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The Intrepid has a rich history, but it had a day Monday that its officials would probably like to forget. The beginning of the ship's scheduled two-year restoration project in Bayonne and on Staten Island started badly when the Intrepid became mired in 17 feet of mud. One of those who will be working on the problem is the museum's executive director, Susan Marenoff, the subject of this week's One on 1 with Budd Mishkin.
Susan Marenoff is moving into a temporary new office and some pretty important people are involved in moving her old office.
"FDNY, NYPD, the Coast Guard, Homeland Security," said Marenoff.
That's what happens when your old office is a 27,000 ton ship, the Intrepid. There was optimism in the days leading up to the Intrepid's scheduled move across the river.
"This is pretty awesome, that it's never been done, we're the team responsible for it. It's going to be successful," said Marenoff. "I can't wait for it to happen."
But Marenoff will have to wait, because the Intrepid never made it out of 17 feet of mud.
As if preparing for the Intrepid's move wasn't enough to create a little anxiety, she spent the previous Sunday getting married.
"In pure honesty I was only thinking about my future husband and my wedding," said Marenoff, when asked whether she had the Intrepid on her mind that day.
The plan still calls for the intrepid to journey to Bayonne and then Staten Island for two years of restoration. It's been an interesting journey for Marenoff in her career — a longtime sports executive who now runs one of New York's biggest tourist attractions and one of the most famous ships in the United States fleet.
"Never in a million years did I think I'd be learning about pile driving, dredging, about any of these things, but it keeps things stimulating," said Marenoff.
How does one go from working at the Garden, the Women's Tennis Association and then as general manager of the New York Power women's soccer team to running the Intrepid?
Before she was named executive director this year, Marenoff was brought in as a marketing director in 2003.
"The ship is like your team and you have to market your team," said Marenoff. "Your visitors are your fans, you have to get fans in the seats, visitors in the doors and a message has to get out. And so we had to get a message out about a team, we had to get a message out about the Intrepid."
While Marenoff's focus is understandably on the future, the past is never really past on the Intrepid. The ship was active during Korea and Vietnam, but it is most closely associated with World War II, when it survived five kamikaze attacks.
Crew members often visit the ship and tell its story to younger generations. So even on a beautiful day, it doesn't take much to imagine that life on this ship was once utter hell.
"If you were standing there, however many years ago, a kamikaze would have hit you right there," said Marenoff. "You wouldn't be alive today. And I think that raises the hair on the back of everybody's neck and says this is really amazing, and what these guys did, what these crew members did, to help save lives and help save Intrepid is beyond fascinating."
The Intrepid hosts exercises during Fleet Week. There are ceremonies on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. A ceremony in 1993 to honor the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of the ship, and a few years later, the unveiling of a statue depicting the famous scene at Iwo Jima.
Thousands of visitors come aboard every year.
And yet Marenoff says there is work to be done in spreading the message about the Intrepid.
"It needed to be reached out to mothers to be able to see this is not about guns and war. This is about people who served," said Marenoff.
It's not all military history on the Intrepid. A quick glance off the side and you'll see the one-time symbol of modern travel, the Concord resting comfortably alongside the old ship.
"We did what was called a Îpick' out of JFK and we literally took a sling — of course it's much more technical than that — but under the belly of the Concord we lifted her off of land, off of Kennedy's runway onto a barge and we floated her up the Hudson river," said Marenoff.
The Intrepid even played a role in the aftermath of 9/11. The museum was shut down almost immediately after the second plane hit and it was used as a government command center.
"It became a place where the FBI and CIA to be centralized and see what they needed to do for the balance of the time," said Marenoff.
But usually, the essence of the Intrepid is storytelling, blending the horrors that the ship has seen with the joy of being on board.
"There isn't a day when you don't walk the floor and don't see either a little kid in the cockpit of a plane having the greatest time of his life or where you see the crew members walking a tour around and telling their stories," said Marenoff. "We're really lucky to be working here. Every day, every single day. There is something that allows us to say that."
Growing up in Rockland County, Susan Marenoff says her interest in history was "average." There was no particular connection to the military. Her father served in World War II, stateside because of an injury. She was passionate about playing sports.
"Playing on softball little league team or — of course my brother would never let me on the street unless I threw a perfect spiral — so I had to practice those skills. Whenever girls do play sports I think it's a fact they are more confident in their lives, too," said Marenoff.
Marenoff needed that confidence once she graduated from SUNY Binghamton and started her sports career, becoming the first woman executive at Madison Square Garden under 30.
"Being the only woman in a large meeting in a sports world — it can be intimidating," said Marenoff.
"There are always challenges. I had a boss one time that told me I should be home making babies and so, you know you wonder what does that mean? And should I really be thinking about what I should be doing in my life? And then you kind of quickly recover," said Marenoff.
After the Garden, Marenoff would then work on what could be considered the most successful and popular women's sporting event in recent American history, the 1999 World Cup. She worked briefly for the Women's Tennis Association. Then in late 1999, Marenoff was invited to a meeting where she was offered general manager's job for the New York Power in a new women's soccer league, the WUSA.
"He takes out this cocktail napkin and says, Îyou need to hire a coach, be at the draft in three weeks and have him draft a team; you need to secure a stadium for where you'll play, you'll need to create a marketing plan, create a website, and hire internal staff," said Marenoff. "And, by the way, there is a training camp and need to get the team on the field by April 14th."
Four months later, when the season started, it was all done. The WUSA folded after three seasons because of dwindling sponsorship. But Marenoff says there were successes along the way.
"Every day we would get emails or phone calls from moms and dads saying, Îthank you,'" said Marenoff. "You know, Îthank you for what you've done to my daughter. Just the fact that she was able to watch these women play, see how they work with each other, the community events that you've done, you've boosted my daughter's confidence like nobody else has ever done.'"
And that's where Marenoff draws the connection to the Intrepid, where the stories of sacrifice have a profound effect on workers, volunteers and the visitors. The Intrepid's exterior might be changing, but not the core belief of the museum's executive director, who can already image the ship's scheduled return in two years to the west side.
"I think it will be an emotional day, a very celebratory day, and a day that's going to allow us to gear up and say we're here for another 25 to 50 years at least," said Marenoff.
— Budd Mishkin
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Westminster College's Departments of Modern Languages and English will host The Tournées Film Festival, a series of French films shown on consecutive Tuesdays, Jan. 31-Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. in the Sebastian Mueller Theater of the McKelvey Campus Center. The events are free and open to the public.
Five contemporary films will be subtitled in English with each screening followed by a discussion.
Opening the festival Jan. 31 is Paris, directed by Cédric Klapisch and nominated for César Awards for Best Editing, Best Film, and Best Supporting Actress.
Pierre (Romain Duris), a professional dancer, suffers from a serious heart disease. As he awaits a transplant, he watches the people around him from the balcony of his Paris apartment. When Pierre's sister, Elise (Juliette Binoche), and her three children move in to care for him, Pierre continues his new habit. Instead of dancing himself, it is Paris and the Parisians who dance before his eyes.
Additional films are: Coco avant Chanel (Coco before Chanel), Feb. 7; Le fils de l'épicier (The Grocer's Son), Feb. 14; Des hommes et des d ieux (Of Gods and Men), Feb. 21; and Entre les murs (The Class), Feb. 28.
The festival is supported by a grant from the French American Cultural Exchange and support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the French Ministry of Culture (CNC), The Florence Gould Foundation, the Grand Marnier Foundation, and Highbrow Entertainment.
Westminster faculty involved in planning and organizing the festival are: Dr. Andrew Ade, associate professor of English; Dr. Jeffrey Bersett, associate professor and chair of Westminster's Department of Modern Languages; Dr. Leslie Kealhofer, visiting assistant professor of French; and Dr. Deborah Mitchell, professor of English and film studies.
Contact Kealhofer at (724) 946-6260 or email for additional information. Click here for additional information about the festival and the films.
About Westminster College...
Founded in 1852 and related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Westminster College ranks first in the nation as "Best College for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math," according to Forbes.com. Westminster, a top-tier liberal arts college, ranks third in graduation rate performance, according to U.S. News Best Colleges guide. Westminster ranked 6th among liberal arts colleges in social mobility, according to the Washington Monthly College Guide, and is one of the most affordable national liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania. Westminster is also honored as one of "The Best 376 Colleges" by The Princeton Review, and is named to the President's Honor Roll for excellence in service learning.
Nearly 1,600 undergraduate and graduate students benefit from individualized attention from dedicated faculty while choosing from 42 majors and nearly 100 organizations on the New Wilmington, Pa., campus. Visit www.westminster.edu/advantage to view "Advantage: Westminster" A Strategic Plan 2010-2020.
Festival Information

subset: commoncrawl


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L.J. Smith Pleads for The Vampire Diaries Viewersby Matt Richenthal at . Comments
Just two days prior to the series premiere of The Vampire Diaries, L.J. Smith has a request of TV fans.
The author that penned the book series after which The CW show is based posted the message below on her website this week. She really wants you to give The Vampire Diaries a chance:
May I make a plea for everybody to try to be patient (especially with the pilot episode)? The Twilight Zone feeling rapidly diminishes after that. Ian Somerhalder is being recognized as a superior villain; and I feel sure that under those brown curls Elena's scheming mind is simply waiting for an opportunity to emerge... I've waited this long to speak out, and my verdict is: give it a chance.
Smith is mostly responding to criticism that the series is too much like the Twilight Saga. Producer Kevin Williamson made a similar point earlier this summer.
Having seen the first couple installments of The Vampire Diaries, we have to agree: the show is very much worth a viewing.
Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.Tags: The Vampire Diaries
actually, it is like the twilight in the vampire-human relationship. you know, the emotional, lonely, weird, over dramatic human with just about the same vampire. but of course vampire diaries is so much more less aggravating because there are a mix of true blood in it, which makes it more interesting and elena and stefan are not as emotional as robert and the girl. as for the action part, twilight is incredibly, without a doubt dull, stupid and boring, everything just went to easy and it seems that those action scenes are just perfunctory, and the real story is about a girl and a vampire fall in love, tell love to each other, kissing, flirting, it just too dull. So, vampire diaries do have huge similarities with twilight, but it is better, and hence, why not watch it? if you can watch the arguably unbearable twilight.
im reading them atm and i have to say i cant WAIT for it to come out; i REALLY cant :D :D
no way is it too much like the twilight saga. sure i love twilight but not everything vampire like has to be twilight
i love l.j smiths Night World series too PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BRING THOSE OUT ON TELLY.


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Stars Guitars Benefit Auction
May 19, 2011 10:15 AM
[lastfm link_type=""]Darius Rucker[/lastfm], [lastfm link_type=""]Carrie Underwood[/lastfm], [lastfm link_type=""]Josh Thompson[/lastfm], [lastfm link_type=""]Steve Wariner[/lastfm] and [lastfm link_type=""]Jerrod Niemann[/lastfm] are just a few of Nashville's finest to donate guitars for the third annual Guitars of the Stars Benefit Auction, which is scheduled for June 9 at Nashville's Hall of Fame Park.
The money raised will go to the Opry Trust Fund, the charity that assists members of the country music community who are in need. Many of the acoustic guitars were donated by the singers themselves.


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This video was taken at the New Rochelle train station last night about 7 p.m. Security personnel watching a movie with a media player hidden in a bag and not watching the security screens.
Big deal or much ado about nothing? You make the call.
h/t JK
Commenting on this Blog entry is closed.


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|Are you looking for more information regarding this and other subjects? Look no further than Semitracks' Online Training. Semitracks' Online Training contains short courses and other material useful for any Engineer trying to learn new subjects or brush up on old ones.
What is Scanning Probe Microscopy?
Scanning Probe Microscopy is a series of techniques based on a class of new instruments that originated from the scanning tunneling microscope.
In 1981, researchers Gerd Binning and Heinrich Rohrer at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory developed the scanning tunneling microscope, enabling imaging of conducting surfaces with atom scale resolution. Their invention received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986.
In the years following Binning and Rohrer's invention, many researchers have developed other systems based on the concept of the scanning tunneling microscope. Figure 1 describes many of the extensions that have been developed in recent years. Of the systems developed, several have recently become of interest to the failure analysis community. These systems include the atomic force microscope, the scanning capacitance probe microscope, the scanning thermal microscope, the magnetic force microscope, the scanning near-field optical microscope, and the scanning Kelvin force microscope. Each of these systems is discussed in detail below.
|Year Developed
|Scanning Tunneling Microscope
|G. Binning, H. Rohrer
|Atomic resolution images of conducting surfaces
|Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscope
|D. W. Pohl
|50 nm (lateral resolution) optical images
|Scanning Capacitance Microscope
|J. R. Matey, J. Blanc
|500 nm (lateral resolution) images of capacitance variation
|Scanning Thermal Microscope
|C. C. Williams, H. K. Wickramasinghe
|50 nm (lateral resolution) thermal images
|Atomic Force Microscope
|G. Binning, C. F. Quate, Ch. Gerber
|Atomic resolution on conducting/non-conducting surfaces
|Scanning Attractive Force Microscope
|Y. Martin, C. C. Williams, H. K. Wickramasinghe
|5 nm (lateral resolution) non-contact images of surfaces
|Magnetic Force Microscope
|Y. Martin, H. K. Wickramasinghe
|100 nm (lateral resolution) of magnetic bits/heads
|Frictional Force Microscope
|C. M. Mate, G. M. McClelland, S. Chiang
|Atomic scale images of lateral (frictional) forces
|Electrostatic Force Microscope
|Y. Martin, D. H. Abraham, H. K. Wickramasinghe
|Detection of charge as small as a single electron
|Inelastic Tunneling Spectroscopy STM
|D. P. E. Smith, D. Kirk, C. F. Quate
|Phonon spectra of molecules in STM
|Laser Driven STM
|L. Arnold, W. Krieger, H. Walther
|Imaging by non-linear mixing of optical waves in STM
|Ballistic Electron Emission Microscope
|W. J. Kaiser
|Probing of Schottky barriers on nm scale
|Inverse Photoemission Force Microscope
|J. H. Coombs, J. K. Gimzewski, B. Reihl, J. K. Sass, R. Schlittler
|Luminescence spectra on nm scale
|Near Field Acoustic Microscope
|K. Takata, T. Hasegawa, S. Hosaka, S. Hosoki, T. Komoda
|Low frequency acoustic measurements on 10 nm scale
|Scanning Noise Microscope
|R. Moller, A. Esslinger, B. Koslowski
|Tunneling microscopy with zero tip-sample bias
|Scanning Spin-precession Microscope
|Y. Manassen, R. Hamers, J. Demuth, A. Castellano
|1 nm (lateral resolution) images of paramagnetic spins
|Scanning Ion Conductance Microscope
|P. Hansma, B. Drake, O. Marti. S. Gould, C. Prater
|500 nm (lateral resolution) images in electrolyte
|Scanning Electrochemical Microscope
|O. E. Husser, D. H. Craston, A. J. Bard
|Absorption Microscope/Spectroscope
|J. Weaver, H. K. Wichramasinghe
|1 nm (lateral resolution absorption images/spectroscopy
|Phonon Absorption Microscope
|H. K. Wickrama-singhe, J. Weaver, C. C. Williams
|Phonon absorption images with nm resolution
|Scanning Chemical Potential Microscope
|C. C. Williams, H. K. Wickramasinghe
|Atomic scale images of chemical potential variation
|Photovoltage STM
|R. J. Hamers, K. Markert
|Photovoltage images on nm scale
|Kelvin Probe Force Microscope
|M. Nonnenmacher, M. P. O'Boyle, H. K. Wickramasinghe
|Contact potential measurements on 10 nm scale
Atomic Force Microscope
The atomic force microscope is clearly the most popular of the scanning probe microscope techniques. It was developed by Gerd Binning, Christoph Gerber, and Calvin Quate in 1985. The system's atomically sharp tip resembles that of the scanning tunneling microscope. However, instead of measuring tunneling current between the tip and the sample, the atomic force microscope measures the repulsive force between the electron cloud of the tip and the electron cloud of the surface. This system advanced the ability to image the topography of insulating surfaces as well as conducting surfaces. The original atomic force microscope systems were contact mode systems, i.e., the tip was in contact with the sample surface. In newly designed non-contact mode systems, the tip can be scanned at a fixed distance from the sample surface.
Figure 2 illustrates the basic components of the atomic force microscope. The tip is scanned over the sample surface through the movement of three piezoelectric drivers: one for x motion, one for y motion, and one for z motion. Topography is measured by maintaining a constant force on the tip and adjusting the z-direction piezoelectric driver to compensate for topography changes. Shining a laser beam off a mirror mounted to the back of the cantilever and into a detector maintains the necessary constant force on the tip. As the topography changes, the cantilever will bend either up or down, causing the laser beam reflection to move. The piezoelectric driver will compensate to keep the laser beam aligned to the detector. The topography map is then generated from the changes in the piezoelectric driver. In the original system by Binning, Gerber, and Quate, a scanning tunneling tip in contact with the back surface of the AFM cantilever was used to provide feedback.
Basic Components of an Atomic Force Microscope System (after Campbell et. al.)
The soft cantilever spring makes the Atomic Force Microscope more sensitive than a stylus profilometer. AFM cantilevers are typically made from silicon, silicon oxide, or silicon nitride using standard photolithographic techniques. These photolithographic methods produce a cantilever with a spring constant of approximately 0.1 - 1.0 N/m--a value much less than the spring constant of a profilometer stylus. This spring constant is less than the interatomic spring constants, which are on the order of 10 N/m. This difference allows the AFM to measure angstrom-size displacements.
Scanning Capacitance Probe Microscope
The scanning capacitance probe microscope is an extension of atomic force microscopy that is designed to measure carrier concentration. The scanning capacitance microscope relies on a UHF (Ultra High Frequency) Resonant Capacitance sensor connected to a conductive probe tip (see Figure 3). When the resonating probe tip is placed in contact with the IC surface, the sensor, transmission line, probe, and carriers in the sample near the tip all become part of the resonator. Consequently, tip-sample capacitance and variations will load the end of the transmission line and change the system's resonant frequency. Small changes in resonant frequency cause large changes in the resonance sensor output signal. Because of the resonance effect, this tip configuration is theoretically sensitive to variations of capacitance that are in the attofarad range (10-18 F).
Schematic showing the detection scheme for scanning capacitance microscopy (courtesy Digital Instruments)
Applying an AC electric field between the tip and the sample generates capacitance variations. In order to produce an AC electric field, apply a kilohertz frequency AC bias voltage to the semiconductor material. Due to the resulting AC field, the free carriers in the sample beneath the grounded tip are alternately attracted or repulsed by the tip. The depletion and accumulation of carriers beneath the tip can be modeled as a capacitor with plates that vary in distance with respect to time (see Figure 4). The fluctuation in capacitance changes the resonant sensor system's capacitive load and resonant frequency. The strength of the applied field, the quality and thickness of the dielectric and the free carrier concentration govern the depth of the depletion layer. If the semiconductor material has uniform doping and differing thicknesses of overlying dielectric material, the depletion layer will be deeper under the thinner oxide regions. Similarly, in a sample that has varying carrier concentrations, the depletion in the low-concentration region will be deeper for the same applied voltage, and the amplitude of the capacitance charge generated by the AC bias would be higher in the same location.
Change from accumulation to depletion due to alternating electric field (courtesy Digital Instruments)
Scanning Capacitance Microscopy measures the movement of carriers, which translates into a stronger signal for low carrier concentration and/or thin oxides. The signal can be expressed as dC/dV (the change in capacitance with respect to the change in applied voltage. In an AC condition, dV can be thought of as the peak-to-peak voltage, while dC can be thought of as proportional to the change in depletion depth of the semiconductor under the probe. One typically plots the relationship between capacitance and voltage on a C-V curve. In scanning capacitance microscopy, a constant amplitude sine wave voltage is applied to the sample; then, an image is constructed from the amplitude of the capacitance modulation. The DC bias to the sample can be adjusted, changing the AC bias point.
Probably the most common use of scanning capacitance microscopy is two-dimensional depth profiling. Because SIMS and C-V measurements only allow 1-dimensional measurements, scanning capacitance microscopy is viewed as a major step forward in understanding local device engineering.
Why Perform Scanning Probe Microscopy?
Scanning Probe Microscopy can be most useful in making high resolution topographical measurements. In fact, many fabrication lines now use Atomic Force Microscopes in conjunction with other profilometers for metrology purposes.
For failure analysis applications, the ubiquity of the atomic force microscope will increase as defects that cause ICs to fail become smaller and smaller. The atomic force microscope can provide high resolution images of these defects. At this time, the atomic force microscope is the only widespread tool capable of examining defects smaller than 10 nm.
In the future, analysts may use the scanning probe microscope more frequently to sense heat, capacitance, current, electric field, and voltage. The SPM is capable of providing higher spatial resolution and superior sensitivity. For example, the SPM is capable of sensing voltages in the microvolt range.
Because it is essentially a surface science instrument, SPM has limited applicability. The SPM cannot effectively examine signals from interconnect or other structures that are buried beneath overlying conductors. In that sense, the SPM will be no more effective than electron beam probing. Magnetic current imaging using an SPM may be somewhat more useful. Computerized routines that can deconvolve signals may allow some use of magnetic force microscopy to measure current from buried interconnect.
Another factor that limits the acceptance of SPM is the image acquisition time, which can exceed several minutes. Most current ICs require observation of signals that occur in nanoseconds. It may be particularly difficult to observe real-time events using the SPM.
Overall, the SPM enables many techniques that exhibit its potential as an effective tool for failure analysis. Expect to see SPM techniques become more widely used in industry in the next five to ten years.
How is Scanning Probe Microscopy Performed?
Most new Atomic Force Microscopes are much easier to use than the original research instruments created at many universities. Perform an AFM scan on an integrated circuit or sample by following these steps:
- Select the mode of operation
- Mount the probe
- Align the laser
- Adjust the photodetector
- Locate the tip
- Focus on the sample surface
- Tune the cantilever if you are in tapping mode
- Set the initial scan parameters
- Engage the motor drive for the scanners
- Adjust the scan parameters
- Set the desired scan size, scan angle, and offsets
These steps are explained in detail below.
An AFM has three basic operation modes: contact mode, non-contact mode, and tapping mode. Tapping mode is a patented technique by Digital Instruments. In contact mode, the tip makes contact with the surface (or interacts in a regime dominated by near field forces). In non-contact mode, the tip does not make contact with the surface but is instead dominated by far field forces. To select the mode of operation on a Digital Instruments machine, set the AFM Mode to either tapping or contact in the Other Controls panel.
To mount the probe tip in the cantilever holder, use a magnifying lens or low power microscope and a pair of fine-tipped tweezers. Using the tweezers, grab a probe tip by the sides and place it on the cantilever holder. Be sure that the probe tip is in firm contact with the end of the groove. For tapping mode AFM, use an etched single crystal silicon probe; for contact mode AFM, use a silicon nitride probe. Once the probe tip is mounted to the cantilever holder, mount the holder onto the end of the scanner head.
Next, align the laser so that it is on the cantilever using the two screws on the top of the scanner. For tapping mode AFM, the SUM signal should be ~ 2 volts; for contact mode AFM, the SUM signal should be 4-6 volts.
Next, adjust the photodetector so that the red dot moves towards the center of the square. This can be done using the two screws on the side of the scanner. For tapping mode AFM, center the red dot and set the vertical deflection to a value close to 0 volts. For contact mode AFM, the horizontal deflection should be ~ 0 volts and the vertical deflection should be approximately -2 volts.
Next, locate the tip. Using the mouse, select Stage/Locate Tip. Center the tip on the cantilever under the cross hairs using the two adjustment screws to the left of the optical objective on the microscope. Focus on the tip end of the cantilever using the trackball while holding down the bottom left button. Next, focus on the surface of the sample. Select Stage/Focus Surface. The optics will move to a focus position ~ 1 mm below the tip. Focus on the sample surface by rolling the trackball up or down while pressing the bottom left button. This adjustment raises or lowers the vertical engage stage on which the SPM and optics are mounted. Ensure that the tip does not hit the sample surface. Move the desired measurement point under the cross hairs with the trackball without holding down any of the buttons. If you are performing tapping mode AFM, you will now need to tune the cantilever. Click on View/Cantilever Tune. For auto tune controls, make sure that the Start Frequency is at 100 kHz and the End Frequency is at 500 kHz. Target Amplitude should be between 2 and 3 volts. Click on Auto Tune. A "Tuning" message should appear and then disappear once the Auto Tune is done. When done, exit the Cantilever Tune control panel.
Next, set the initial scan parameters. In the Scan Controls panel, set the initial scan size to 1 µm, the X and Y offsets to 0, and the scan angle to 0.
Open the Feedback Controls menu. For tapping mode AFM, set the integral gain to 0.5, the proportional gain to 0.7, and the scan rate to 2 Hz. For contact mode AFM, set the setpoint to 0 volts, the integral gain to 2.0, the proportional gain to 3.0, and the scan rate to 2 hertz. You should now be ready to engage the drive motors for imaging.
Next, engage the scan motors by clicking on the Motor Engage menu item. For tapping mode, select View/Scope Mode. Check to see if Trace and Retrace are tracking correctly. If they are tracking, the lines should look the same, but they will not necessarily overlap each other, either horizontally or vertically. If they are tracking well, then your tip is scanning on the sample surface. You may want to try keeping a minimum force between the tip and sample by clicking on Setpoint and using the right arrow key to gradually increase the setpoint value until the tip lifts off the surface. At this point, the Trace and Retrace will no longer track each other. Next, decrease the setpoint with the left arrow key until the Trace and Retrace follow each other again. Decrease the setpoint one or two arrow clicks more to make sure that the tip will continue to track the surface. Choose View/Image Mode to view the image. If Trace and Retrace are not tracking well, adjust the scan rate, gains, and/or the setpoint to improve the tracking. If Trace and Retrace look completely different, you may need to decrease the setpoint one or two clicks with the left arrow key until the two lines begin to have common features. Next, reduce Scan Rate to the lowest speed with which you feel comfortable. For scan sizes of 1 - 3 µm, try scanning at 2 Hz. For 5 - 10 µm, try 1 hertz. For large scans, try 0.5 - 1 Hz.
Using the right arrow key, simultaneously increase the Integral Gain and the Proportional Gain. The proportional gain can usually be 30 to 100 percent more than the integral gain. The tracking should improve as the gains increase. However, after a maximum value, the noise will increase as the feedback loop starts to oscillate. If this happens, reduce the gains until the noise minimizes. If Trace and Retrace still do not track satisfactorily, try reducing the setpoint. Once the tip is tracking the surface, choose "View/Image Mode" to view the image.
In contact AFM mode, use the right arrow key to increase the setpoint and observe the Z-Center Position. If the line in the Z-Center Position moves far to the extended end, the tip is false engaged. Increase the setpoint by + 2 volts and execute the engage command again. If the Z-Center Position does not change greatly, you are probably on the sample surface and should go to View/Scope Mode to see how well Trace and Retrace are tracking each other. Adjust the gains, scan rate, and setpoint if needed. Remember, increasing the setpoint in contact mode increases the force on the sample. Minimizing the imaging force is recommended for most applications.
Once the scan parameters are optimized, adjust scan size and other features related to image capturing. When changing the scan size value, keep in mind that the scan rate must be lowered for larger scan sizes.
When is Scanning Probe Microscopy Performed?
Scanning Probe Microscopy requires that the surface of interest be exposed to contact the SPM tip or approach it in non-contact mode. Therefore, sample preparation is necessary and important to make SPM useful.
Most modern SPM systems can contact a packaged IC die with the appropriate SPM head. This feature will be necessary for most failure analysis applications. For high resolution topographical measurements, it may be necessary to work with bare die samples or wafers.
Figure 1 - Atomic Force Microscope scan of an integrated circuit.
Figure 2 - Atomic Force Microscope scan at higher magnification.
References on Scanning Probe Microscopy
- G. Binnig and H. Rohrer, "Scanning Tunneling Microscopy," IBM Journal of Research and Development, Vol. 30, No. 4, July 1986, pp. 355-369.
- G. Binnig, C. F. Quate, and Ch. Gerber, "Atomic Force Microscope," Physical Review Letters, Vol. 56, No. 9, March 3, 1986, pp. 930-933.
- H. K. Wickramasinghe, "Scanned-Probe Microscopes," Scientific American, Oct. 1989, pp. 98-105.
- D. Rugar and P. Hansma, "Atomic Force Microscopy," Physics Today, Oct. 1990, pp. 23-30.
- R. M. Feenstra, and J. E. Griffith, "Semiconductor Characterization with Scanning Probe Microscopes," Semiconductor Characterization: Present Status and Future Trends, 1996, pp. 295-307.
- J. J. Kopanski, J. F. Marchiando, and J. R. Lowney, "Scanning Capacitance Microscopy Measurements and Modeling for Dopant Profiling of Silicon," Semiconductor Characterization: Present Status and Future Trends, 1996, pp. 308-312.
- T. McWaid, J. Schneir, J. S. Villarrubia, R. Dixson, and V. W. Tsai, "Progress Toward Accurate Metrology Using Atomic Force Microscopy," Semiconductor Characterization: Present Status and Future Trends, 1996, pp. 313-317.
- G. Neubauer, A. Erickson, C. C. Williams, J. J. Kopanski, M. Rodgers, and D. Adderton, "2D- Scanning Capacitance Microscopy Measurements of Cross-Sectioned VLSI Test Structures," Semiconductor Characterization: Present Status and Future Trends, 1996, pp. 318-321.
- W. Vandervorst, P. DeWolf, T. Clarysse, T. Trenkler, L. Hellemans, J. Snauwaert and V. Raineri, "Carrier Profile Determination in Device Structures Using AFM-Based Methods," Semiconductor Characterization: Present Status and Future Trends, 1996, pp. 322-326.
- H. F. Hess and E. Betzig, "Applications of Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscopy," Semiconductor Characterization: Present Status and Future Trends, 1996, pp. 395-398.
- A. N Campbell, E. I. Cole, B. A. Dodd and R. E. Anderson, "Internal Current Probing of Integrated Circuits Using Magnetic Force Microscopy," Proc. International Reliability Physics Symposium, April 1993, pp. 168-177.
- R. M. Cramer, L. J. Balk, R. Chin, R. Boylan, S. B. Kämmer, F. J. Reineke, M. Utlaut, "The Use of Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscopy for Failure Analysis of ULSI Circuits," Proc. Int. Symp. Test. and Fail. Anal., Nov. 1996, pp. 19-24.
- G. M. Fiege, R. M. Cramer, L. Balk, F. Reineke, "Temperature Profiling with Highest Spatial and Temperature Resolution by Means of Scanning Thermal Microscopy (SThM)," Proc. Int. Symp. Test. and Fail. Anal., Oct. 1997, pp. 51-56.
- M. Masters, J. Stinkman, P. Kaszuba, "Qualitative Kelvin Probing for Diffusion Profiling," Proc. Int. Symp. Test. and Fail. Anal., Nov. 1995, pp. 9-13.
- A. Majumdar, "Thermal Microscopy and Heat Generation in Electronic Devices," Handout Material at the 8th European Symposium on the Reliability of Electron Devices, Failure Physics and Analysis, Oct. 1997.
- F. Müller, A. D. Müller, M. Hietschold, S. Kämmer, "Applications of Scanning Electron Force Microscopy," Microelectronics and Reliability, Vol. 37, No. 10/11, Oct./Nov. 1997, pp. 1631-1634.
- G. Neubauer, M. Lawrence, A. Dass, T. Johnson, "Imaging VLSI Cross Sections by Atomic Force Microscopy," Proc. Int. Reliab. Phys. Symp., April 1992, pp. 299-303.
- T. Hochwitz, A. K. Henning, C. Daghlian, R. Bolam, P. Coutu, R. Gluck, J. Slinkman, "DRAM Failure Analysis with the Force-Based Scanning Kelvin Probe," Proc. Int. Reliab. Phys. Symp., April 1995, pp. 217-222.
- A. Majumdar, K. Luo, J. Lai, and Z. Shi, "Failure Analysis of Sub-Micrometer Devices and Structures Using Scanning Thermal Microscopy," Proc. Int. Reliab. Phys. Symp., April 1996, pp. 342-345.
- J. Colvin, "Advanced Methods for Imaging Gate Oxide Defects with the Atomic Force Microscope," Proc. Int. Symp. Test. and Fail. Anal., Oct. 1992, pp. 267-277.


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Fossils that can be found at the Calvert Cliffs of MD
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« Intelligent Design Creationism Shows Off Its Marketing Skills Again
A Note on Marketing Science »
April 28, 2005
A Marketing Plan for Biology: Part 2 - the Market
If you want to read Part 1, follow this link.
Before any marketing plan can be development, a little market research is in order. We need to know what we are up against and what are reasonable marketing goals. Normally this is an iterative process that starts with easy to obtain research results and then a market research regiment that will improve the understanding of the market and the competition is defined. I'm not sure our marketing budget can afford this approach. A survey of publicly available poll results will need to suffice. The goal of this survey is to determine the current "market" share for modern biological science vs. creationism and to get a sense of how firm "brand" acceptance is. To maintain some focus, only polls take in the US will be considered. Also, in this survey I am not considering polls of what scientists think. Only what biologists think would be relevant. They are a small, if highly dedicated, part of the general public and they overwhelmingly (~99%) are evolutionists. It is exactly their "product" that I seek to market.
I will start with various polls that have been done over the last few years. I believe NBC's telephone poll taken between March 8 and 10, of this year, is the most recent. This poll was entitled Religion and American Life and most of the questions concerned religion. The fourteenth question and its results are as follows:
Which do you think is more likely to actually be the explanation for the origin of human life on earth: evolution or the biblical account of creation?
Margin of error: plus or minus 3%
- Evolution - 33%
- Total biblical account of creation - 57%
- Don't know/none of the above - 10%
Observations concerning this poll:
First, the total context of the poll dealt with religion. After thirteen questions on religion, spiritually and the relationship between religion and government and religion and various social issues this, the only question that concerns belief in a scientific subject, appears. It is likely that respondents interpreted the question as a religious question rather than a science question.
Second, only two questions had more "don't know" type responses: "What is your religion?" (14% not sure/refused) and "Do you think of yourself as more of a religious person or more of a spiritual person, or do you think of yourself as neither?" (11% Don't know). The question with the next fewer "don't knows" (8%) was the first question in the poll, "Would you say that things in the country are going in the right direction, or have they pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?"
Third, the question focused on human life only. There are miss-guided popular evolutionists who think that evolution, while applying to plants and other animals in some way does not apply to humans. I have no hard data on this but many of my business colleagues have ideas something like this.
All of this makes me think that the 33% thinking evolution explains the origin of human life is somewhat understated and the 57% favoring the biblical account is somewhat overstated. By how much? I'm not sure but other polls may tell us. And, it is better to use the most pessimistic numbers for planning purposes.
Now, let's look at the November 2004 nationwide Gallop poll as reported by the National Center for Science Education .
Which of the following statements comes closest to your views on the origin and development of human beings?
- Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process. - 38%
- Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process. - 13%
- God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so. - 45%
- The remainder expressed no opinion.
As the National Center for Science Education notes:
These results are also similar to those from previous Gallup polls, which extend back to 1982.
Another relevant question was,
Which of the following statements comes closest to describing your views about the Bible?
The Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word, -34%
The Bible is the inspired word of God but not everything in it should be taken literally, - 48%
The Bible is an ancient book of fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man?" - 15%
The remainder expressed no opinion.
Note that fewer people think that the Bible should be taken literally than believe that god created humans in their present form rather recently and this by a significant margin (34% to 45%). I'm not sure what to think of this, other than it may indicate a softness in their opinions.
For the reasons noted, the Gallop poll likely reflects the national perspective on the issue of evolution better than the NBC poll.
The demographic assessment is also important.
Demographically, the article reports, belief that evolution is well-supported by the evidence is strongest "among those with the most education, liberals, those living in the West, those who seldom attend church, and ... Catholics," and weakest among "those with the least education, older Americans ..., frequent church attendees, conservatives, Protestants, those living in the middle of the country, and Republicans."
I will return to the point about Catholics and evolution in a later post. I think it has strategic importance and I hope the new pope doesn't take it away from us.
Another recent Gallop poll focused on the opinions of teenagers. I quote from the Western Recorder.
The survey of 1,028 teenagers ages 13-17 found that 38 percent of respondents don't believe in evolution, believing instead that "God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so."
Another 43 percent believe that humans "developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided" the process. All total, 81 percent believe that God was somehow involved.
Only 18 percent believe that evolution took place without God playing a role.
The Gallup poll also asked teens their opinion about the evidence behind Darwin's theory of evolution. Only 37 percent said they thought Darwin's theory was "well supported by evidence." Thirty percent said it was "just one of many theories" and one that "has not been well supported by evidence." Thirty-three percent said they did not yet know enough about Darwin's theory to answer the question.
Two observations: first, 33% of teenagers thought they did not know enough. This is good news. They are educable. Second, by a significant margin (18% vs. 45%), teenagers were less likely to believe in evolution than adults if a god was not involved. This is not such good news.
A November 2004 poll conducted by CBS is also instructive. This poll was conducted between November 18 and 21. Much of this poll dealt with the distribution of beliefs about evolution between voting blocks, I will start with the voting block neutral results and then look at what I think is the most relevant of the other data. If anyone has or knows how to get the actual questions and raw data from this poll, I would like to see it.
On creation verses evolution:
- God created humans in present form - 55%
- Humans evolved, God guided the process - 27%
- Humans evolved, God did not guide process - 13%
- Don't know - 5%
Margin of error: plus or minus 3%
The percentage of respondents who think god created humans in the present form in this poll is about the same as in the NBC poll. While many biologists think those who agreed that humans evolved with god guiding the process are (or may be) wrong minded, I believe that they are an important segment that needs to be mobilized by our marketing effort. More on this below and in a later post. For now, suffice it to say that, they are a significant group of evolutionists among the general public.
Because the current battlefield, chosen by the creationists, is the classroom, this poll's question about what should be taught is important.
- Creationism and evolution - 65%
- Creationism instead of evolution - 37%
I don't know what the exact questions were, but on the face of it this is very scary stuff. I think the numbers add to more than 100% because there were at least two different questions with all or most of the second group responding favorably to a "creationism and evolution" question. This indicates that the "teach the controversy" advocates are currently winning the PR war at the grass roots level. Note that a higher percentage think that creationism and evolution should be taught than think god created humans in present form. I worry that there is a kind of "fairness" doctrine that affect these numbers. One of the things we may need to overcome is this particular spirit of fairness when it comes to pseudo-science.
A couple of regional polls are instructive. A poll conducted between January 31 and February 10, 2005 in Georgia is referred to as the Peachtree Poll. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%.
- Public schools should teach evolution to the exclusion of other theories - 17%
- Religious theories should be included in the classroom - 54%
- Schools should not teach evolution at all - 23%
- Didn't know - 6%
This is actually more favorable to evolution than the CBS poll. Only 23% as opposed to 37% nationally believe that only some form of creationism should be taught. Again the difference could well depend on the way the question was asked and where it came in the poll. My guess is that in the case of the Georgia poll, these responses came from the same question rather than different questions. This would explain the lower numbers in the Georgia poll.
The other recent regional poll was of college freshmen in Minnesota. The poll was conducted by the Minnesota Daily in March of this year.
83 percent of University students believe in the theory that humans evolve over time. The remaining 17 percent of respondents believe God created man 10,000 years ago and humans have not evolved.
That is good news but care should be taken. First, notice that the choice seemed to be between evolution and some form of young earth creationism. Second, when this same data is presented in pie chart form the captions are "Man evolved, either with or without, gods guidance (83%)" and "God created man in the present form and man has not evolved (17%)"
I need to mention and dispose of the online poll conducted by the American Society of Agronomy (ASA). Voluntary online polls are worthless. Jason Rosenhouse at Evolutionblog says "worse than useless." And the way Dembski and the ID creationists have misused this so-called poll proves his point.
A word of caution about polls: They are only valid if use descriptively. There is always a dangerous risk of using them proscriptively. In other words, polls offer a measure of how things are. They say nothing about how they should be. Reed Cartwright, writing for Panda's Thumb is correct in criticizing the misuse of a 2001 Zogby poll and a Steinberg Poll. In a Senate amendment to the No Child Left Behind Act that was dropped in conference committee, it appears that Senator Santorum was using these polls proscriptively.
Finally, I want to turn to a few qualitative issues. First, there have been several articles on the various pressures on teachers to be less than rigorous in teaching evolution. You can read about them here and there. Early in the life of this blog I did a post on one. I quote from a March 23, 2005 USA Today article.
Nearly one-third of science teachers who participated in a national survey say they feel pressured to include creationism-related ideas in the classroom.
This does not bode well for good science teaching. Teachers, like all of us, adjust their approach when they feel intimidated. Any marketing strategy must support teachers at all levels.
Second, opinion leaders as highly placed as the President of the United States have encouraged anti-science thinking with well publicized remarks. In the 2000 campaign President Bush famously said,
On the issue of evolution, the verdict is still out on how God created the Earth.
He also said at the same time.
I'd make it a goal to make sure that local folks got to make the decision as to whether or not they said Creationism has been a part of our history, and whether or not people ought to be exposed to different theories as to how the world was formed.
These ideas strengthen creationists on two fronts. First, they give authority to pseudo -science and second, they contribute to false ideas about the democratization of scientific results. This caution is similar to our caution about using polls proscriptively. Scientific results are independent of public or Presidential opinion.
This post is already longer than I wanted, but there is one more item that needs to be addressed: "brand recognition." Do the users of other brands know about your brand? Do they know enough to make an informed choice? I could find no hard data on these questions with regard to creationism and evolution. For reasons I will develop in a subsequent post, I believe that there is very high brand recognition of all competing brands. Nearly all creationists have heard of evolution and nearly all evolutionists have heard of creationism. However, creationists tend to know far less about evolution then evolutionists know about creationism? This impedes informed choice on the part of creationists.
Tentative Conclusions:
Based on the polls surveyed above it appears to me that the following is a good working summary of the current "market share" or, perhaps better, "brand acceptance" in the market we are studying. Any attempt to be more precise than one digit would be futile and useless.
- Hard core, young Earth creationists (YEC) - 10%
- Those that are certain that a creator had a major hand in things but are not YECs - 40%
- Those that believe a god or gods influenced an otherwise evolutionary process - 30%
- Scientific evolutionists (no god needed, but not necessarily no god) - 20%
In other words, the split is about 50/50 between creationists and evolutionists. Where do I put ID creationist in the mix? They are in the second group. However, I suspect that very few members of the general public would view themselves as ID creationists.
The real problem is not just the numbers. It is the level of dedication to their brand. The YECs are immovably dedicated and many are aggressive in their dedication. They believe that the price of changing their position is eternal damnation for themselves. In addition, they believe that they have an obligation to save everyone else from the damnation that they fear. This group must be marginalized by any marketing effort.
I worry that much of the second group also worries about theological issues as they consider scientific issues but there just may be some softness in this group that can, over time, be converted to our brand. Our strategy must move some of these folks into the third group. Care must be taken not to harden any soft positions in this group.
Some members of the third group must be moved into the fourth group.
The real problem we have is long-term commitments that translate into significant market inertia. Remember that the Gallop numbers have barely changed since 1982! What has changed is that the marketing effort of the competition has greatly intensified. They may not be increasing market share but they are increasing share of mind. Over time share of mind translates into market share, not to mention political power.
In the next post, Part III, I will work to further segment the market and define specific measurable goals for the campaign. I will also sharpen some definitions. I have left some things a little vague as we plowed through the data. Then, in perhaps part IV, I will outline and evaluate that marketing strategy of the competition.
Posted by Duane Smith at April 28, 2005 7:58 PM | Read more on Evolution |
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Probably what we need to do is lobby the Gallup polling organization to do a poll on science, the real stuff that involves evolution, and see how that comes out.
I would like to see a poll which, without having twenty questions on faith before, asks: "If you got a diagnosis of cancer, if required to choose, would you rely on prayer without medical treatment, or would you rely on medical treatment without prayer?"
"If you were told that a cure for your cancer is completely the product of Darwin's theory of evolution, would refuse treatment because you find the theory to be sinful?"
"Do you think that children in public schools should be acquainted with the most important ideas from western civilization, generally?
"Do you think that children should learn about Marx's economic and political ideas in history classes, as they pertain to the development of the Soviet Union and Cold War?"
"Do you think children in history classes should be encouraged to question the Constitution and U.S. forms of government, and critically consider alternatives such as communism or monarchy?"
"On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being completely incompetent and 10 being a master, rate your abilty to do mathematics . . . understanding of history . . . understanding of biology . . . chemistry . . . physics . . . economics . . . civics . . ." etc.
"In your pre-college schooling, did you spend a significant amount of time being taught Darwinian evolution, to the point that you can carefully explain what it is Darwin proposed and the science he used as evidence to back it up?"
A poll on what people really know, and how they come to know it, about science, not posing it as something different from faith, would provide useful and interesting results.
Posted by: Ed Darrell at April 30, 2005 9:09 AM
I couldn't agree more. If the "marketing budget" was greater, I would go after the exact information you ant polled for. It would also be good to use focus group to fine tune the data. But, alas, we must work with what we have. I a latter post I will indicate how some of this information can be gleaned from existing data but this post was just getting too long.
Posted by: Duane at April 30, 2005 10:25 AM
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The world of computing is continuously evolving, and the way how computers and machines understand our inputs moved from a simple input through a keyboard through detecting moves in two dimensions thanks to a mouse and trackball? all the way to computer algorithms predicting our moves on a touchpad.
When Synaptics invented the world's first touch pad in 1995, the compute power of a whole PC was less than a Touch Controller ASIC which monitors the touchpad input on today's mobile devices. The base principle on how a touchpad operates did not change since its introduction, even though there are many differences between good and bad touchpads. You all have probably experienced 'laggy' response times on notebooks and smartphones/tablets.
Last week, we got the opportunity to sit down with executives and engineers from Synaptics and discuss the current and future trends in the world of touch, which become a pervasive way how we interact with computing devices of today – notebooks, tablets, smartphones, check-in kiosks, infotainment systems and so on, and so forth.
Touch Technology
To understand the level of innovation that Synaptics is bringing with a technology named ForcePad, we need to take a look at how touchpad actually works and where the secret sauce lies. First and foremost, a standard touchpad featured simple profile sensing technology. You have a grid of sensors consisted of X and Y channels, and based on your input (pen, tip of the finger) the projected signal would guestimate where your input is moving. The technology was also known as resistive touch and unfortunately, this technology had a lot of drawbacks, giving birth to contemporary systems such as trans-capacitive image sensing e.g. capacitive touch.
Capacitive touch consists of a series of receivers and transmitters (instead of channels), and every overlap of receiver and transmitter features a capacitor. This technology enabled more precise use of bare fingers, but still susceptible to misdetection, which results in lack of precision.
Furthermore, several mobile phone designs experienced jittering issues when the phone is connected to the charger, due to filtering of the current. Working on resolving these issues, Synaptics won many design wins in the PC, Tablet and Smartphone markets. But the company is now ready to take one step further? into the world of three dimensions, but the third dimension is not the one you might think at the first moment.
According to Godfrey Cheng (Vice President of Marketing PC Division) and Ted Theochung (Vice President WW Marketing, Product Management, Business Development & Alliances), ForcePad represents the single biggest step in touchpad development. The company worked on creating a new touchpad with both the new single silicon which replaced multiple chips from the past (for example, one 2011 tablet had as much as 5-6 touch controller chips, all replaced with a single one). The new Touch Controller ASIC enabled the control sensor to build a three-dimensional capacitive image – position, width and force. As the name implies, Synaptics developed force detection to enable a more immersive experience.
Quite a good example where ForcePad could be used would be computer games and the professional 3D applications. By applying force of up to one kilogram (2.2lbs), sensor array will detect up to five fingers on a single pad. We have tried several demonstration applications, and were quite impressed with the responsiveness. Even though the demonstrating device was a Lenovo Ultrabook running Microsoft Windows 8 operating system, we believe this technology could change the world of mobile gaming. Once the company is able to put its ForcePad technology on its bread and butter product, the ClearPad (capacitive multi-touch sensor, up to 1mm thinner than the competitors) – mobile gaming could start moving away from conventional digital and analog controls.
In order to achieve that, the ForcePad brings 6-bit, 15 gram resolution with no less than 64 pressure levels. In terms of fidelity on a flat surface, this is as good as it can currently get. We also asked Synaptics' representatives why the company did not go with a 8-bit resolution, which would enable a finer level of detection (for pens). The answer was that even though the pad would be capable of handling 8-bit precision, the response time was a paramount and there were no differences between 6- and 8-bit devices. Given the very imprecise nature of human hands, Synaptics believes they've found the sweet spot which should enable them an edge over the competition.
The ForcePad is not exclusive mobile device. We found out that there will be desktop models coming to market as well, even though the identity of brands and manufacturers were not disclosed at press time. The existing Ultrabook design wins from HP, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo and Sony only go to show that Synaptics established themselves as the bearer of premium experience, with the biggest battle being showing the Far Eastern vendors that 10 or so cent saving on a touchpad (yes, these components are fairly cheap, yet very important part of your computing experience) and ruining the consumer experience. Naturally, we've seen different design claims by multiple touch vendors, but we see potential in just three manufacturers – with Synaptics leading the market.
We believe that the ForcePad has a place as a companion (or replacement) to traditional mice on the desktop computer with the introduction of Windows 8. After having used Windows 8 and seeing the features that Synaptics and Microsoft have built into it, there is no doubt that having something like a ForcePad or any Synaptics touchpad would prove extremely valuable.
From the looks of it, ForcePad just might be on the verge of touching the future. We will follow up with more details on ClearPad and Keyboard in our follow up article.


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I had my 39 week appointment this afternoon. The NST came back good. The doctor asked how I had been feeling, and I have been feeling some contractions off and on this week but not that much. Mainly though the baby has gotten lower and is getting REALLY uncomfortable. I feel ok sitting down, but when I walk my pelvis really feels sore and it hurts to move around. It varies from sometimes just feeling uncomfortable to other times outright hurting to walk.
She checked my cervix and found that the baby has dropped "some" but is still not super low. I was surprised to hear that -- how would I be feeling if the baby were any lower?! I have not dialted any since last week, still at a fingertip, just under 1cm. But my cervix is softer than last week and 30% effaced which is an improvement too.
We also talked about my doctor situation. "My" doctor is on a 3-week trip to South America, so she set me up with the Dr I saw today (saw her last week too). But the back-up doctor will also be gone next week, so she needed to find me another doctor, and especially since I've been uncomfortable she wanted to find someone to talk to about possible inductions, rather than letting me just ride along until my next appointment with "my" dr on Sept 10, more than a week past my due date. So the dr she wanted me to see has his office hours Mondays and Thursdays...but Monday is a holiday so the office won't be closed... so it would mean going 10 days. But he is going to be the on call doc at the hospital this weekend. And add to that, my blood pressure was up some and my discomfort, and we got around to having her schedule me for an induction to start on Saturday night with Cytotec to ripen the cervix followed by pitocin on Sunday morning (if necessary) and planning to deliver the baby during the day on Sunday -- the due date.
So I am going to have the baby within the next week! I'm excited about that but also feel kind of like, should I have agreed to the induction which seems to be more for scheduling reasons than for medical reasons? But it's on my due date so it's not like I've agreed to do an induction at week 37 or anything...and it wasn't even my idea, it was the doctors, and I trust that they know what they're doing.... I am a little worried that if things go wrong or I end up with a c-sec I might regret agreeing to the induction. But mostly I am just excited because I really want to have the baby already, and you can't ask for a more convenient time in terms of scheduling than a 3-day weekend. So I guess this baby still has about 4 days to choose its own birthday and otherwise I'll have the baby right on time on Sept 2!


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main index
Shattered Union is a turn-based strategy game on hex maps, released on PC and Xbox in 2005, on Steam 2006. The game is set in 2014. Six years prior to the beginning of the game, David Jefferson Adams is elected as America's 44th President, and a highly unpopular one at that, resulting in high levels of domestic unrest, terrorism, and armed resistance that leads to the instituting of martial law. After he gets himself a second term in a blatant sham election, domestic terrorists detonate a low-yield nuclear device over Washington, DC on Inauguration Day, killing most of the United States federal government and breaking the line of presidential succession. In the interest of maintaining trade relations, The European Union dispatches detachments of armed peacekeepers into the ruins of Washington to help rebuild the city, maintain order, and eventually reestablish the original government. They are less than popular with the locals.In fact, they are so unpopular that, soon after their arrival, California and Texas declare home rule and secede from the Union. Many other states soon follow; within months, the only states still pledging loyalty to the original government are the ones under European Union control. Sooner or later someone's nerves get the better of them and a shot is fired, and the Second American Civil War is officially underway, with every single faction fighting every single other faction for control of the nation. Meanwhile, Russia, under an ultranationalist government, invades and annexes Alaska, claiming that it was rightfully theirs to begin with.Gameplay-wise, Shattered Union is divided into a strategic map in which you control higher-level decisions at the country level, and a tactical map in which you fight the actual battles, both turn based. Each faction gains money every turn based on the number of territories they control and the amount of resources in each territory. In each turn, factions can buy, scrap, or repair existing units and attack territories; when attacking or being attacked, the game zooms down to the tactical map level and combat occurs. Combat is stat-based, with each unit type having a number of effectiveness ratings against different other unit types, modified by things such as range, terrain, weather condition, etc. Each faction also has a number of special abilities that can be deployed in combat, some of them positively affecting friendly units and others negatively affecting hostile units; these abilities typically have a lengthy cooldown.It is stated that a movie adaptation of the game will be made by Disney with Jerry Bruckheimer directing and written by J. Michael Straczynski.
This work provides examples of:


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Hexagons in Bloom: More ArtPrize Stitching
This bloom was made with a necktie that once belonged to Lewis William Seidman. It was sent to me by his niece, Allison Aller, who happens to be a very talented quilter. She heard about the project through a friend and thought her "Uncle Bill" would have been pleased to have his power tie in the quilt. It was so fun to open the package and find this whale tie from Nantucket inside. (Great pick, Allison!)
I'm going to be posting loads of hexagon blooms on the blog in the coming days because I will be cranking them out fast for ArtPrize. There's nothing like crafting on deadline. I made three blooms today before leaving to do an interview and then another quick one when I got back. And there will be plenty more tonight. I'm on a roll, my friends, and stitching reinforcements are on the way. (You rock, Cyd!)
Okay, I better get back to work.
Posted: July 10th, 2010 under ArtPrize, English Paper Piecing, Hexagons, Sewing.
Comments: 1
Comment from Beth
Time: July 12, 2010, 10:37 am
I really like the whale pattern. Very nice. :)
I can't wait to see the completed entry and I'm glad you've got help on the way. :)


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Product Realization
Limited only by the current periodic table, the Metal Micromachining Program produces functional coatings and high aspect ratio 2.5D electroformed structures too small for traditional machining. With structures ranging from micron to millimeter scale, ultra-thick lithography, electrochemical deposition, and precision planarization can be used to alter devices' physical properties through the application of precise metal coatings or to form structures on virtually any planar or semi-planar surface. This specialized capability allows the team to help customers develop, design, and fabricate innovative, even unusual, products never-before thought possible.


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- Open letter to Chris Petersen
- Muschamp Intensity Meter
- Florida's Troubles Start with Meyer's Recruiting
- Revisionist History: Has Urban Meyer become Anakin Skywalker?
- Expect Gators Recruiting to Close Strong
- What Buckeye fans should know about Urban Meyer
- Fans not interested in Jaguars
- A Perspective on Planking: The Evolution of a Revolution
- A Loss at LSU Will NOT Kill the Gators' Season
- Are the Gators better without Bradley Beal?
Tag Archives: Billy Donovan
Gators-BYU Sweet 16 Betting Preview
March 18, 2010. Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. A legend was born that day. The legend of the Jimmer. This was the last meeting between BYU and our Florida Gators. A few analysts had picked the BYU star as … Continue reading
I Wanna Get Ya in the Georgia Dome
Those of you who did not give up on Gator basketball a couple years ago have witnessed something special these past two seasons. In 2010, the team returned to the Big Dance after a two year hiatus that dwindled attendance … Continue reading
Is Patric Young the next Donnell Harvey?
Like most Florida fans, I've been thoroughly impressed with what little I've seen of Patric Young. The freshman has been very effective off the bench for Billy Donovan, providing toughness on the interior in the form of solid defense and … Continue reading
Gators/Vols and my most hated center
A high school player verbally commits to Florida after his sophomore season in high school. He becomes an all american during his senior season and solidifies the #1 recruiting class in the nation and probably the top class in the … Continue reading
All Hated Team PF and Cocks Pick
So it is time to add another player to the most controversial team in the history of Bourbonmeyer.com. Once again we are honoring another 4 year player who didn't accomplish squat during his time in Gainesville. PF – Chandler Parsons … Continue reading
My most hated Gators team and a betting pick
So before I give you the pick for today's Miss State vs Florida matchup, I am debuting the starting lineup for the Gators I really don't like. We are sticking with all Billy Donovan era players, because as far as … Continue reading
Gator Hoopsters Have Regressed
As quickly as the Gators hoops team climbed the mountain on Saturday, they fell off the cliff Monday. The Kansas State win will certainly carry a lot of weight come March. So too will the loss to Jacksonville and its RPI … Continue reading
Gator Basketball, It's FANTASTIC
BourbonMeyer.com is definitely football based, but in actuality most of us love hoops. We played intramurals at UF, we play pickup games against Gator players (Udonis Haslem, Teddy Dupay, Percy Harvin…the list goes on). So it's only fair we give … Continue reading
2010-2011 Men's Gator Basketball Schedule
The SEC Opponents and dates were released today, so here is the completed schedule including TV watching opportunities. Bourbon Meyer is salivating at all the games on TV. DATE Gator Bait Place TIME TV Thu, Oct 28 Florida Tech Gainesville, … Continue reading
Bourbon Meyer: Gator "Tails"..
So this is a potentially Part 1/Part2 situation…But for now we are going to cover a few of the Gainesville Trysts that some of the Bourbon Meyer writers have experienced with sports related figures (mostly Gator athletes)…Let's get to the … Continue reading


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GE Energy's EntelliGuard® Retrofill Power Circuit Breaker with the Reduced Energy Let Through (RELT) alternate instantaneous setting feature can provide enhanced arc flash protection as part of a lockout/tagout procedure on electrical equipment. RELT annunciation can be direct or indirect, either locally on the equipment or remotely via control devices or the industrial network.
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CBC News
|Department of the CBC
|January 1, 1941
|CBC Ottawa Broadcast Centre,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
|Area served
|Specific services for Canada and rest of world
|Radio and television broadcasts
CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on CBC Television, Radio and online services. Founded in 1941, CBC News is the largest news broadcaster in Canada with local, regional and national broadcasts and stations.
News output[edit]
The Television News section of CBC News is responsible for the main news programs on CBC News Network and Réseau de l'information, as well as producing local supper hour news programs, national news programs like The National and Le Téléjournal, and news, business, weather and sports information on Air Canada's inflight entertainment.[1]
The distinctive music on all CBC television news programs was introduced in 2006. It was part of the extensive rebranding of all news programming under the CBC News title.
Local news[edit]
Most local newscasts on CBC Television are currently branded as CBC News: [city/province name], such as CBC News: Toronto at Six. Local newscasts on the French network are branded as Le Téléjournal followed by the city or region they serve (e.g. Le Téléjournal Montréal).
CBC Radio News produces on the hour updates for the CBC's national radio stations and provides content for regional updates. The majority of news and information is aired on CBC Radio One and Première Chaîne.
CBC News Online is the CBC's CBC.ca news website. Launched in 1996, it is one of the most popular news websites in Canada.[2] The website contains exhaustive regional, national, and international news coverage as well as arts and entertainment, and sport news. Many reports are accompanied by Podcasting, audio and video from the CBC's television and radio news services.
Weather Centre[edit]
In November 2005, the CBC News: Weather Centre was established to cover local and international weather data provided by Environment Canada. The Weather Centre is currently headed by meteorologist Claire Martin.[3]
CBC News' programming currently consists of the following television programs.
- The National, flagship news program, hosted by Peter Mansbridge
- CBC News Now
- the fifth estate, weekly news magazine
- Doc Zone, flagship documentary series
- The Passionate Eye, documentary series
- Marketplace, consumer news magazine
- The Lang & O'Leary Exchange, business news program
- Power & Politics with Evan Solomon, political news program
- Mansbridge One on One
- Local newscasts
CBC News' programming currently consists of the following radio programs.
- World Report, morning newscast
- The World This Hour, late afternoon newscast
- The World at Six, national dinner-hour newscast
- The World This Weekend
- The House, weekly national political affairs show
- Local newscasts
CBC News Standards[edit]
The CBC follows the Journalistic Standards and Practices which provides the policy framework within which CBC journalism seeks to meet the expectations and obligations it faces from the public.[4]
The CBC sets out to maintain its accuracy, integrity and fairness in its journalism. As a Canadian institution and a press undertaking, CBC set out the Journalistic Standards and Practices and works in compliance with these principles. Balanced viewpoints must be presented through on-the-air discussions. As it is with other public and private journalistic undertakings, credibility in the eyes of the general population is seen as the corporation's most valuable asset. The CBC Ombudsman is completely independent of CBC program staff and management, reporting directly to the President of the CBC and, through the President, to the Corporation's Board of Directors.[5]
CBC News Bureaux[edit]
CBC has reporters stationed in the following cities. Main cities are listed in bold, with the notation (M).
- Whitehorse, Yukon (M)
- Victoria, British Columbia
- Vancouver, British Columbia (M)
- Kamloops, British Columbia
- Kelowna, British Columbia
- Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (M)
- Calgary, Alberta (M)
- Edmonton, Alberta (M)
- Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- Regina, Saskatchewan (M)
- Winnipeg, Manitoba (M)
- Thunder Bay, Ontario
- Windsor, Ontario (M)
- London, Ontario
- Sudbury, Ontario
- Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario
- Hamilton, Ontario
- Toronto, Ontario (M)
- Ottawa, Ontario (M)
- Montreal, Quebec (M)
- Quebec City, Quebec (M)
- Fredericton, New Brunswick (M)
- Saint John, New Brunswick
- Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador
- Moncton, New Brunswick
- Halifax, Nova Scotia (M)
- Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (M)
- Sydney, Nova Scotia
- Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador
- Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador
- St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (M)
- Iqaluit, Nunavut
- London, United Kingdom (M)
- Jerusalem, Israel (M)
- Beijing, China (M)
- Washington, D.C. (M)
- New York, New York (M)
CBC also uses satellite bureaux, with reporters who fly in when a story occurs outside of the bureaux. In the late 1990s, the CBC and other media outlets cut back their overseas operations.
CBC News in other countries[edit]
From 1994 to 2000, the CBC, in a venture with Power Broadcasting (former owner of CKWS in Kingston), jointly owned two networks:
- Newsworld International (NWI), an American cable channel that rebroadcast much of the programming of CBC Newsworld
- Trio, an arts and entertainment channel
In 2000, CBC and Power Broadcasting sold these channels to Barry Diller's USA Networks. Diller's company was later acquired by Vivendi Universal, which in turn was partially acquired by NBC to form NBC Universal. NBC Universal still owns the Trio brand, which no longer has any association with the CBC (and, as of the end of 2005, became an Internet-only broadband channel). However, the CBC continued to program NWI, with much of its programming simulcast on the domestic Newsworld service.
In late 2004, as a result of a further change in NWI's ownership to the INdTV consortium (including Joel Hyatt and former Vice-President of the United States Al Gore), NWI ceased airing CBC programming on August 1, 2005, when it was renamed Current TV.
On September 11, 2001, several American broadcasters without their own news operations, including C-SPAN, carried the CBC's coverage of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City and Washington, DC. In the days after September 11, C-SPAN carried CBC's nightly newscast, The National, anchored by Peter Mansbridge. The quality of this coverage was recognized specifically by the Canadian Journalism Foundation; editor-in-chief Tony Burman later accepted the Excellence in Journalism Award (2004) – for "rigorous professional practice, accuracy, originality and public accountability" – on behalf of the service.
C-SPAN has also carried CBC's coverage of major events affecting Canadians, including:
- Canadian federal elections
- Six days in September 2000 that marked the death and state funeral of Pierre Elliott Trudeau
- The war in Iraq: The National aired on C-SPAN each night for about 3 weeks following the start of the war on Iraq
- The power outage crisis in summer 2003
- Key proceedings in Canadian Parliament
- U.S. presidential elections: In 2004, C-SPAN picked up The National the day after the election for the view from Canadians. In 2008, C-SPAN carried the CBC's coverage of the election.
- State visits and official visits of American presidents to Canada
- Barack Obama inauguration in 2009.
With the launch of Sirius Canada in December 2005, some of the CBC's radio networks (including CBC Radio One, Radio Canada International, and Sirius-exclusives Radio Three and Bande à part channels) are available to Sirius subscribers in the United States.
Foreign correspondents[edit]
- London - Nahlah Ayed / Margaret Evans / Jeff Semple
- Jerusalem - Derek Stoffel / Saša Petricic
- Beijing - Andrew Lee
- Washington DC - Neil Macdonald / Paul Hunter / Keith Boag / Meagan Fitzpatrick / Lyndsay Duncombe
- New York - rotating
See also[edit]
External links[edit]


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|My Games
Posted: April 12, 2010 (07:04 AM)
I tried to write my Reader's Choice Contest review last week, but I couldn't think of anything interesting to say. Sorry.
Here's what I've been watching/playing instead:
I saw Slumdog Millionaire on Film Four last week. I was vaguely aware of all the Oscar-driven hype surrounding this film, but I never saw it at the cinema so I thought I would make the effort to see what all the fuss was about.
It's an entertaining film that moves at a very fast pace and has a great soundtrack. Pretty much a typical Danny Boyle movie. Using Who Wants to be a Millionaire as a structure for the narrative is a great idea because A: it's unique and B: it allows the film to jump quickly between lots of different set-piece scenarios.
Although Boyle tries to be brutal in his portrayal of the suffering endured by slum dwellers, Slumdog is ultimately not designed to be a political statement in the same way that Trainspotting was. This raises questions of authenticity, but I found it easy to enjoy Slumdog as a British film by a British filmaker. Obviously not a wholly accurate representation of Indian culture, but a slick, stylish production that tells a rags-to-riches story that is designed to appeal and relate to a global audience.
Whether this is morally "right" is another question. Salman Rushdie didn't approve, but I made it to the end of Slumdog Millionaire, which is a lot more than I can say for Midnight's Children. It's fantasy, but it's a fantasy that's easy to watch and get caught up in.
Cave have released an iPhone version of ESPgaluda II. It's an excellent port that goes out of its way to make the experience as enjoyable and customisable for iPhone owners as possible. There is an iPhone mode, an Arcade mode, you can change the screen size, determine the position of the buttons of the screen, adjust the difficulty, limit the attack options to make the gameplay as simple or as complex as you life... the degree of customisation is certainly impressive, especially given the £2.99 price.
I have no clue how the scoring system works, though. I've never played a Cave shmup before, but seems a lot more complicated than the Psykio scoring systems. Any ideas?
I was getting pretty tired of David Tennant. His Doctor had become arrogant, cocky and generally unlikeable. I don't think this was Russell Davies's intention; just a natural outcome of the fact that Tennant's Doctor could do no wrong in the eyes of the British public. I also think that the writing itself was running out of places to go, which resulted in stories that were slightly ridiculous and lacking in any real depth.
After two episodes of the new series the change in Doctor and head writer (Stephen Moffat) have definitely improved the show. Matt Smith's Doctor is a throwback to Tom Baker: eccentric and unpredictable but deadly serious when necessary. Moffat seems to be initiating a change in the tone of the show, too. The first two episodes have been a lot scarier than what we've come to expect from Doctor Who since it was resurrected.
There's a long way to go in this series, but so far it all seems pretty exciting. What was great about Saturday's episode was that Matt Smith's Doctor got it wrong, which never happened much when David Tennant was Doctor. Amy Pond, the new companion, saved the day. It was full of traditional Doctor Who scares, ethical dilemmas and sci-fi nonsense as well. In fact, there was almost too much content for 60 minutes. It would have been even better as an old-school seven part serial!
The Daily Mail aren't as impressed by the new series, though. Apparently it's "too sexy" because Karen Gillan wears a short skirt in the opening episode. It was pretty short, but I'm not sure that's anything to complain about.
User: Ben
Posted: April 12, 2010 (06:11 PM)
I stopped watching Tennant a while back - I didn't care for the character anymore. However, I was impressed with Matt Smith in his first episode, but have not had the chance to see the second one yet. And yeah, The Daily Mail's complaint about the show becoming too 'sexy' is just plain dumb. "WHOA A SHORT SKIRT!!!!" Big deal.
User: bloomer
Posted: April 12, 2010 (10:11 PM)
I am heartened to hear what you have said about the new Doctor Who.
I've been in the Australian Doctor Who fan club since I was eight years old, a fact I was just musing about the other day in a survey they sent me. It's been a bit of a bugbear for me that I have not enjoyed any of the new series as much as the old ones, and that when we got into the David Tennant period, I grew to dislike the show so much that I just stopped watching. So some kind of changeup here is good news to me, and any kind of Tom Baker-ism is especially welcome news to me at this point!
A little Doctor Who story - I went to an Aussie Doctor Who convention in about 2001, where the guests were Sylvester McCoy and Nicola Bryant. I don't think I'd met anybody I'd really been in any kind of awe of before, and it's not even like he was my favourite Doctor.. But I still found myself tongue tied and lame. I also discovered that I find it hideously embarrassing to ask people to autograph stuff, even when standing in a queue devoted to nothing else but this purpose.
It's a good thing I didn't have to meet Lalla Ward... I just bought a Doctor Who Magazine that she had signed, with her on the cover in Tom's coat, at a charity auction at the same convention.
User: JANUS2
Posted: April 13, 2010 (03:36 AM)
The new series is quite different to the old one. It's much more "saturday night entertainment" orientated. I also feel that they've made it more British, in the sense that a lot of humour comes from topical jokes or guest appearances that might not mean much to people who haven't grown up watching UK TV (for example: the Demon Headmaster was in Saturday's episode, which was essentially an amusing satire of the upcoming general election). I wonder if that's why you haven't found it as easy to enjoy the revived version of Dr. Who, bloomer?
My brush with Dr. Who fame: back when I was younger I got Jon Pertwee's autography at Longleat, a safari park in Wiltshire that had a Dr. Who exhibit until it closed in 2003. The exhibit was pretty cool - you entered through a TARDIS door, and then walked round a dark dingy corridor filled with props and costumes until you reached a replica console room. They had some cool stuff in there, like various Cyberman suits and the Davros costume. Jon Pertwee came there in 1996, when I was ten. I remember seeing him drive round in the yellow car and I also remember being frightened by the Daleks and the Cybermen, who were randomly moving around the grounds of Longleat house.
User: bloomer
Posted: April 13, 2010 (09:55 AM)
Re: Saturday nights for Doctor Who,
Hm, hasn't Saturday night been Doctor Who's timeslot for most of its lifetime? I think it was always on Saturday night before teatime (in the UK) until the Peter Davison era, which was the first time they experimented with showing it on other nights, sometimes twice a week, and this was to try and combat ratings threats from ITV.
My full spiel about why I don't like new Doctor Who would be long and curmudgeonly, so I'll only do the short version.
First, I should make it clear that I don't like the style of most modern television drama in series form, and don't watch much of it. I don't like the glossy make up, lighting, the fact that the pace is dictated by commercials, the expositional dialogue,. Anyway, I much prefer actual films, of which I watch a zillion. Or at least TV which is basically delivered like it was a feature film.
So I've got a broad bias to begin with. Then second, I have really disliked the extreme emotionality of the new Doctor Who, which only got worse in the Tennent era. I don't like the new overwrought stuff to do with the companions, and their endless woes about where they came from and where they're going.
I like the doctor far less character wise than in the past. He's far less alien - especially as Tennant. His cocky rants about how he is going to save the universe etc.
The new theme music sucks (it should absolutely be electronic!) And the TARDIS is boring. I miss cosy chats in the TARDIS console room! I miss cosy anything... nobody ever stops to take a breath or muck around in new who, or have a small conversation. It's all Bam Bam Bam small, slam the plot through like a freight train.
So I find it bombastic, annoying, emotionally overkilling.. hang on this was supposed to be the short version wasn't it? :)
That's a cool story about Longleat though.
User: JANUS2
Posted: April 13, 2010 (11:15 AM)
Actually your description of why you don't like the new Dr. Who is sort of what I meant by "saturday night entertainment" orientated. In order to compete with X Factor and Britain's Got Talent, Dr Who has definitely become glossy, hyperactive and over-emotional at times. I am enjoying the new series, but based on what you've said here I think you would probably dislike it if you watched it.
I do wish that they gave more time to some of these stories. Last Saturday's episode contained loads of cool ideas and characters that were largely ignored because the time constraints meant that they had to rush to a conclusion. I haven't watched an old episode of Dr. Who in a long time, but I remember them spending at least two episodes just setting the scene sometimes.
User: bloomer
Posted: April 13, 2010 (08:57 PM)
I usually watch another old Dr Who story every week or 2nd week on DVD, so the comparisons are constantly in my mind.