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HoopsHype Twitter rumors
Of course, because nothing can ever just be said and left alone, some Golden State Warriors fan took it as an opportunity to pop in a jab about Stephen Curry. The Dan Le Batard Show executive producer Mike Ryan screen-capped the exchange. Lillard responded with scorched-earth, don't-talk-to-me-with-that-goat-mouth tactics: Bleacher Report
Marcin Gortat: 5k!!!??? Damnnnn.... CBSSports.com
Gerald Henderson: nailed a lady tonight with a pass.if u follow me on twitter PLEASE tweet me. I know that hurt. I'm not that good of a passer...I AM SO SORRY Twitter @GhJr09
Joseph Goodman: Michael Beasley and Henry Walker trending one and two on Twitter in Miami. Back together at long last. Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr
Those are very common these days. It's never happened to me, because I live in a different world. But I'm one of a very few. At any given time, I'm probably talking to a hundred of today's athletes by text, DM or email. Out of that hundred, I may only meet 25. But I stay engaged because I'm a fan. The coolest thing about being Lisa Ann is when I follow an athlete on Twitter, he follows me back and DMs me his number because he cannot be seen following me. Years ago, Kevin Durant was following me and I didn't even know it. As soon as it got blown up, he unfollowed me. GQ.com
Amid an ocean of anti-John Wall hot takes, there seems to be a noteworthy island of respect for the Wizards point guard: His fellow NBA players. At least, if their Twitter accounts are any indication. The web site HoopsHype conducted a survey of those accounts to see which feeds were most popular among NBA players. In first place was the NBA's official Twitter account, followed by two players anyone would expect to see commanding great respect, LeBron James and Kevin Durant. In fourth place was comedian Kevin Hart, and then there was Wall. Washington Post
Although you can be sure he won't read them, there were many tweets congratulating Popovich last night for his accomplishment. HoopsHype
Jorge Sierra: No NBA player has more NBA follows than @kdtrey5. bit.ly/1DTVTYO @LeBron James is No. 2 here. http://t.co/sSf9sss0UR Twitter @hoopshype
Mark Medina: Byron Scott revealed he is not on Twitter because "there's a lot of people who don't know what the hell they're talking about." Twitter @MarkG_Medina
Detroit Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon, but his thumbs were healthy enough to rip LeBron James on Twitter Monday night. In a discussion with a frequent NBA blogger on the social media site of the league's greatest all-time players, Jennings tweeted that James "run(s) too much when *&$% gets tough," a reference to James leaving the Cavaliers for Miami in 2010 and then rejoining Cleveland after the Heat lost in the Finals last summer. Cleveland Plain Dealer
Jennings went on to declare that James would end up as one of basketball's greatest, and even ranked the Cavs' superstar in his top 10 (for whatever that's worth). But Jennings' first cut was the deepest. Without further ado... Cleveland Plain Dealer
After his second consecutive DNP-CD on Monday night (Did Not Play -- Coach's Decision), Kings rookie Nik Stauskas tweeted out an emoji of a pencil and pad. Perhaps Stauskas is taking notes from the bench? The Canadian's rocky start in the NBA has included trade rumors, as first reported by CBS Sports. CSNBayArea.com
How many hypothetical retweets on Twitter would it take to have Sacramento Kings guard Nik Stauskas' girlfriend Taylor Anderson accompany you to the high school prom? Apparently, the answer is 10,000 ... and it's also no longer hypothetical. After tweeting at Stauskas, who then OK'd it with Anderson, the number was set for the young man who boldly asked the NBA rookie. Just two hours later, after fellow NBA players and other athletes retweeted the request to help make his wish come true, he hit the magic number. He was even trending on Twitter at one point. Sports Illustrated
Twitter rolled out a new map that shows which NBA team is most followed in what area of the country. We highlighted the most notable facts in this new feature. -The Los Angeles Lakers have the biggest following in the country, beating out every NBA team by a substantial margin. -Despite being one of the best teams in the league, the Golden State Warriors get little love in the state of California. Bleacher Report
The 2014 NBA MVP took to the social networking site today to ask a series of Socratic questions aimed at understanding why on earth anyone would ever send a tweet. Stepping away from the editorial "we" for a second, because some our staff might not agree with me, Durant's series of questions to no one, and everyone, has literally gone through my head every day for the last two years. You see, I HAVE to be on Twitter. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be very good at my job. BUT, oh how I loathe what it's currently propagating in our society: an inability to think beyond the surface, or understand the nuances of an issue, or empathize with those who don't fit into your neat, tidy pocket of the world. Dime
Michael Scotto: Rajon Rondo is now being followed by the official Twitter account of the Mavericks. The account also followed Paul Pierce and Tracy McGrady. Twitter @MikeAScotto
Ginobili, one of the most active players on the popular social media site Twitter, is up for the honor again after winning last year in a fan vote organized by the basketball website Hoops Hype. San Antonio Express-News
He faces stiff competition from 15 other candidates, including Philadelphia rookie Joel Embiid, who leads Ginobili in first place by about 2,000 votes, and two of his own teammates, Boris Diaw and Patty Mills. "I'm enabling them to do well, carrying them," Ginobili joked of his teammates at Tuesday's shootaround. "I'm the defending champion, so I may have relaxed a little bit." San Antonio Express-News
"I'm going to try my hardest (to win)," said Diaw, who is currently fifth in the voting. "I've been practicing a lot, probably more than basketball. Me and Patty, we're going to team up and put our counts together and try to hype this up." San Antonio Express-News
Any rumor missing? E-mail us at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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The comment stream
Recent comments
The RBNZ expects the March Quarter CPI to come in around Zero. The RBNZ target is 2%. They will miss...MortgageBelt Inflation targets questioned
cowboy Inflation targets questioned
cowboy Inflation targets questioned
far different private credit than internally generated credit to private people (also known as private credit...cowboy A 'good' deflation debate
My whole point is that for many of us, it _isn't_ a cycle. For many there is never a break point. ...cowboy Inflation targets questioned
What about the Swiss National Bank thats buys Euros to protect it's currency and uses those Euros to buy...Andrewj A 'good' deflation debate
I was born in Whangarei and left there 30 years ago, in any visit I make I cannot see any reaon why I would...make my day Winston wins Northland by-election
Firstly, All of the world wide money printing has in fact been considerably lower than people realise....Mike B A 'good' deflation debate
The overheads have spent enough. The overheads are the problem. The banks are repeating 2008. Nobody to stop...Alter Ego A 'good' deflation debate
- 1 of 32742
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Editors choice
KH Winston wins Northland by-election
MortgageBelt Winston wins Northland by-election
JB Squirrel Time to cut floating mortgage rates
Boatman Housing affordable for first home buyers everywhere but Auckland
MortgageBelt Time to cut floating mortgage rates
Chris-M Leaky homes: The disease that won't go away
Uninterested Your emergency is not my problem!
kiwimm Entrepreneurs' question economists' Auckland obsession
- 1 of 447
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subset: commoncrawl


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Small, cozy restaurant with a small town feel. Many locals eat here. I enjoy the 50/50 lunch...small clam chowder and lobster roll.
Small, cozy restaurant with a small town feel. Many locals eat here. I enjoy the 50/50 lunch...small clam chowder and lobster roll.
Small, cozy restaurant with a small town feel. Many locals eat here. I enjoy the 50/50 lunch...small clam chowder and lobster roll.
Very friendly, attentive service. We arrived with a party of 12 and our waitress didn't skip a beat. All drinks we served and orders taken and she was constantly refilling glasses and serving with a smile. Everything was delivered correctly and hot. All was delicious, no one had a complaint. In the end she had even made up separate checks... More
We go up to RI once a year and every time we go we try to make a lunch stop here! The staff is super friendly and the Clam Cakes and Creamy Clam Chowder are our favorite picks! We always look forward to coming here. It has never disappointed us! I believe it's worth the trip if you are in... More
Three of us had dinner here last night. We arrived and immediately got seated. The restaurant was busy. The hostess and wait staff were pleasant and efficient. We had lunch here last December and really enjoyed the chowdah and clam cakes. Ok dinner, we had three different entrées. The fried butterfly shrimp dinner, the fried calamari plate and the fried... More
This is the local family-style restaurant of Jamestown. It's a great place for a casual meal. Food is good, plentiful, and the staff is warm and friendly. What's not to like? This isn't your trendy menu type place but it's always low-key and always enjoyable
We've eaten there twice and I'm not too impressed. We will most likely not eat there again considering all of the other options in Jamestown and Newport. In one visit I had a grouper and it was bland and on the other visit I had fish and chips, it too was bland. The prices are too high for bland food…for... More
Almost every year when we visit RI, we have dinner at Chopmist Charlie's... I spend the rest of the year craving their lobster roll. The serving size is large and the French fries are perfectly paired as a side! I did try the Lobster Mac n' Cheese previously and it is rich & delicious! A casual environment and fun t-shirts... More
Great local eatery. Good seafood. Casual atmosphere. Great place to bring the whole family. Not too pricey.
Went there because we were told it was "the best place for fish in Jamestown" Lunch. Ordered fish & chips, chips excellent, fish, awful! The batter they use produced a coating so crisp, it crunched like a potato chip, but no flavor at all. I don't think they used beer in the batter, and the fish was crap. scup, or... More
We stopped by twice for dinner once over the weekend & once during the week. The weekend was busy but the wait staff handled it great & were attentive. The weekday was quieter but had the atmosphere of a local gathering spot very friendly. The menu had many choices & we went with a different seafood each time & were... More
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By Jef With One F
The 10 Biggest Rockers Living in Texas
By Rocks Off
By Chris Lane
By Angelica Leicht
By Corey Deiterman
Drake Returns to Warehouse Live
By Brando
By Angelica Leicht
6 Bands No One Noticed Broke Up
By Corey Deiterman
Each Freakwater disc finds Irwin and Bean wrestling their trademark open-throated harmonies, skewed perspectives and malicious wit into new settings, and Thinking of You features sonic support from members of the affably weird Chicago avant-roots combo Califone, which does little to get in the way and much to check the duo's tendency to cleave to its inner skeleton. Freakwater has attempted to rock out before, but the breezy "Hi Ho Silver" ("high on pills") and "So Strange," with its overdriven organ solo and Elvis-in-Vegas propulsion, mark the first time the ladies have had backing to match their vocal and lyrical exuberance. Elsewhere, tears are jerked with less shame and to greater effect than ever before, no mean feat for these accomplished tragedians who once described their preferred genre as "dead baby songs." True to form, "Cathy Ann" is a heartbreaking ode to Woody Guthrie's young daughter who died of burns sustained in a house fire. Elsewhere, the verses of the self-flagellating "Sap" spin down a drain of weary, half-abandoned similes before flatly stating, "I know that I can make you laugh / I believe I know enough to make you cry." A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
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Space Invader Going Under the Pen of Justin Theroux
Justin Theroux is lined up to write a draft of SPACE INVADER for Fox, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Justin Theroux is lined up to write a draft of SPACE INVADER for Fox, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Justin Theroux is lined up to write a draft of SPACE INVADER for Fox, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Stephen Susco (RED, THE GRUDGE) has signed on to write HACK/SLASH, which has already gone through previous drafts from no fewer than four other scribes, SHOCKTILYOUDROP.COM reports. Susco hasn't said whether he'll be starting from scratch or simply revising the script already available.
WGA West's Animation Writers Caucus has awarded Emmy-winning writer Stan Berkowitz with its 12th annual Animation Writing Award, reports VARIETY.
Producer/writer Frank Beddor revealed plot details for the upcoming MONOPOLY adaptation to the LOS ANGELES TIMES.
Marti Noxon, a writer and producer on MAD MEN, will write the FRIGHT NIGHT remake for DreamWorks, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Dante Harper will pen Gary Sanchez Prods. and Paramount's HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
The rights to Daniel H. Wilson's unpublished manuscript ROBOPOCALYPSE have been acquired by DreamWorks Studios and Doubleday, COMINGSOON.NET reports.
TRON LEGACY writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz have been hired to write the adaptation of the board game OUIJA for Universal, HEAT VISION reports.
Six writers have been selected as winners of the 24th annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Disney's A CHRISTMAS CAROL writer/director Robert Zemeckis, told MTV that Jeffrey Price and Peter Seaman, the original screenwriters behind Who Framed Roger Rabbit, are also working on the script for the sequel.
Columbia Pictures has hired Etan Cohen (TROPIC THUNDER) to pen the third part of the MEN IN BLACK series, according to VARIETY.
DISTRICT 9 writer/director Neill Blomkamp has set up his next sci-fi production with Media Rights Capital, VARIETY reports.
SHUTTER ISLAND scribe Laeta Kalogridis will adapt the anime classic GHOST IN THE SHELL into a 3-D live-action feature for DreamWorks, reports VARIETY.
Ann Peacock is signed up to write the adaptation of the novel AIRMAN for Disney and ImageMover, Variety reports.
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN scribe Robert Rodat is set to write the feature adaptation of videogame WORLD OF WARCRAFT, reports VARIETY.
The Playlist has an exclusive about writer-director Gary Ross picking up the languishing MATT HELM project after Steven Spielberg decided to pass on it after fighting hard to keep it under his control following DreamWorks' split from Paramount.
Rashida Jones' graphic novel miniseries FRENEMY OF THE STATE has been picked up by Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment, Variety reports.
The screenwriter behind SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and THE PATRIOT, Robert Rodat, is writing the script for the WARCRAFT movie, MTV reports.
Gary Ross, who is busy at work on the script for SPIDER-MAN 4, has been tapped to write the SPIDER-MAN spinoff VENOM, reports the Heat Vision blog.
Walt Disney has hired Tiffany Paulsen (NANCY DREW) to pen the comedy OPPOSITE DAY, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.


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The Job 2013 | TV Show Watchlist
Cast & Crew | Episode Guide | Video Clips
Candidates vie for positions at prominent companies in this reality series.
Premiered: February 8, 2013
Rating: TV-PG
Latest NewsSee all »
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The second episode will feature five new candidates competing for an editorial assistant position with Cosmopolitan. The world's largest women's magazine with 18 million readers each month, Cosmo is the biggest-selling monthly magazine on U.S. newsstands and a leader in the digital, social media and tablet space.
The series premiere of the new reality competition series THE JOB has five candidates vying for an assistant manager position with the PALM RESTAURANT GROUP. The fine-dining steakhouse has been owned and operated by members of the Bozzi and Ganzi families for 87 years and has 25 locations across the continental United States, as well as international outposts in Mexico City and London.
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The Job Pirate: An Entertaining Tale of My Job-hopping Journey in America
By BH Publications Pte Ltd.Buy New: $13.09
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- 5. The Vampire Diaries: A Bird in a Gilded Cage
- 6. Scandal: Randy, Red, Superfreak and Julia
- 7. The Blacklist: The Longevity Initiative


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What ya looking at?
Latest and greatest
- Update: After GEEK 2015 February 22, 2015
- GEEK 2015 January 25, 2015
- So many games… so little time… January 25, 2015
- F1 Masters Grand Prix Racing – Brands Hatch – 25th May 2014 May 28, 2014
- Saturday on the C64 May 18, 2014
It's all about the tweets…
- RT @gamesyouloved: The Most amazing retro remake Raspberry Pi VHS http://t.co/ZXwt6jpn2J - 5 hours ago
- @TheRoyalsTwat @Shambles11 In about an hours time then ;) - 12 hours ago
- @TheRoyalsTwat @Shambles11 Fuck yeah, takes more than that to break me :) - 12 hours ago
- @Trev71_MUFC It's Darksiders/Devil May Cry in the most eye-watering scenery you can imagine, then multiply it by a million - that's it! - 12 hours ago
- @Trev71_MUFC Yeah, but you need patience, which I normally do not have but it keeps dragging me back for more. Definitely worth getting :) - 12 hours ago
Tag Archives: commodore
Update: After GEEK 2015
GEEK 2015 was very disappointing for me. I know it is not a Retrogaming show per se, but it's roots are firmly grounded in such things. It's what made it popular and what made it what it is, to me … Continue reading
Saturday on the C64
Fired up the little beige wonder today and had some fun :) bungeling, bay
Commodore C64 on the Amiga.
I picked up a random bit of kit from fleabay today. A Commodore C64 emulator that runs of a real Amiga. Here it is on my A1200. Kinda funky :)
Posted in computing, gaming, old, retro Tagged amiga, c64, commodore, emulator, retro, retrocomputing, retrogaming Leave a comment
Adopted another Commodore baby…
Okay she wasn't the hottest chick at a party… but it is kinda cool. Got myself a CDTV, basically an A500 in a sexy dress :) Gonna be fun!
Quicksilva… sexy software!
Picked up a whole batch of Quicksilva games off the bay this week, to add to the collection. They made some great games but they are worth collecting just for the sexy artwork :) And now they are … Continue reading
#CIBSunday :)
Some pretty things in all their glory…
C64 Sunday…
Dusted off the C64 today and with the awesomeness that is a SD2IEC card, I have the World at my fingertips.
Pictures speak louder than words…
It's late and I've just got back from GEEK2014 – great show, as ever. I haven't much time to write stuff so I thought I would just do a random post about whatever I've nabbed lately and added to the … Continue reading
Happy Families…
There's definitely nothing better than bringing the whole family together for a nice relaxing long weekend of retro play time :) Here's one for the album…
Another random box of beauty…
I love to buy random bulk boxes of "unknown" disks on ebay. It's great fun trawling through a whole box of surprises. It is even better than Christmas because you actually know that the odds are there will be something … Continue reading


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2007 Scion tC • 80,000 miles
Whats wrong with my car when I turn it on it makes a loud knocking noise, then it will stop while its just sitting there on but when I press the gas it gets louder and louder?
January 12, 2013.
January 12, 2013.
It takes a trained ear to recognize it, but based on your description, it may be a bearing in the engine.
Jan 13, 2013.
Jan 13, 2013.
What would be compatible to use for a replacement engine in my Breeze? I am just looking to get something that would work with it to get it up and running. Can I use a different model ...
1 answer • 1999 Plymouth Breeze • 120,000 miles
If i took out my 91 toyota carolla engine what other cars would it be compatible with?
4 answers • 1991 Toyota Corolla
We have two Jeeps that we need to replace the 4.0 engines on. a 1996 2 wheel drive and a 1998 4 wheel drive. We have found a 1994 2 wheel drive engine that we are planning on putting ...
2 answers • 1998 Jeep Laredo • 165,000 miles
1990 Toyota Camry mileage: 150,000. 1. The oil warning light is on. 2. There are four quarts of oil in the car. 3. The oil filter is dry. 4. The engine sounds rough. 5. There is noise ...
3 answers • 1990 Toyota Camry • 150,000 miles


text:
ARTICLE IN PRESS Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx www.elsevier.com/locate/ins Time-series forecasting using flexible neural tree model Yuehui Chen a,*, Bo Yang a, Jiwen Dong a, Ajith Abraham a,b a School of Information Science and Engineering, Jinan University, 106 Jiwei Road, Jinan 250022, PR China b School of Computer Science and Engineering, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Received 30 June 2003; received in revised form 19 October 2004; accepted 19 October 2004 Abstract Time-series forecasting is an important research and application area. Much effort has been devoted over the past several decades to develop and improve the time-series fore- casting models. This paper introduces a new time-series forecasting model based on the flexible neural tree (FNT). The FNT model is generated initially as a flexible multi-layer feed-forward neural network and evolved using an evolutionary procedure. Very often it is a difficult task to select the proper input variables or time-lags for constructing a time- series model. Our research demonstrates that the FNT model is capable of handing the task automatically. The performance and effectiveness of the proposed method are eval- uated using time series prediction problems and compared with those of related methods. Ó 2004 Published by Elsevier Inc. Keywords: Flexible neural tree model; Probabilistic incremental program evolution; Simulated annealing; Time-series forecasting * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: email@example.com (Y. Chen), firstname.lastname@example.com (B. Yang), csmaster@ ujn.edu.cn (J. Dong), email@example.com (A. Abraham). 0020-0255/$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Published by Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/j.ins.2004.10.005 ARTICLE IN PRESS 2 Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx 1. Introduction Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been successfully applied to a num- ber of scientific and engineering fields in recent years, i.e., function approxima- tion, system identification and control, image processing, time series prediction and so on [1,36–39]. A neural networkÕs performance is highly dependent on its structure. The interaction allowed between the various nodes of the network is specified using the structure. An ANN structure is not unique for a given prob- lem, and there may exist different ways to define a structure corresponding to the problem. Depending on the problem, it may be appropriate to have more than one hidden layer, feedforward or feedback connections, or in some cases, direct connections between input and output layer. There have been a number of attempts to design neural network architec- tures automatically. The early methods include constructive and pruning algo- rithms [2–4]. The main disadvantage of these methods is that the topological subsets are often searched using structural hill climbing methods instead of the complete class of ANNs architecture available in the search space [5]. Recent tendencies to optimize ANN architecture and weights include EPNet [6–8]and the NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (NEAT) [9]. Utilizing a tree to represent a NN-like model is motivated by the work of Byoung-Tak Zhang, where a method of evolutionary induction of the sparse neural trees was proposed [10]. Based on the representation of neural tree, architecture and weights of higher order sigma–pi neural networks were evolved by using genetic programming and breeder genetic algorithm, respectively. Time-series forecasting is an important research and application area. Much effort has been devoted over the past several decades to develop and improve the time-series forecasting models. Well established time series models include: (1) linear models, e.g., moving average, exponential smoothing and the autore- gressive integrated moving average (ARIMA); (2) nonlinear models, e.g., neu- ral network models and fuzzy system models. Recently a tendency for combining of linear and nonlinear models for forecasting time series has been an active research area [11]. In this paper, a general and enhanced flexible neural tree (FNT) model is proposed for time-series forecasting problem. Based on the pre-defined instruc- tion/operator sets, a flexible neural tree model can be created and evolved. This framework allows input variables selection, over-layer connections and differ- ent activation functions for different nodes. The hierarchical structure is evolved using probabilistic incremental program evolution algorithm (PIPE) [12,13] with specific instructions. The fine tuning of the parameters encoded in the structure is accomplished using simulated annealing (SA). The proposed method interleaves both optimizations. Starting with random structures and corresponding parameters, it first tries to improve the structure and then as soon as an improved structure is found, it fine tunes its parameters. It then goes ARTICLE IN PRESS Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx 3 back to improving the structure again and, fine tunes the structure and rulesÕ parameters. This loop continues until a satisfactory solution is found or a time limit is reached. The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 gives the representation and cal- culation of the flexible neural tree model. A hybrid learning algorithm for evolving the neural tree models is given in Section 3. Section 4 presents some simulation results for two time-series forecasting problems. Some concluding remarks are presented in Section 5. 2. Encoding and evaluation In this research, a tree-structural based encoding method with specific instruction set is selected for representing a FNT model. The reason for choos- ing the representation is that the tree can be created and evolved using the existing or modified tree-structure-based approaches, i.e., genetic programming (GP) [41], probabilistic incremental program evolution (PIPE) [12], ant pro- gramming (AP) etc. 2.1. Flexible neuron instructor The used function set F and terminal instruction set T for generating a FNT model are described as follows: S ¼ F [ T ¼ fþ2 ; þ3 ; . . . ; þN g [ fx1 ; . . . ; xn g ð1Þ where +i (i = 2, 3, . . . , N) denote non-leaf nodesÕ instructions and taking i argu- ments. x1, x2,. . ., xn are leaf nodesÕ instructions and taking no other arguments. The output of a non-leaf node is calculated as a flexible neuron model (see Fig. 1). From this point of view, the instruction +i is also called a flexible neu- ron operator with i inputs. In the creation process of neural tree, if a non-terminal instruction, i.e., +i (i = 2, 3, 4, . . . , N) is selected, i real values are randomly generated and used for representing the connection strength between the node +i and its children. In addition, two adjustable parameters ai and bi are randomly created as x1 ω1 x2 ω2 f(a,b) y +n xn ωn Fig. 1. A flexible neuron operator. ARTICLE IN PRESS 4 Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx flexible activation function parameters. In this study the flexible activation function used is 2 xÀai À bi f ðai ; bi ; xÞ ¼ e ð2Þ The output of a flexible neuron +n can be calculated as follows. The total exci- tation of +n is X n netn ¼ wj à xj ð3Þ j¼1 where xj (j = 1, 2, . . . , n) are the inputs to node +n. The output of the node +n is then calculated by netn Àan 2 outn ¼ f ðan ; bn ; netn Þ ¼ eÀð bn Þ ð4Þ A typical flexible neural tree model is shown as Fig. 2. The overall output of flexible neural tree can be computed from left to right by depth-first method, recursively. 2.2. Fitness function A fitness function maps FNT to scalar, real-valued fitness values that reflect the FNTÕs performances on a given task. Firstly the fitness functions should be seen as error measures, i.e., MSE or RMSE. A secondary non-user-defined objective for which algorithm always optimizes FNTs is the size of FNT usu- ally measured by number of nodes. Among FNTs having equal fitness values Output layer +6 Second hidden x1 x2 +2 x3 +3 layer First hidden layer +3 x1 x2 +2 x3 +3 Input layer x1 x2 x3 x3 x2 x1 x2 x3 Fig. 2. A typical representation of neural tree with function instruction set F = {+2, +3, +4, +5, +6}, and terminal instruction set T = {x1, x2, x3}. ARTICLE IN PRESS Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx 5 smaller FNTs are always preferred. In this work, the fitness function used for the PIPE and SA is given by mean square error (MSE): 1X j P FitðiÞ ¼ ðy À y j Þ2 ð5Þ P j¼1 1 2 or root mean squared error (RMSE): vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi u P u1 X j FitðiÞ ¼ t 2 ðy À y j Þ ð6Þ P j¼1 1 2 where P is the total number of samples, y j and y j are the actual time-series and 1 2 the FNT model output of jth sample. Fit(i) denotes the fitness value of ith individual. 3. A hybrid learning algorithm In this study, finding an optimal or near-optimal neural tree structure is accomplished by using PIPE algorithm and the parameters embedded in a FNT is optimized by a SA [40]. 3.1. Evolving an optimal or near-optimal neural tree structure PIPE combines probability vector coding of program instructions, popula- tion-based incremental learning [14], and tree-coded programs. PIPE iteratively generates successive populations of functional programs according to an adap- tive probability distribution, represented as a probabilistic prototype tree (PPT), over all possible programs. Each iteration uses the best program to re- fine the distribution. Thus, the structures of promising individuals are learned and encoded in the PPT. The PPT stores the knowledge gained from experiences with programs (trees) and guides the evolutionary search. It holds the probability distribution over all possible programs that can be constructed from a predefined instruc- tion set. The PPT is generally a complete n-ary tree with infinitely many nodes, where n is the maximal number of function arguments. ! Each node Nj in PPT, with j P 0 contains a variable probability vector P j . ! Each P j has n components, where n is the number of instructions in instruction ! set S. Each component Pj(I) of P j denotes the probability of choosing instruc- ! tion I 2 S at node Nj. Each vector P j is initialized as follows: PT P j ðIÞ ¼ 8I : I 2 T ð7Þ l ARTICLE IN PRESS 6 Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx 1 À PT P j ðIÞ ¼ 8I : I 2 F ð8Þ k PIPE combines two forms of learning: generation-based learning (GBL) and elitist learning (EL). GBL is PIPEÕs main learning algorithm. The purpose of EL is to use the best program found so far as an attractor. PIPE executes as follows: GBL REPEAT with probability Pel DO EL otherwise DO GBL UNTIL termination criterion is reached Here Pel is a user-defined constant in [0, 1]. Generation-based learning Step 1. Creation of program population. A population of programs P ROGj (0 < j 6 PS; PS is population size) is generated using the prototype tree PPT. Step 2. Population evaluation. Each program P ROGj of the current population is evaluated on the given task and assigned a fitness value FIT(P ROGj ) according to the predefined fitness function (Eqs. (5) and (6)). The best program of the current population (the one with the smallest fit- ness value) is denoted P ROGb . The best program found so far (elitist) is preserved in P el . ROG Step 3. Learning from population. Prototype tree probabilities are modified such that the probability P ðP ROGb Þ of creating P ROGb increases. This procedure is called adapting PPT towards (Progb). This is imple- mented as follows. First P ðP ROGb Þ is computed by looking at all PPT nodes Nj used to generate P ROGb : Y P ðP ROGb Þ ¼ P j ðI j ðP ROGb ÞÞ ð9Þ j:N j used to generate P ROGb where I j ðP ROGb Þ denotes the instruction of program P ROGb at node po- sition j. Then a target probability PTARGET for P ROGb is calculated: e þ FITðP el Þ ROG P TARGET ¼ P ðP ROGb Þ þ ð1 À P ðP ROGb ÞÞ Á lr Á ð10Þ e þ FITðP ROGb Þ Here ÔlrÕ is a constant learning rate and e a positive user-defined con- stant. Given PTARGET, all single node probabilities P j ðI j ðP ROGb ÞÞ are increased iteratively: ARTICLE IN PRESS Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx 7 REPEAT: P j ðI j ðP ROGb ÞÞ ¼ P j ðI j ðP ROGb ÞÞ þ clr Á lr Á ð1 À P j ðI j ðP ROGb ÞÞÞ ð11Þ UNTIL P ðP ROGb Þ P P TARGET where clr is a constant influencing the number of iterations. The smal- ler clr the higher the approximation precision of PTARGET and the number of required iterations. Setting clr = 0.1 turned out to be a good compromise between precision and speed. And then all adapted ! vectors P j are renormalized. Step 4. Mutation of prototype tree. All probabilities Pj(I) stored in nodes Nj that were accessed to generate program P ROGb are mutated with prob- ability P M p : PM P Mp ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ð12Þ n Á jP ROGb j where the user-defined parameter PM defines the overall mutation probability, n is the number of instructions in instruction set S and jP ROGb j denotes the number of nodes in program P ROGb . Selected probability vector components are then mutated as follows: P j ðIÞ ¼ P j ðIÞ þ mr Á ð1 À P j ðIÞÞ ð13Þ where ÔmrÕ is the mutation rate, another user-defined parameter. Also ! all mutated vectors P j are renormalized. Step 5. Prototype tree pruning. At the end of each generation the prototype tree is pruned. PPT subtrees attached to nodes that contain at least one probability vector component above a threshold TP can be pruned. Step 6. Termination criteria. Repeat above procedure until a fixed number of program evaluations is reached or a satisfactory solution is found. Elitist learning Elitist learning focuses search on previously discovered promising parts of the search space. The PPT is adapted towards the elitist program P el . This ROG is realized by replacing the P ROGb with P el ROG in learning from population in Step 3. It is particularly useful with small population sizes and works efficiently in the case of noise-free problems. In order to learn the structure and parameters of a FNT simultaneously there is a tradeoff between the structure optimization and parameter learning. ARTICLE IN PRESS 8 Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx In fact, if the structure of the evolved model is not appropriate, it is not useful to pay much attention to the parameter optimization. On the contrary, if the best structure has been found, further structure optimization may destroy the best structure. In this paper, a technique for balancing the structure opti- mization and parameter learning is proposed. If the better structure is found then do local search (simulated annealing) for a number of steps (maximum al- lowed steps) or stop in case no better parameter vector is found for a signifi- cantly long time (say 100–2000 in our experiments). The criterion of better structure is distinguished as follows: if the fitness value of the best program is smaller than the fitness value of the elitist program, or the fitness values of two programs are equal but the nodes of the former is lower than the later, then we say that the better structure is found. 3.2. Parameter optimization To find the optimal parameters set (weights and activation function param- eters) of a FNT model, a number of global and local search algorithms namely genetic algorithm, evolutionary programming, gradient based learning method etc. can be employed. A variant of simulated annealing (called degraded ceil- ing) is selected due to its straightforward property and fast local search capa- bility [15]. Simulated annealing is one of the most widely studied local search meta- heuristics. It was proposed as a general stochastic optimization technique in 1983 [16] and has been applied to solve a wide range of problems including con- nection weights optimization of a neural network. The basic ideas of the simulated annealing search are that it accepts worse d solutions with a probability p ¼ eÀT , where d = f(s*) À f(s), the s and s* are the old and new solution vectors, f(s) denotes the cost function, the parameter T denotes the temperature in the process of annealing. Originally it was sug- gested to start the search from a high temperature and reduce it to the end of the process by a formula: Ti+1 = Ti À Ti * b. However, the cooling rate b and initial value of T should be carefully selected due to it is problem dependent. The degraded ceiling algorithm also keeps the acceptance of worse solutions but with a different manner. It accepts every solution whose objective function is less than or equal to the upper limit B, which is monotonically decreased dur- ing the search. The procedure of the degraded ceiling algorithm is given in Fig. 3. 3.3. The general learning algorithm The general learning procedure for designing a FNT model may be de- scribed as follows. ARTICLE IN PRESS Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx 9 Set the initial solution S Calculate initial fitness function f(s) Initial ceiling B=f(s) Specify input parameter dB While not some stopping condition do define neighbourhood N(s) Randomly select the candidate solution s* in N(s) If ( f(s*) < f(s) ) or ( f(s*) <= B ) Then accept s* Fig. 3. The Degraded ceiling algorithm. 1. Set the initial values of parameters used in the PIPE and SA algorithms. Set the elitist program as NULL and its fitness value as a biggest positive real number of the computer at hand. Create the initial population (flexible neu- ral trees and their corresponding parameters). 2. Structure optimization by PIPE algorithm as described in Section 3.1 in which the fitness function is calculated by mean square error (MSE) or root mean square error (RMSE). 3. If the better structure is found, then go to step 4, otherwise go to step 2. 4. Parameter optimization is achieved by the degraded ceiling algorithm as described in Section 3.2. In this stage, the tree structure or architecture of flexible neural tree model is fixed, and the best tree is taken from the end of run of the PIPE search. All the parameters used in the best tree formu- lated a parameter vector to be optimized by local search. 5. If the maximum number of iterations of SA algorithm is reached, or no bet- ter parameter vector is found for a significantly long time (100 steps) then go to step 6; otherwise go to step 4. 6. If satisfactory solution is found, then stop; otherwise go to step 2. 4. Experimental results and illustrative examples The developed flexible neural tree model is applied here in conjunction with two time-series prediction problems: Box–Jenkins and Mackey-Glass chaotic time series. Well-known benchmark examples are used for the sake of easy comparison with existing models. The data related to the examples are avail- able on the web site of the Working Group on Data Modeling Benchmark— IEEE Neural Network Council [17]. For each benchmark problem, two experimental simulations are carried out. The first one use the same inputs with other models so as to make a meaningful comparison. The second one use a large number of input variables in order the ARTICLE IN PRESS 10 Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx Table 1 Parameters used in the flexible neural tree model Parameter Initial value Population size, PS 30 Elitist learning probability, Pel 0.01 Learning rate, lr 0.01 Fitness constant, e 0.000001 Overall mutation probability, PM 0.4 Mutation rate, mr 0.4 Prune threshold, TP 0.999999 Maximum local search steps 2000 Initial connection weights rand[À1, 1] Initial parameters, ai and bi rand[0, 1] FNT to select proper input variables or time-lags automatically. In addition, the parameters used for each experiment is listed in Table 1. 4.1. Application to Jenkins–Box time series The gas furnace data (series J) of Box and Jenkins (1970) was recorded from a combustion process of a methane–air mixture. It is well known and fre- quently used as a benchmark example for testing identification and prediction algorithms. The data set consists of 296 pairs of input-output measurements. The input u(t) is the gas flow into the furnace and the output y(t) is the CO2 concentration in outlet gas. The sampling interval is 9 s. 4.1.1. Case 1 The inputs for constructing FNT model are u(t À 4) and y(t À 1), and the output is y(t). In this study, 200 data samples are used for training and the remaining data samples are used for testing the performance of the evolved model. The used instruction set for creating a FNT model is S = F [ T = {+2, +3, . . . , +8} [ {x1, x2}. Where x1 and x2 denotes the input variables u(t À 4) and y(t À 1), respectively. After 37 generations, the optimal neural tree model was obtained with the MSE 0.000664. The MSE value for validation data set is 0.000701. The evolved neural tree is shown in Fig. 4 (left) and the actual time-series, the FNT model output and the prediction error is shown in Fig. 4 (right). 4.1.2. Case 2 For the second simulation, 10 inputs variables are used for constructing a FNT model. The proper time-lags for constructing a FNT model are finally determined by an evolutionary procedure. ARTICLE IN PRESS Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx 11 4 Data for training Data for testing 1.2 real output model output 1 error 0.8 output and error x2 2 2 2 0.6 0.4 3 2 x1 x2 x1 x2 0.2 0 -0.2 x1 x1 x2 x2 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 time Fig. 4. Case 1: The evolved FNT model for prediction of Jenkins–Box data (left), and the actual time-series data, output of the evolved FNT model and the prediction error for training and test samples (right). The used instruction sets to create an optimal neural tree model is S = F [ T = {+2, . . . , +8} [ {x1, x2, . . . , x10}, where xi (i = 1, 2, . . . , 10) denotes u(t À 6), u(t À 5), u(t À 4), u(t À 3), u(t À 2), u(t À 1) and y(t À 1), y(t À 2), y(t À 3), y(t À 4), respectively. After 17 generations of the evolution, the optimal neural tree model was ob- tained with MSE 0.000291. The MSE value for validation data set is 0.000305. Fig. 5. Case 2: The evolved neural tree model for prediction of Jenkins–Box data (left), and the actual time series data, output of the evolved neural tree model and the prediction error for training and test samples (right). ARTICLE IN PRESS 12 Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx Table 2 Comparison of prediction errors using different methods for the gas furnace data Model name and reference Number of inputs MSE ARMA [18] 5 0.71 TongÕs model [19] 2 0.469 PedryczÕs model [20] 2 0.320 XuÕs model [21] 2 0.328 SugenoÕs model [22] 2 0.355 SurmannÕs model [23] 2 0.160 TS model [24] 6 0.068 LeeÕs model [25] 2 0.407 HauptmannÕs model [26] 2 0.134 LinÕs model [27] 5 0.261 NieÕs model [28] 4 0.169 ANFIS model [29] 2 0.0073 FuNN model [30] 2 0.0051 HyFIS model [31] 2 0.0042 FNT model (Case 1) 2 0.00066 FNT model (Case 2) 7 0.00029 The evolved FNT is shown in Fig. 5 (left) and the actual time-series, the FNT model output and the prediction error is shown in Fig. 5 (right). From the evolved FNT tree, it can be seen that the optimal inputs variables for con- structing a FNT model are: u(t À 6), u(t À 5), u(t À 3), y(t À 1), y(t À 2), y(t À 3) and y(t À 4). It should be noted that the FNT model with proper se- lected input variables has accurate precision and good generalization ability. A comparison result of different methods for forecasting Jenkins–Box data is shown in Table 2. 4.2. Application to Mackey-Glass time-series The chaotic Mackey-Glass differential delay equation is recognized as a benchmark problem that has been used and reported by a number of research- ers for comparing the learning and generalization ability of different models. The Mackey-Glass chaotic time series is generated from the following equation: dxðtÞ axðt À sÞ ¼ À bxðtÞ ð14Þ dt 1 þ x10 ðt À sÞ where s > 17, the equation shows chaotic behavior. 4.2.1. Case 1 To make the comparison with earlier work fair, we predict the x(t + 6) with using the inputs variables x(t), x(t À 6), x(t À 12) and x(t À 18). 1000 sample ARTICLE IN PRESS Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx 13 points used in our study. The first 500 data pairs of the series were used as training data, while the remaining 500 were used to validate the model identified. The used instruction sets to create an optimal FNT model is S = F[T = {+5, . . . , +10}[{x1, x2, x3, x4}, where xi (i = 1, 2, 3, 4) denotes x(t), x(t À 6), x(t À 12) and x(t À 18), respectively. After 135 generations of the evolution, an optimal FNT model was obtained with RMSE 0.006901. The RMSE value for validation data set is 0.007123. The evolved FNT is shown in Fig. 6 (left). The actual time-series data, the out- put of FNT model and the prediction error are shown in Fig. 6 (right). A com- parison result of different methods for forecasting Mackey-Glass data is shown in Table 3. 4.2.2. Case 2 For the second simulation, 19 inputs variables are used for constructing a FNT model. The proper time-lags for constructing a FNT model are finally determined by an evolutionary procedure. The used instruction sets to create an optimal neural tree model is S = F [ T = {+2, . . . , +8} [ {x1, x2, . . . , x19}, where xi(i = 1, 2, . . . , 19) denotes x(t À 18), x(t À 17), . . ., x(t À 1) and x(t), respectively. The optimal neural tree model was obtained with RMSE 0.00271. The RMSE value for validation data set is 0.00276. The evolved FNT is shown in Fig. 7 (left) and the actual time-series, the FNT model output and the pre- diction error is shown in Fig. 7 (right). From the evolved FNT, it can be seen Fig. 6. Case 1: The evolved neural tree model for prediction of the Mackey-Glass time-series (left), and the actual time series data, output of the evolved neural tree model and the prediction error (right). ARTICLE IN PRESS 14 Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx Table 3 Comparison of prediction error using different methods for the Mackey-Glass time-series problem Method Prediction error (RMSE) Autoregressive model 0.19 Cascade correlation NN 0.06 Back-propagation NN 0.02 Sixth-order polynomial 0.04 Linear prediction method 0.55 ANFIS and Fuzzy System [29] 0.007 Wang et al. [33] Product T-norm 0.0907 Classical RBF (with 23 neurons) [32] 0.0114 PG-RBF network [34] 0.0028 Genetic algorithm and fuzzy system [35] 0.049 FNT model (Case 1) 0.0069 FNT model (Case 2) 0.0027 Fig. 7. Case 2: The evolved neural tree model for prediction of the Mackey-Glass time-series (left), and the actual time series data, output of the evolved neural tree model and the prediction error (right). that the optimal inputs variables for constructing a FNT model are: x(t À 13), x(t À 12), x(t À 11), x(t À 10), x(t À 9), x(t À 2) and x(t). That is, for the pre- diction of x(t + 6), among the time-lags from 0 to 18, the automatically evolved time-lags are 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 2 and 0. It should be noted that the FNT model with proper selected time-lags as input variables has accurate precision and good generalization ability. A comparison result of different methods for fore- casting Mackey-Glass data is shown in Table 3. From the above simulation results, it can be seen that the proposed FNT model works well for generating prediction models of time series. ARTICLE IN PRESS Y. Chen et al. / Information Sciences xxx (2004) xxx–xxx 15 5. Concluding remarks A new time-series forecasting model based on flexible neural tree is proposed in this paper. From the architecture perspective, a FNT can be seen as a flexible multi-layer feedforward neural network with over-layer connections and free parameters in activation functions. The work demonstrates that the FNT model with automatically selected input variables (time-lags) has better accuracy (low error) and good generalization ability. Simulation results for the time-series fore- casting problems shown the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. Acknowledgment This research was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Project No. 69902005 and Provincial Natural Science Foundation of Shandong, Project No. Y2001G09. References [1] S. Omatu, Marzuki Khalid, Rubiyah Yusof, Neuro-Control and its Applications, Springer Publisher, 1996. [2] S.E. Fahlman, Christian Lebiere, The cascade-correlation learning architecture, Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 2 (1990) 524–532. [3] J.-P. Nadal, Study of a growth algorithm for a feedforward network, International Journal of Neural Systems 1 (1989) 55–59. [4] R. Setiono, L.C.K. 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New Movies This Week: 'Lucy,' 'Hercules' and 'And So It Goes'
The box office gets a jolt this week, with a pair of action thrillers making their debuts, plus an easygoing family comedy to put a smile on your face.
The box office gets a jolt this week, with a pair of action thrillers making their debuts, plus an easygoing family comedy to put a smile on your face.
In case you missed it: Badass Digest revealed a description of the first 20 minutes of the upcoming "Star Wars: Episode VII" movie, a description which was later confirmed by multiple sources.
Today J.J. Abrams, director of the new Star Wars movie, revealed a new version of the famous X-wing fighters from the series.
But that's not the only thing Abrams revealed!
James Garner has died. The 86-year-old passed away on Saturday. Law enforcement told TMZ that the veteran actor – who died of natural causes – was already gone when the ambulance arrived on the scene Saturday evening.
He had a long career, including some movies that have been pushed to the way side. Until now.
Despite three very different new challengers, 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' continued to rule over the box office this weekend. This doesn't spell disaster for the newcomers, but it does spell further success for the sequel to 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes,' which is riding extremely positive word of mouth to a big box office tally.
If you know nothing else about the movie 'Soylent Green,' we're guessing you know the twist ending.
A crime thriller, an animated romp and a raunchy comedy—just the dose of variety the movie doctor ordered for what's been a rather bland summer season at cinemas so far.
We previously showed you a look at what the 'Napoleon Dynamite' cast looks like recently with our Then & Now feature on the film, but we have a quick update. The cast - Jon Heder (Napoleon), Tina Majorino (Deb), Efren Ramirez (Pedro) and Haylie Duff (Summer) all reunited and took a photo together as the film's 10th anniversary approaches.
Riding a huge wave of strong reviews and even stronger buzz, 'Dawn of the Planet Apes' opened big for a non-superhero, non-Transformers movie, leading a top 10 that's full of just as many hits as misses. How about we just start at the top and work our way through?
Hold onto your butts this weekend at the movies!
With summer in full swing, the five -- that's right, five -- new releases are packed with action, terror and plenty of big laughs (and a little heart, too, if you're into that kind of thing).
Of course, looming over the quintet is a sequel prequel in the third series of "Planet of the Apes" movies.
By Corbin Reiff | The Boombox
Thirty years ago, when the producers of the now-classic supernatural comedy 'Ghostbusters' were in the need for a catchy theme song for their nascent film, there was only one man they thought to call; Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. Luckily, when that fell through they reached out to Detroit's own Ray Parker Jr., who went on to write one of the most recognized title themes in cinema history.
Major holiday weekends are often huge for the box office, with millions of Americans taking advantage of their extra time off to head out to the movies. But this fourth of July weekend?
Not so much.
Despite three new releases, it was a surprisingly quiet time at the movies these past few days and it's hard to imagine anyone being particularly overjoyed with these numbers.


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do you remember the "old" Coldwater Creek?
I tried to post this yesterday, but for some reason it never showed up???
Anyway...does anyone remember when Coldwater Creek was only a catalog store. (well, for me it was)
maybe 10+ years ago and their clothes were more casual? Like a dress you could throw on with sandals or boots and and a sweater....and go to the park, or work or maybe even church?
I have been looking for dresses like that for awhile now.
Not exactly bohemian, but easy, loose-fitting, below the knee.
Do you know any stores I could check out?
There is a seller on eBay, Member id patriasia-fashion that sells a lot of maxi dresses as well as shorter ones. Very pretty fabrics, not sure of the quality. Some of the prices have to be converted to US dollars as she/he is in Thailand.
Take a look, it might be just what you are wanting.
Have you tried Robert Redfords "Sundance" catalog?
Banana Republic?
Victorias Secret?
Here is a link that might be useful: The Sundance Catalog


text:
- Name:
- Anhui: Chang Xue
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- Female
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- Anhui
- Amount Needed / Month:
- $25.00
About Anhui: Chang Xue
Chang Xue is a student in our Anhui Impoverished Student Support program. Her goal is to get into an ideal university. She enjoys badminton, classical music and comic books. She says, "one day I will take after you [her current sponsor] to help other people who are in need." Chang Xue needs additional sponsors to continue her education. She has such a sweet heart and smile!


text:
Robbe's Shutout Concludes A perfect Day March 24, 2015 Clare Robbe pitched a three-hit shutout, Katie Koepsel drove in her 100th career run and the UW-Oshkosh softball team won its two games on Tuesday (March 24) in Clermont, Fla. [read more]
Kozlowski's Walk-Off Home Run Ignites Titans' Sweep March 24, 2015 Tyler Kozlowski launched a walk-off solo home run in the first game of the day and Adam Rude pitched eight strong innings in the nightcap as the UW-Oshkosh baseball team upped its winning streak to five games with two victories on Tuesday (March 24) in Winter Haven, Fla. [read more]
Titans Bounce Back To Earn Split March 23, 2015 Emily Mallek had three runs batted in and three hits in the nightcap as the UW-Oshkosh softball team split two games on Monday (March 23) in Clermont, Fla. [read more]
Titans Hold Off Late Pioneer Threats March 22, 2015 UW-Oshkosh won its third straight baseball game as a trio of relief pitchers came on to preserve the Titans' 5-3 victory over Grinnell College (Iowa) on Sunday (March 22) in Auburndale, Fla. [read more]
Titans Split To Open Florida Trip March 22, 2015 The UW-Oshkosh softball split two games on Sunday (Match 22) to begin its 10-game spring trip in Clermont Fla. [read more]
Jewell's Complete Game Leads Titans Past Continentals March 21, 2015 Peter Jewell scattered nine hits over nine innings to earn his first complete-game victory and help the UW-Oshkosh baseball team defeat Hamilton College (N.Y.), 13-2, on Saturday (March 21) in Auburndale, Fla. [read more]
/sports/sball/2014-15/photos/RobbeAction1.jpg?max_width=639&max_height=444 /sports/bsb/2014-15/photos/KozlowskiAction2.jpg?max_width=639&max_height=444 /sports/sball/2014-15/photos/SoftballAction6.jpg?max_width=639&max_height=444 /sports/bsb/2014-15/photos/SabelAction1.jpg?max_width=639&max_height=444 /sports/sball/2014-15/photos/SoftballAction2.jpg?max_width=639&max_height=444 /sports/bsb/2014-15/photos/EaganAction1.jpg?max_width=639&max_height=444
Zachary Baehman Track & Field University Books & More and the Wisconsin National Guard are pleased to announce that Zachary Baehman (Jr. • Omro) of the track & field team has been chosen as the UW-Oshkosh Male Student-Athlete of the Week for the period of March 9-15. [Read More]
Melanie Brickner Track & Field University Books & More and the Wisconsin National Guard are pleased to announce that Melanie Brickner (Sr. • Marathon) of the track & field team has been chosen as the UW-Oshkosh Female Student-Athlete of the Week for the period of March 2-8. [Read More]


text:
How to mitigate compost being too "hot"?
I gave some compost to a friend last year, who found that it "burned" his beans and was too "hot". I am using it this year and wondered if by spreading it over the garden last winter, that might mitigate the "heat"?
I suspect it will but what exactly do you mean by "spreading it over"? Was it worked into the soil at all or left like mulch on top.
Phytotoxicity from compost and organic materials can be a result of several different factors. More time for compost to cure is one way to alleviate one issue. There may be others.
I don't believe regular compost can supply a harmful level of N and burn plants. I have always promoted organic over bagged fertilizer to avoid over feeding by inexperienced gardeners. I suspect your friend had a disease,insect or somthing and just blamed it on the compost because he wasn't sure what happened to the beans.
Thanks for all of these thoughts and suggestions. Having "thought" again about the quality of the "compost", I have to say that it was more like animal manure mixed in with vermiculite that had sat around for a couple years. So maybe it was still a little too "live" for the beans?
And as to "spreading it all over", I distributed bags of the stuff over many parts of the garden, but did not bother to spread it out completely. But it has been sitting there since October.
Thanks for your input so far.
I am wondering the same, worried about burning my veggies w manure. Rather than do a new post, I will describe my situation. I am moving my garden location some to make room for a garden shed. I have just picked up about 2 yards of aged horse manure from local stable that cleaned up 3 years of manure. The manure is mostly well aged, like a 30 mph wind would just blow it away, there is some fresh mixed into the pile.
I will put the fresh manure onto my compost heap to get it cooking. The dry aged manure I want to spread a light layer onto my yard of fescue grass and fruit and shade trees. But, most of the dry aged manure I want to import into the "new" part of the garden which got rototilled a month ago . The new garden area is abit low in elevation, so my thinking is to spread the dry manure onto where I want my veggie beds to be and rototill that w my new electric tiller I just got from amazon. Then, I will import about 4-6 inches of the incredible black worm filled soil from my old garden where I want to build my 10x20 shed (as it would be a waste of rich soil to build on the topsoil and also would not be structural), . I will rototill the 4-6 inches of rich dirt into the new garden area lightly so the manure is mostly 6 inches below the final grade w the good garden dirt on top. Hoping that I can then plant my starts next week without burning them if the bulk of the manure is below the final grade 4-6 inches deep. I also have flood irrigation every 5 days and the entire yard/garden goes under water, so that will probably help to break the manure down quicker or it might release nitrogen and burn my plants???? I am hoping the water will just make a nice compost tea of the manure and get the plants a nice nutritional drink every 5 days?? Never used manure before, always made my own compost and added some amendments. I am in Moab, UT at 4000 ft w last frost date of April 15. Any insight here as I am worried I might wipe out my garden if the manure is too "hot".
Also, I am worried about importing weed seed from the manure into my garden, so I am thinking that burying it 6" deep will keep the seeds from germinating and they will get broken down by natural processes by the end of summer?? thx so much. Any thoughts or advice on my plan??
I think you will be OK with that plan. It all depends on how confident you are that what you think is 'aged' manure actually is. One way to tell is to wet a shovel full of it, get it good and damp, and smell it. If it smells like compost, it is. In which case it will not burn plants no matter what the depth.
As for seeds, some can survive a long time in the ground and sprout when they're brought back up into the sun. I've heard that cows digest seeds better than horses, so horse manure has more viable seeds in it. Hot composting can kill more of them than cold. If I could get manure, I don't think I'd care that much which kind, I'd deal with it.


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First published in 1899, Stalky and Co. is a collection of school stories based on Kipling's own experiences at the United Services College. Kipling himself appears as the central character called Beetle and through him shows how school is a pattern-maker for the experiences of life.
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There is a chest in the Hyperion Dump that looks like it can be accessed via a bridge that must be lowered. The chest itself is located under a massive Hyperion sign, near where you run into the Hyperion Superbad Soldier. The bridge is made of some rickety looking peice of wood. I can't for the life of me figure out how to get to this chest. Anyone remember how to get this off the top of their heads?
Hyperion Dump - help me get to this chest!
there is also a chest that is inaccessible in the armory of knoxx behind a chain link fence near the top level, next to a control booth. There are a circle of high end chests that go around a missile silo nearby. i have never been able to figure out how to access this one either. any tips in a message or quote to me would be greatly appreciated.
@Jayzilla: I think that there are a lot of decoration chests and lockers in Knoxx that are purposefully set like that. Like you know how when you're running in to start the countdown and there are hundreds of lockers behind the forcefields that you can't get to? That's my guess anyway.
I found this as well. I did actually get access to that chest once. It was when I got the intro to the Super Bad Soldier guy..after killing him the little door was raised and you can get to it. I was sort of surprised because I never saw that in my playthrough 1. I just tried a second time on a subsequent run through there and now it's not open (and I got no Super Bad Soldier guy this time, either). I'm not sure if you only get him once or if that's a random event each time but maybe it's tied to that event.
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Bachelor's in ComSci; MBA in Mgmt, NYU Stern School of Business. Formerly: at GlaxoWellcome, NorTel, IBM; Exec. Director, Goldman Sachs; from 2008, policy specialist, project Access to Information Programme (A2i), Prime Minister's Office, Bangladesh. Senior Director, Strategy, Communications and Capacity, BRAC and BRAC Int'l. Founder, Drishtipat. Co-Founder, Drishtipat Writers' Collective. Member: Advisory Board, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust; Board, Institute of Informatics and Development. Asia 21 Fellow (2012). 2013 mentor, Unreasonable Institute. Work recognized by Asia Society's Asia 21 progr. (2008) and Bangladeshi American Foundation (2007).


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Roy, Cynthia Booth booked at Marscon
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By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil jumped about 5 percent on Thursday, rallying a second straight day, after air strikes in Yemen by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies sparked fears of a bigger Middle East battle that could disrupt world crude supplies. The military operation against Houthi rebels, who have driven the president from Yemen's capital Sanaa, has not affected oil facilities of major Gulf producers. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, called for an "immediate ceasefire." Pakistan, a Riyadh ally far away from the conflict, promised a "strong response" to any threat to Saudi integrity. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry touched on the conflict with Iran's foreign minister before talks on Thursday on Tehran's nuclear program.
A US military reservist was arrested as he tried to travel to fight for Islamic State jihadists, along with a cousin planning to carry out attacks on military installations, authorities said Thursday. A Justice Department statement said Army National Guard soldier Hasan Edmonds, 22, was detained at Chicago Midway International Airport on Wednesday as he attempted to fly to Egypt. A cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 29, was arrested at his home in Aurora, Illinois at the same time. Both had allegedly conspired to wage war on behalf of Islamic State jihadists, with Hasan Edmonds planning to use his military training to join the group on its frontlines in Iraq and Syria.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In uncommon bipartisan harmony, the House approved a $214 billion bill on Thursday permanently blocking physician Medicare cuts, moving Congress closer to resolving a problem that has plagued it for years.
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A woman masterminded a scheme to kidnap two babies and pass them off as her own to cover up a lie she told her boyfriend about giving birth to twins, police revealed about a chilling plot that left a 3-week-old baby girl dead and four relatives of the children injured.
NEW YORK (AP) — A grand manor will close its doors to millions of weekly guests after "Downton Abbey" concludes next year.
LEICESTER, England (AP) — A maligned monarch found under a parking lot was buried in pomp Thursday, as Britain embraced comeback King Richard III, a long-reviled ruler who is experiencing a remarkable posthumous renaissance.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Obama administration official violated agency ethics policies but did not break any laws when he intervened in three visa cases involving foreign investors with ties to prominent Democrats, a government watchdog told Congress Thursday.
VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) — The uncle of a Northern California woman who was reported kidnapped says police were reckless and overzealous in calling it a hoax after she turned up safe.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sam Taylor-Johnson will not be returning to direct the sequels to "Fifty Shades of Grey," she announced Wednesday night.
An experimental Ebola vaccine has been shown to effectively protect monkeys against the often-deadly virus, according to a study published Thursday. "The new vaccine differs from other Ebola vaccines," a statement from the University of Wisconsin-Madison read. The vaccine was constructed on an experimental platform that lets researchers safely work with the virus by deleting a key gene the Ebola virus needs to make a protein required to reproduce. The Ebola virus has only eight genes.
PARIS (AP) — Ignoring the captain's frantic pounding on the door, the co-pilot of the Germanwings jet barricaded himself inside the cockpit and deliberately rammed the plane full speed into the French Alps as passengers screamed in terror, a prosecutor said Thursday.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An accountant says the woman who recorded offensive racial remarks by Donald Sterling made unbelievable claims about where she got $1 million to buy a house.
Brasília (AFP) - Regular audits of Petrobras gave no hint of the massive corruption scandal now engulfing the Brazilian state oil giant, its former chair said Thursday. Graca Foster, who resigned last month amid a widening probe into allegations of kickbacks, bribery and political payoffs at the company over nearly a decade, told a congressional panel there had been no warning from auditors something was amiss. She was referring to a group of prominent construction firms that allegedly joined in a scheme to share inflated Petrobras contracts. Foster, a close associate of President Dilma Rousseff, has not been accused of any irregularities during her three year stewardship of the company.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special operations troops heading to war zones are asking for commercial intelligence analysis software they say will help their missions. But their requests are languishing, and they are being ordered to use a flawed, in-house system preferred by the Pentagon, according to government records and interviews.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks were little changed in afternoon trading Thursday, having recovered their losses from earlier in the day. Investors continued to watch the Middle East, where Saudi Arabia has launched strikes on key military installations in Yemen. The price of oil rose.
The New York Federal Reserve officials tasked with prying interest rates off the floor have been meeting with bankers and traders to plot how best to do it, amid deep uncertainty over how much control they will really have over short-term lending markets. With the U.S. central bank expected to raise rates later this year, Simon Potter and his team of market technicians have the tricky job of implementing higher rates using some new and lightly tested tools as well as some that may not work as well as in the past. The trouble is that the federal funds market, the intra-bank trading pool traditionally used by the Fed to meet its policy goals, has shrunk to about a quarter of its pre-crisis size after more than six years of unprecedented monetary stimulus. The Fed wants to avoid a scenario in which yields don't rise enough after it lifts the fed funds rate because banks, flush with $2.5 trillion of reserves parked at the central bank, don't need short-term funding.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Embracing proposed new rules aimed at payday lenders, President Barack Obama on Thursday warned Republicans that he would veto attempts to unravel regulations that govern the financial industry.
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Beefed up by new weapons from China, Russia and the Czech Republic, and strengthened by training from foreign advisers, Nigeria's military is forcing Boko Haram extremists from a string of northeastern towns as the country's prepares for elections the insurgents are threatening to disrupt.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Iranian-backed Shiite militias have left the northern Iraq city of Tikrit, a key condition the U.S. demanded before it agreed to begin launching airstrikes Wednesday to support Iraqi forces and try to retake the city from the Islamic State group, the top U.S. general for the Middle East said Thursday.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl says he was tortured repeatedly in the five years he was held captive by the Taliban: beaten with a copper cable, chained, held in a cage and threatened with execution after trying to escape.
By Khaled Abdallah and Sami Aboudi SANAA/ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi left his refuge in Aden under Saudi protection on Thursday and arrived in Saudi Arabia as Houthi rebels battled with forces still loyal to him on the outskirts of the southern port city. Throughout the day, warplanes from Saudi Arabia and Arab allies struck at Houthi forces, who have taken over much of the country in their campaign to oust Hadi. The Saudi-led military intervention marked a major escalation of the Yemen crisis, in which Iran supports the Shi'ite Muslim Houthis, and Sunni Muslim monarchies in the Gulf back Hadi and his fellow Sunni loyalists in Yemen's south.
CHICAGO (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. left an Alabama federal prison early Thursday bound for a halfway house, where he begins his transition back into society two years after pleading guilty to spending $750,000 in campaign money on personal items.
BOSTON (AP) — From picturesque coastal estuaries of Cape Cod to the soaring White Mountains, much of New England's rich native flora is fighting for survival against increasing odds, according to what conservationists call the most comprehensive accounting ever made of the region's plant life.
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text:
Chiefs voice concerns over Ariz. law
Top cops hold hourlong, closed-door meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder
By Pete Yost
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Arizona's new immigration law and similar proposals in other states would lead to an increase in crime, some police chiefs from around the country told Attorney General Eric Holder in an hourlong meeting Wednesday.
The chiefs told the attorney general that having to determine whether a person is in the United States illegally will break down the trust that police have built in communities and will divert law enforcement resources away from fighting crime.
If that happens, "we will be unable to do our jobs," said Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck. "Laws like this will actually increase crime, not decrease crime."
Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor said the requirements of the new law are so burdensome that "we doubt the federal government can even handle the numbers of people we will bring to them" on immigration status.
The new law "puts Arizona law enforcement right in the middle" at a time when police budgets are already in crisis, said John Harris, president of the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police.
The Obama administration is weighing a possible court challenge to the Arizona law and "the attorney general said he would be making decisions fairly quickly," though he did not elaborate, said Harris, who is police chief in Sahuarita, Ariz.
The chiefs, who spoke to reporters after the hourlong meeting with Holder, said the subject of filing a lawsuit never came up.
Holder has expressed reservations about the new law, saying it could lead to racial profiling. Three weeks ago, the Justice Department's civil rights division head told some Arizona leaders that DOJ staff is analyzing the potential effects of the new state law.
Arizona immigration law empowers police to question anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally.
The other police chiefs in the meeting were from Philadelphia, Houston, Minneapolis, San Jose, Salt Lake City and Montgomery County, Md.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press
Copyright 2015 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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text: Moses leavens each tale of her coming-of-age with a recipe from her lifetime of confectionary obsession. Surviving a difficult childhood, her story is a wise, loving tribute to life in all its sweetness as well as its bitterness. "Cooking memoirs are all the rage. What makes this one special is that this is a truly gifted writer who just happens to be as experimental and adventuresome in the kitchen as she is at the keyboard. A crazy, richly compelling tale of learning to sweeten her way through good times and bad." (Mary Pols)


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abstract acrylic painting on canvas, 2012.
acrylic, seascape, waterscape, green, blue, dark tones, waves, nature, abstract, fine art, iris lehnhardt
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" (E. Roosevelt)
Beautiful flow.
beautiful work Iris
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