
And Warden Erfe, who huddled and chatted with the Goodrich's, said this program, as far as he knows, is the only one in the correction system.
"This and our other (community-based programs) demonstrate just how committed to the community we are," Erfe said.
Correction officers Jason Ware of Brooklyn and Joe Schoonmaker of Waterford coordinate and run the program. And they are so awesome, so when you see them out and about in town, say thank you from all of us!


text:
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Baby Fiona's parents Jeff Coffin and Mary Beth Coffin met on the St. Jude Memphis to Peoria Run. You can find their story and other examples of "Love on the Run" on our website.
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text:
Configure avast! Free Antivirus, page 2By Margus Saluste. Last modified: 2014-08-14.
How to schedule avast! Free Antivirus scans, access scan logs and Virus Chest in Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1
First page of this article describes how to register or renew avast! Free Antivirus 2014 and configure its settings for optimum security and performance.
Automating and customizing avast! Free Antivirus 2014 weekly scan
To open avast! Free Antivirus, click its yellow ball-shaped icon in Notification Area of Taskbar (aka System Tray). A status message is also displayed, normally this should read "Everything is good".
In avast! 2014 user interface window, open Scan tab from the left, select Quick scan from combo box on the top right and then click Settings.
In avast! Scan Settings window, Scan tab opens. Find Scan Areas section and select Rootkits (quick scan) instead of Rootkits (very quick scan).
Move on to the Sensitivity tab. Tick the Scan for potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) check box.
Open Actions tab from the left. First, enable the Automatically apply actions during scan option. Then set the first action to Fix automatically and second action to Move to Chest in Virus, PUP and Suspicious tabs.
The automatic fixing option is new in avast! 2014: it means Decide for me and it either moves detected malware to Quarantine/Virust Chest, or deletes it, depending on threat level. The older and inferior Repair action only tries to disinfect files without deleting or moving a thing: this often results in failures if the file is fully malicious.
Make sure that the If necessary, perform the selected action at the next system restart check box is ticked.
Finally, select the Try to remove only the packed file; if it fails, remove the whole containing archive option.
The last step in automating avast! 2014 scanning is to open Scheduling tab and turn on the Schedule this scan option. Weekly scanning is selected by default.
In Schedule section, set a good Launch time and Launch day when your PC is probably not in heavy use. Remember, time is in 24-hour format!
Click OK to enable the scheduled scan.
Checking scan logs in avast! Free Antivirus 2014
If you want to see logs for all virus scans already performed, open Scan tab and click Scan history in the bottom right of the window.
Find a log that has red "virus found" in Result column (the others are not interesting, right?), click it once and then click the Detailed report button.
This will open the log in avast! Scan Results window where you can see detected items, performed actions and results. You cannot perform any actions here.
Click Close after you're done.
Do not worry about log files consuming too much disk space - avast! Free Antivirus deletes logs older than 30 days automatically.
Managing avast! Free Antivirus 2014 Virus Chest
As avast! typically moves infected files that cannot be fixed to a special folder called Virus Chest, this folder might start using some disk space in the longer run. Its default size limit is set to 256 megabytes in avast! Settings, General tab, Maintenance section.
You might want to open Virus Chest once every few months and remove older items from there to free up disk space. You can also restore items from Virus Chest to their original locations in rare occasions when avast! sounds false alarm.
Open Scan tab in avast! 2014 user interface window and then click Quarantine (Virus Chest) in the bottom right of the window.
avast! Virus Chest window opens.
Select the files you want to remove from Virus Chest by holding down CTRL key on your keyboard and clicking each item with mouse. After you've done selecting, release CTRL key.
If you want to select all items, click the first one in the list, hold down SHIFT key and then click the last item. Release SHIFT key.
To delete the selected items, right-click one of them and select Delete.
avast! will confirm the deletion. Click Yes.
Using avast! Free Antivirus 2014 silent/gaming mode
Silent/gaming mode in avast! 2014 is mainly meant for gamers, frequent movie viewers and people giving a presentation.
By default, silent mode activates automatically while a full-screen Desktop program (not the Modern UI/Metro apps in Windows 8 and 8.1) is running.
If you are playing a game that is not full-screen, an avast! Free Antivirus pop-up message might interrupt the game by stealing focus from the game window. You do not want that, do you?
Just to remind you - avast! Silent/gaming mode does not mute Windows sounds, it just disables its own popups and notification sounds.
To activate the mode manually, right-click the avast! Free Antivirus icon in Taskbar Notification area and click Silent/gaming mode. If there is a check mark before the item, the mode is already activated.
Always remember to turn the silent/gaming mode off after you finish your games, presentations, etc!
avast! Desktop Gadget in Windows Vista and 7
For Windows Vista and 7 users, avast! Free Antivirus 2014 adds a Desktop Gadget with status report and buttons for opening avast! main window, updating databases and following avast! Twitter, Facebook and blogging accounts. Windows XP and 8/8.1 have no support for Desktop Gadgets.
The gadget is especially useful for Windows 7 users, because avast! icon in Taskbar Notification Area (aka System Tray) tends to be hidden and users might not notice if avast! status changes from secured to something else.
In Windows Vista, the Gadget is always fixed to one size, Windows 7 users can rotate it vertically and horizontally.
The button on the left opens avast! user interface, or main window with current status. The second button from the left allows manual updating of avast! engine and virus definitions. Do not get this wrong - avast! Free Antivirus 2014 updates both its engine and virus definitions automatically every four hours, this button is just for those who like to check for updates more frequently or need to make sure the virus definitions are up-to-date before performing a manual scan.
As with any Desktop Gadget in Windows Vista and 7, you can easily hide or show avast! gadget.
avast! Free Antivirus messages
If virus definitions are out-of-date, a yellow exclamation mark is displayed on avast! Free Antivirus icon in Taskbar Notification area (aka System Tray). You should then right-click the icon, expand Update and click Engine and virus definitions.
On some slower machines avast! services start slowly and a yellow exclamation mark is displayed on avast! Free Antivirus Notification area icon. This might mean that one of the avast!'s Real-Time Shields is not running yet. The status then reads "avast! Antivirus: Attention, your system is not fully protected". Also, the avast! Desktop Gadget in Windows Vista or Windows 7 will change its status to yellow exclamation mark.
Wait for a minute or two and the status will usually change to "Everything is good" automatically.
If the status will not change back to normal after a few minutes, either click the avast! icon and then click the large yellow Resolve All button in avast! main window, or click the exclamation mark in Desktop Gadget. This will force all avast! Antivirus services/shields to start.
If avast! Free Antivirus 2014 Real-Time Shields are completely turned off, its service is not running, or it is unable to remove a threat automatically, a red X mark will be displayed in the lower left corner of Notification area icon and system status reads "You are unprotected!". The Desktop Gadget in Windows Vista and 7 will also change its status to red X mark.
This could also happen when your free license for avast! has expired. In that case, renew your free license (this must be done on yearly basis).
Either click the icon immediately to open avast! Free Antivirus window and see what's causing the problem, or click the red X mark in Desktop Gadget.
In avast! 2014 user interface window, click the huge red Resolve All button. This should help at most times. As you can see from the picture, avast! Real-time shields were disabled and that was the cause of the problem.
If clicking the Resolve All button does not help or you are unable to use it at all, I recommend running RKill for stopping malware components and then performing a full scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
You should also start your computer in Safe Mode for malware removal!
If some malicious program tries to turn off avast! Free Antivirus, a warning window will appear with text "An attempt has been made to turn off a key avast! module". Always click No here unless you tried to disable avast! Real-Time Shields yourself. Then perform an on-demand virus scan immediately.
To prevent malware from disabling avast! shields, activate the password-protection of avast! settings.
Here are two examples of alerts generated by avast! 2014 Real-Time Shields: "avast! File System Shield has blocked a threat" and "avast! Web Shield has blocked a harmful webpage or file". In both of these cases, no further action is required from your part.
In some cases, avast! Free Antivirus wants to schedule a boot-time scan and restart your computer to get rid of some nasty malware.
Because automatic boot-time scan requires manual actions from users, it can lead to unbootable or unstable Windows if a critical system file is deleted or moved. I strongly suggest running RKill for stopping malware components and then performing a full scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware first. This can remove the threats completely without affecting system stability.
It is safe to click Yes here only after running the two aforementioned scans.
Please also read the in-depth article about avast! boot-time scanning and suitable actions.


text:
it looks like what the 6d should have been but with a ff sensor. so annoying.
will this be better than the 6d?
No that's the wrong way of looking at it.
The 6D is pitched as an 'entry level' or first time FF body.
The 7D line is the 'high end' Crop body.
i had a FF body when i was 10, twenty years ago. it was a film camera.


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Participate in This Event or find another event
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Arlington High School
869 Massachusetts Ave, Arlington Map it
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66 teams and 716 participants have raised $137,442.12
Total above may not reflect all participants, teams, and donations
Thank you for an AMAZING event! The event was a huge success and we couldn't have done it without YOU! Donations can still be made through August 31.
In the fight against cancer, silence is the last thing we need. Your local American Cancer Society Relay For Life event is a great place to take action and make noise. The Relay For Life movement features community and campus events that offer an inspiring opportunity to honor cancer survivors, promote how individuals can reduce their cancer risk, and raise money to help end cancer. Today, with the support of thousands of volunteers, the American Cancer Society is helping save more than 400 lives a day. And we won't stop until we finish the fight against cancer!
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