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- Farrukh Yakubov
- West Lafayette Bra, IN
- United States
Student, Purdue University
This conversation is closed.
What question would you ask to identify whether or not you were chatting with a well developed software or a person?
Imagine an experiment where you are asked to chat with one hundred people online, no sound or image, just text. Three of them are actually not real, they an extremely good automated response systems. Your task is to identify those three. You are allowed to ask only one and same question from everyone. People on the other end are specifically chosen such that none of them have similar personality. Programs are also given a unique personality. Only trick is, while you ask questions, programs observe responses of everybody else and may or may not change behavior based on that. What would your question be?
P.S. If you would like to be sure how good is 'extremely good' automated response system in the though experiment above, you may consider it to be the best of such systems you think is possible.
Closing Statement from Farrukh Yakubov
Now that the conversation is over I would like to leave you with more thoughts.
Imagine, this experiment took place and you asked your question, and indicated three of the participants as programs. What if this experiment was not what you thought it was, and after the experiment you were told that 100 participants were all human or all programs, or even a single person answering 100 different ways? What if the purpose of the experiment was not about the capabilities of programs, but about the people - to see how people percieve an intelligent software? Did you think about this possibility?
On the other hand, if the experiment was to test the programs, how effective do you thinki it would be to use this same question of the experiment? i.e. asking "What question would you ask to identify whether or not you were chatting with a well developed software or a person?" from each of the 100 participants.
It is up to you to chose the post experinment scenario, and you would be correct. Because, the experiment can work both ways wether you decide to look at this experiment as an attemp to test programs, or a way of understanding peoples' understanding of programs.
Jan 27 2014: Nowhere in your conditions is the machine constrained to tell the truth. Therefore, no such magical question can exist, since the machine could simply lie.
Jan 27 2014: That is profound I must admit.Jan 27 2014: Yes, machines on this experiment are not constrained. They could lie, but telling a lie while making it sound like truth is not simpler than telling the truth. Unless its a yes/no answer, it does not matter if its the truth or lie, any answer has some logic incorporated into it. Human participants could also lie, and it would have same effect as if they told the truth. Because, no prior information on the participants is provided.
Jan 27 2014: No such magical question can exist. There is no single question that can determine whether or not a "conversational partner" is human. There is no perfectly logical way to determine this. One must, instead, rely upon the illogical presumption that there is and must be a flaw in the masquerade that is never, under any circumstances, to be replicated by human-to-human misunderstanding or human variation. If we're dealing with ca. 1985 "AI", maybe, but we are not limiting ourselves to 1985, 2014, or the limits of any year. Thus, we can posit near-infinite databases, decision trees, and expert systems for the machine participants. The puzzle is posed in a way that cannot be solved.
Jan 28 2014: This is a thought experiment and the question mentions the audience to imagine this scenario. The question is not about whether or not a single question can differenciate a software from human, it is about what question one would ask trying to see the difference, given they are limited to a single question. For this experiment it does not matter if such a question exists or not, it's what people come up with as such a question. :)Jan 28 2014: If no such question exists, then there is no point in coming up with any such question, which has been my contention from the start. It's as nonsensical a task as saying "What incantation will take you to the moon without any means other than the power of magic engendered from your voice?"
Feb 4 2014: there are bazillions of such questions, Bryan.
Austin Jones
Jan 26 2014: Send them a CAPTCHA picture and ask them to solve it.
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Lejan .
Jan 23 2014: From each participant I would demand an association chain starting with 'witch' and ending of 'blue dog' with a minimum of 42 freely chosen, different, yet related steps in between them, by which each step has to alternate between a subject, or an object and a transitional descriptive adjective which both have in common and relate them to one another in the development direction from left to right.
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Witch -> ugly -> Pimples -> subcutaneous -> Capillaries -> thin -> Chopsticks -> pointy -> Nose -> centered -> egoist -> ... -> smelly -> blue dog.
And now the only question I am allowed to ask:
What made the dog and not the witch colored by the 24th object you choose?
Jan 23 2014: I think I"m not understanding the question, because I think the answer would always be: "What makes the dog colored is the adjective 'blue' before the word 'dog', as specified in the question." That would not seem to depend on any precedents in the association chain, and it doesn't depend on the immediate precedent "smelly".
In your question when you ask what made the dog colored, are you assuming that "blue dog" refers to a real dog that is physically colored blue? You could instead be referring to artist George Rodrigue's famous "blue dog" cartoon, or any of a number of other "blue dog" references. If you're referring to Rodrigue's blue dog, here is his answer to this question:
Rodrigue answers the title question by explaining that Blue Dog's color depends on what the artist is doing: when Rodrigue goes fishing, he paints the dog a salmon color; when Rodrigue wants a hot dog, he paints the dog mustard yellow, and so on. Would that be a valid answer?
Lejan .
Jan 23 2014: If that was your answer and you a participant in that test, I would have you on the 'humanoid' pile in first selection. :o)
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As Farrukh virtually installed 'extremely good automated response systems' in his thought experiment, about which I have no clue what 'extremely good' means, because my one and only experience with this type of software was a pretty boring ELIZA derivative, I have to assume the worst, which for this response systems would be 'really damn good'.
The approach I chose to gain sufficient information is based on complexity, uncertainty, ambiguities and creativity which are likely to confuse both, humans and programs, whereas the focus in the analysis would be the underlying approach of each given answer.
When you think the answer would always be 'the adjective 'blue' before the word 'dog'', you assume, that all participants cut of the whole end of my question - as you did - which clearly asked for a relation to the 24th object in the association chain (if there is any, as also subjects were allowed) by which the dog and not the witch was colored. And as 'blue' is not an object, this answer returns a contradiction to my question.
The uncertainty here is, if the 'blue' in 'blue dog' already represents the preceding adjective to 'dog' at the end of the chain or is seen as a closed entity which would allow for two descriptive adjectives at end, which is not forbidden. This is a choice everyone and the programs has to make, it is confusing on purpose to provoke uncertainty to some degree, because if you look closely at the example I gave, you'll find a separation arrow (->) in between smelly and blue dog, which holds some hint in itself.
I didn't know about George Rodrigue's artwork 9 hours ago and I didn't have to, to find you in the situation which was desired. Here is another uncertainty, even multifold, as 'blue' in the English language can also be interpreted as 'sad' or 'melancholic'., which is another ambiguous degree.
... to be continue
Lejan .
Jan 23 2014: And although Rodrigue's answer why his dog is blue is irrelevant to my question, as he is a subject and can therefore never be the 24th object of an association chain, the information you returned is valuable by its creativity and testifies your knowledge in, at least, his work.
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But Farrukh installed 'extremely good automated response systems' in this experiment by which I have to assume, that they are programmed in a way to gather 'knowledge' in real-time if necessary for a task or question, that is why knowledge alone would not be a good enough filter to spot them.
It is also to assume that those programs are designed to mimic human imperfection, because after all that is what makes us special, in a way, but as far as I am aware of, this is tricky to cast into machine code... I mean, the intended ones :o)
If I would take your comment as a 'valid' response in this test, I would consider the fact, that you spend almost half of all your words on the artist Rodrigue, which in proportion would be so way off my only and initial question, that you became a potential candidate for being a human in first selection.
Whether you are highly interested in arts in general or just in this artist or randomly just knew about him is secondary behind the quantity you spent on it. But as quantity disproportions could also be 'simulated', it qualifies you humanoid 'only' in first degree, by which the number of selection steps itself would depend on the overall tendency of answers and their 'quality' and therefore 'spot-ability' of the programs.
What I have to avoid in my final decision for each answer is a clear decision matrix which could and would be programmed in advance by smart programmers, so at the end it has to be my good old gut feeling I rely on.
And not to render all of my pitfalls and approaches I stated here obsolete, please don't tell me, that you already are 'an extremely good automated response system' installed on TED to keep conversations going here ... ;o
Lejan .
Jan 23 2014: Are you, at the end, a dangerous lamp post at the side of this information highway? ;o)
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Jan 23 2014: "[Insert long story about George Washington here...] What color was George Washington's White Horse?"
That was one of my favorite riddles as a child. :)
You are correct - I am merely human... But of course the TED-bot would say that too... :)Jan 23 2014: The Turing test, which this question is related to, is one of my favorite thought experiments. I believe that we are nearing a time when there is no way to tell the difference with one question. My question would be a bit recursive:
What one question could I ask you to determine whether you're a human or software?
Ken brown
Jan 23 2014: Where is Mars.Jan 22 2014: You are in a prison with two other people, one always lies and the other always tells the truth. There are two doors in the prison, one leads to sudden death, the other to feedom. Both people know what is behind each door. You may ask one question to either person and walk out to freedom, what is the question?
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Jan 22 2014: How can we get out of here?:)
Jan 22 2014: sorry.. wrong
Jan 23 2014: Compare with what is the answer wrong? Or becuase you say it's wrong, so it's wrong?Jan 23 2014: "What door would the other person point to, if I asked which one leads to freedom?" The door that was not pointed is the one to go through. Does not depend on which one of them answers this.
Jan 23 2014: So in your philosophy, who answers the quesiton in the "wrong"(you defined) way are not real persons? Or they're just chatting bots?
Jan 23 2014: The comment above was just how I would answer to Keith's question if I was one of the 100 on the other end of the network. But if you mean how would I judge if I was the one asking questions, then I would not expect everyone to answer the right way, because there might not be single correct way to answer. Instead, one way I could judge is to get all 100 answers, then compare them.Jan 23 2014: You and I have very similar interests and knowledge backgrounds I see, my guess is less than 1 in a billion can solve that problem without looking it up on the internet. That one was easy, would you like to try this one? Can you tell me how to sort data without moving it? That took IBM's best over thirty years, I did it over a weekend 46 years ago. If you get that one I will give you a really hard one about quantum physics. I am curious to see if you have any limitations.
Jan 23 2014: In-place heap sort is one way of doing it.Jan 23 2014: Farrukh, why is your answer right and Yoka's answer wrong? I think you may explain it better than me...
Jan 23 2014: Why do you think a liar never says a single truth? What if they play tricks on you becasuse they know you don't trust them? Do you think an intelligence test like this can help you to find a real person you like or has much in common with you in your real life?Jan 23 2014: Concise way of explaining this, is that those two (people in the question) behave like quantum entangled particles. Longer verbal explanation is below:
Hi Yoka, I think Keith said it's wrong because just asking any one of them about the safe way out does not provide sufficient information to identify where the doors lead. You may just get lucky and ask the person that knows the truth, or it may turn out otherwise. The trick is to assume the person you are going to talk to could be both of them. If you asked any one of them which way the other one would point to as safe, they could either lie or tell the truth. But if they lie, then the other person would tell the truth, and vice versa. While having only two possible answer choices, opposite of lie is the truth, of truth is a lie.
Therefore, no matter who you ask, you either get truth about the lie, or a lie about the truth. Thus you get a lie. Now you can be sure about where the doors lead.Jan 23 2014: Thank you for your encouragement. Hope my assertive words didn't hurt you two. Any inappropriate comments, please ignore them.Jan 23 2014: ""What door would the other person point to, if I asked which one leads to freedom?" The door that was not pointed is the one to go through. Does not depend on which one of them answers this. "
Why this answer can't be programmed in a smart robot?Jan 23 2014: Thank you for your elaboration. I think I understand it. But I meant to take all of us three to get out of the prison. I can just let them open the door and follow them to go out. So if the liar wants to survive, he has to tell the truth.
And actually, I don't think this kind of question can help me judge a person on the internet in our real life. I'd be too lazy to answer it and pass my attention to chat with other people.
Jan 23 2014: Thanks for your patience Yoka, I figured Farrukh could help better than I could, he is a smart and gentle guy. The question is a brain teaser and not at all easy to solve but you just plowed into it anyway and I give you a thumbs up for trying. I enjoy your comments and think you have a lot to offer so hang in there and fire away anytime you like.Jan 23 2014: The heap sort is a comparative sort still an incredibly slow sort compared to mine. I'll give you a hint, my sort does not sort anything. It operates as fast as the records can be read, no data movement and near zero cpu time. It was ingenious 46 years ago and as far as I know it is still the fastest sort in the world. Some Professors at Stanford challanged me to beat their sort version because their's is the fastest sort ever published. My sort has never been published and aside from my Professor a retired Air Force Mathematician no one has ever seen my code. It was my first program, a simple assignment for class and it was supposed to be written in COBOL, however I wrote it in Fortran which I taught myself and he did not understand the code.
By the way I had a good laugh about your "quantum entangled particles" explanation. By the way if you have not seen Princess Bride by all means watch it some time.. 3 min. part on logic- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sPVEBAtwmg
Jan 24 2014: The first time I thought about this I assumed no data movement meant using any memory (other than where data already resides) for structures regarding the sorting information is not allowed. Also, I'm assuming linear complexity when u say "zero cpu time". Please let me know if you meant something else other than the above. Also, does your design work with any type of data with same efficiency? From what you describe it sounds as if its a method of accessing data as if it was sorted, while order of data entries remain unchanged.
If the purpose is just to provide the sorted index of a requested entry, Selection algorithm to find kth smallest item from the set has a linear complexity. But it is not ideal if random kth items are being continuously accessed.
Thus I have a solution in mind, that modifies, reuses and combines existing methods to create generic non-comparative sorting that works with a set of data (let size of the set be 'n'), where each item has arbitrary length, and does so in linear time.
Edit: I don't expect it to be same or similar to what you have in mind, its just another way of doing things.
Algorithm is explained on the next comment. This is going to be divided into few chunks due to limits of this conversation platform.Jan 24 2014: Continuation of my previous comment:
It does not modify the original data set, but produces an array of pointers (referred as the map) of length n. Other memory that will be used is of size 256 integers (referred as the workspace), which is no longer required after completion of the algorithm. I'm going to start describing it from the lowest component to highest. Also, I'll use C notation to avoid wordy sentences.
First component takes advantage of pointer manipulation and underlying architecture.It is a partial Counting sort. This stage takes in only set of bytes.
1.Reset workspace to zeros.
2.for each item e in the input set, perform workspace[e]++ //offset of each entry in workspace represents a value of an item; value at the offset represents the # of items in the set that are equal to the item.
3.for i=1 to 'size of workspace', perform workspace[i]+=workspace[i-1] //value of each entry in workspace represents #of items in the set that are less than or equal to the item with value 'offset'.
4.First component does not proceed with constructing sorted array, but instead provides a way find index of each item as if the set was sorted. Index of 'someItem' from the input set in a sorted set would be workspace[someItem]. Higer level component will obtain index for each item exacly once.
Second component is a radix sort, but bytes will be used for grouping instead of bits. The map is initialized such that map[i] contains adress of set[i]. At each iteration, the first component is used to divide each subsequent set up to 256 groups, until they no longer need sorting, i.e. is of length 1. Also, actual items in the set will not be moved around, instead only the pointers in the map are modified such that map[i] is the index of ith item in a "sorted" set.
Complexity is explained on the next comment.Jan 24 2014: Continuation of my previous comment:
Counting sort(first subcomponent) has complexity O(n+k), k is maximum possible value of each integer item (256 in this case), n is length of the current subset. This is a stable non-comparative sort.
Radix sort using stable non-comparative sort has execution time of Θ(d(n+k)), d is length of items in the set. n is size of the set. For arbitrary length items, upper bound should be O(p(n+k)). p is an avarage length of items in set. p.s. items of length less than p, will no longer be in subsets of size larger than 1 after p iterations.
I may not use the same method if the nature of the input is known beforehand.
Final comment, in the process I discovered this platform does not include anything after 'less than' symbol.Jan 25 2014: Farrukh - can you tell me if I'm not understanding your algorithm properly? I believe your algorithm is n-log-n and not linear, because the original question placed no constraints on the size of each input element.
If each input element were allowed to be a random 64-bit integer, the size of your work space would be 16 quintillion bytes, which would be an issue.
Am I missing something?
Timo X
Jan 23 2014: I'm assuming you don't know which is which. It took me some time, but I think I figured it out. You ask either of them: what will the other guy say is the door to sudden death? The person will indicate a door, that's the one you want to take. Alternatively, you can ask which will the other guy say is the door to freedom, and take the door not indicated.
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Jan 23 2014: Very good but Farrukh posted the answer 25 minutes earlier. Did you look it up or figure it out?
Another way to phrase it is: Which door will the other guy tell me go through? and then go through the other one.
Good work out Farrukh, Yoka and Timo... remember it is the journey that is most important and all of you took the same journey. Because you got different answers should in no way spoil your journey because there "is" no destination, the destination is an illusion. Buddha put it this way:
"Nirvana is this moment seen directly. There is no where else than here. The only gate is now. The only doorway is your own body and mind. There's nowhere to go. There's nothing else to be. There's no destination. It's not something to aim for in the afterlife. It's simply the quality of this moment."Jan 23 2014: The question doesn't matter.
If i choose life i'll go to the door that the lier will show me, no matter what i asked.
Freedom is a lie, the lier will show me the door to freedom, if i ask for it. If i ask the door to sudden death, he will show me the same door, to freedom , because he is a lier.
If ask the person who always tells truth, where is the door to freedom , he will show me the door to sudden death, because , it's a real freedom. If i ask him where is the door to sudden death , he will show me the door to sudden death, because he always tells truth.
Jan 23 2014: This is truely a remarkable explanation. What do you think Farrukh, can you see the beauty in her logic?
Jan 23 2014: Maybe you've pushed the wrong reply button ?:)
It's me,not Farrukh.
I've experienced the beauty of logic on the way to..., but now i see the flaws.
Frankly, i don't see any version of explanation that can eliminate the uncertainty.
In case, there is such and you know it, please share !Jan 24 2014: Interesting way of putting things together. If I were to further analyze this, under the above explained conditions, choosing a random door would be as good as talking to anyone. However, under this concept of the world, there is still a solution that leads to certainty. It's actually more efficient that the one in standard concept. If you ask anyone of them which way the other one would point to to freedom, they will always point to freedom. Its guaranteed by the design of the preconditions, no post thinking to be done like as in other case. Since a lier always points to freedom, truthful person would not alter lier's decision. On the other hand, the lier would point to any door other than the truthful person believes to be freedom. What I find amazing is that formulating a different preconditions allows formulating a logic that does not contradict with those of different setups.Jan 25 2014: "What do you think is the biggest problem in the world today...?"
This must be one of the hardest questions to answer, due to many problems and not all of them can be compared. Perhaps this would be a good question of choice for the above thought experiment. :)
Science is key to move everything forward, and computer science seems to be the beating heart of the current era. I am not sure what I would want to tackle first, but I would let my interests lead the way.Jan 24 2014: Its not a question of did I read it, it is that of when I read it.
-this is a response to your response of Keith's response to you main comment. :)
Jan 24 2014: I see... you and Keith have ' do-not-disturb-us' kind of conversation :)
OK then, enjoy it !Jan 24 2014: Farrukh I copied your last response to a word file and will go over it next week, I'm not as sharp as I used to be so it will take me a while to figure out your method. I tried to email you but the link did not work for me. Here is my email (email@example.com) drop me a line and I will tell you as best I can remember how my sort works for your information and you can do whatever you like with it. I am curious about your background I assume you spent time or was raised in the Kazakhstan area and moved to the US to further your education. Also wondering what kind of impact you want to have in the world, with your knowledge you obviously have a wide range of possiblities. What do you think is the biggest problem in the world today and are you willing to tackle it?Jan 25 2014: Natasha you are right of course, I have no right to give anyone any more attention than someone else and I apologize for offending you. It was totally my fault. The riddle I purposed was my way of telling if I was speaking to a bot or a very smart person and was another version of his original Turning type suggestions. Upon reading Farrukh's background which is very similar to mine I wanted to see how deep the rabbit hole goes and I found it has no bottom to my delight. I got caught up in that as you witnessed and forgot my manners and you have every right to call me on it, thank you. I hope you can forgive me and I will try not to every do that again.
Jan 25 2014: No worries, you don't have any chance to offend me !
I mean, my ego is thin enough :)
Your riddle and that episode from " The Princes Bride " gave me an aha moment and i am grateful for that. Actually, those two are in perfect congruence. Probably i was a bit upset that there seemed to be nobody who was interested, but on the other hand, it's not easy to language what i've got, so it's OK anyway.
Thank you !Jan 23 2014: The question about a 100% liar and 100% truth teller assumes that you can find two people, such that one always tells the truth and one always lies. I don't think that ever happens in reality, and it's not a premise of the original question, so I can't see how this classic logic puzzle is a solution to this Turing test.
Am I missing something?
Jan 25 2014: I simply answered a question with another question... an old politician trick I quess.Jan 25 2014: I agree, if the two persons lie at the same time(not one lies, another must be honest )......I think making them go through the door first could help to get all the people free from the prison in reality. But if they're terrorists who want to kill you with any cost......:)Jan 23 2014: "Would the other person tell me that the left-hand door leads to freedom?"
If the person says 'Yes' and is lying, then the other person would truthfully say 'No,' so the right-hand door leads to freedom.
If the person says 'Yes' and is truthful, then the other person would deceitfully say 'Yes,' so the right-hand door leads to freedom.
This is a logic question which would be much easier for an advanced computer to figure out than a person.
If the person says 'No' and is truthful, then the other person would deceitfully say 'No' and the left-hand door leads to freedom.
If the person says 'No' and is lying, then the other person would truthfully say 'Yes' and the left-hand door leads to freedom.
So, if the person says 'Yes,' then the right-hand door leads to freedom. And if the person says 'No,' then the left-hand door leads to freedom.
Jan 23 2014: It was a riddle, and both Farrukh and Timo gave good logical answers.Jan 25 2014: You do not know which person is which and if you ask the question right, it does not matter. Faarrukh and Timo both gave answers that would work.Jan 27 2014: "Could you come over here?" Then I grab either one and throw him through a random doorway. If he's obliterated, that's the door not to go through.
Jan 27 2014: Now that is a solution without a question....:) Even more efficient..
Sandy Chase
Feb 2 2014: Cpmeurtos are not as good wtih tsaks taht ionlvve ataiooxrpimpn or coenttaxul gseuinsg. Hmunas lkie to mkae ssene of the wlord and wlil hvae an eiesar tmie maknig sesne of tihs pgaaarprh. Aslo, iedircnt qtsueions and culoonevtd gramamr are tircky for cpueortms to iperntret. If you foellwod tihs ieda so far, tehn tihs paaprargh may rnemid you of smoe ohter lgguaane or wrdloapy taht you hvae laerned smoe ohter tmie in yuor lfie. Waht is it?
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¿ɹɐǝʎ ʎɹǝʌǝ sᴉɥʇ ɹoɟ uoᴉʇᴉʇǝdɯoɔ ɐ ǝʌɐɥ ʎǝɥʇ ʇ,uop ¿ʇsǝʇ ƃuᴉɹnʇ ɐ ʇsnɾ sᴉɥʇ ʇ,usᴉ 'ʎɐʍ ǝɥʇ ʎq pu∀
Feb 2 2014: Beautifully written !
"I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way."
:)Jan 29 2014: Most, if not all, proposed answers in this thread have ignored the following clause.
"Only trick is, while you ask questions, programs observe responses of everybody else and may or may not change behavior based on that. "
It seems to me that, unless the computer application is first to provide an answer, a natural language processing (NLP) facility based on machine learning and/or statistical methods could be devised which could infer a convincing response based on those previously observed. Obviously if the computer is the 100th to answer, it is much more likely to be convincing than if it is first.
Given that we're limited to text only, that stops any sort of perception test of the Captcha form. If it weren't for the facility to observe previous responses you could try some sort of text based emoticon, but it would only have to repeat a previous answer to pass that particular test.
The nearest I can get is some sort of internally referenced query constructed entirely on the mechanics of the test itself. This would depend on people answering sequentially and knowing which position they held in the sequence.
Something like.
Using the numeric characters which represent your position in the sequence of responses (from 1 to 100) and additional punctuation marks found on a standard keyboard, create an original emoticon and explain what you intend it to mean. eg. if you are the eighth person to answer you could respond with "8=) means happy face" (this example may not be replicated in the test).
Something like that...
Jan 29 2014: Its an interesting coincidence that this morning I was in a discussion about smtp allowing only trasfer of plain text, yet we use it to transfer anything in an email.
Jan 30 2014: Hi Farrukh,
Truth is though that while SMTP is a text based protocol, it has been extended by MIME and other RFC standards to allow encoding of the inline multimedia and attachments that we see today.
For these to work it is necessary that server and client software understand the encoding standards and provide functionality by which the encoded data is presented in the intended format.
I guess our assumption when responding to your question, was that you were talking about the resulting/formatted communicated content (what a recipient might actually see and/or percieve) rather than the underlying character set processed by the communications protocol.
Jan 30 2014: Yes, In the though experiment above the representation is text.
About SMTP, since MIME is also text and is part of the content, I would assume its the same protocol.
Sarah Bunday
Jan 28 2014: What does the color "red" feel like?
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Jan 30 2014: "Warm".--preprogrammed answer.Jan 27 2014: I have concluded that this is a loaded question. It is meant to illustrate the point that we are no different to the ideal synthetic brain!
The ideal robotic replica of a human brain can logically only exist if it mirrors/replicates the human mind to perfection.
This means that there is no question that can exist to differentiate between the two. Even though Farrukh does not specifically say it must be an ideal software he does say it must be highly developed which implies perfect or near perfect replication of human thinking.
Or maybe Farrukh is a TEDbot and we are being played like lab rats!
Jan 27 2014: Unless ofcourse, you use a CAPTCHA ;)Jan 26 2014: I would ask: "Considering the rumor that your mother sleeps around a lot, how many sweaty gardeners did she sleep with yesterday if she slept with 3 at midday and 2 at 5 pm?"
If your answer is 5 you're speaking to a robot.
Jan 27 2014: Wow... trick him with the math questions nicely done...


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subset: commoncrawl


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It's been three months since we took delivery of the Killer Whale, and we're just smitten with its performance, all-around capability, and off-the-charts fun factor. Not only has it proven to be stone reliable, but it's also incredibly comfortable for the daily grind and has shown its merits both on the dragstrip and on the streets. Better yet, we've averaged about 20 mpg in combined city and highway driving, proving that LT1 performance comes with little sacrifice at the pump. With well over 115,000 miles on the clock, those 5.7 liters of American willpower are still firin' on all eight and have readily accepted all the mods we've thrown at it without a single hiccup.
Thanks to the Level 10 transmission and torque converter, as well as the slew of new and used bolt-ons, we've whittled our elapsed times from a baseline of 15.251 at 91.11 to a rather impressive 14.405 at 92.81 mph. But at this point, we're pretty much done with the bolt-on mods, and our quest for quicker quarter-mile times has redirected our performance focus toward more substantial modifications. It's a natural progression, really. Question is, which way do we go?
Good Cop, Bad Cop
So there we were, racking that gray matter for the best way to step up our game to increase power. After weighing our options, we decided that a power adder would be a good way to start, as opposed to a full-on naturally aspirated engine buildup. We then had to choose which power adder, and the choices only complicated things some more (in case you weren't aware, our brains aren't exactly the swiftest of machines).
At first, we looked at supercharging, but the subsequent commitment to precise PCM tuning and the added weight was unappealing in the long run. This would also hold true for a turbocharger system that would throw increased underhood temps into the equation. In the end, nitrous oxide made the most sense because of its simplicity and affordability. There is nothing as effective, dollar for dollar, as a good nitrous system.
When looking for a nitrous system, there will be many questions surrounding the topic. Do you want a dry or wet system? How much power do you want to add? How much time do you want to spend on installation? Once you get your answers, you'll have a clearer picture as to what you want so you can make a more educated choice. For our application, we found the Zex system to our liking the most. Let us explain why.
Although there are no less than seven nitrous oxide companies out there offering systems for fuel-injected V-8s, we turned our short attention spans to the manufacturers of dry kits. By injecting the nitrous oxide directly into the air induction system and allowing the existing fuel injectors to provide the requisite additional fuel, this clean and effective setup reduces the chances of massive backfires. On an older car like ours, using a wet nitrous system that injects both gasoline and nitrous simultaneously into the intake manifold can prove to be dicey. This is because all the fuel being injected can sit in the manifold and cylinder head's ports and get absorbed into the oil sludge and carbon buildup like a sponge, making it a bomb in the event of a slight backfire. All that fuel wants to combust, and it will rip apart expensive hard parts in the process. Therefore, a dry kit is the safer, more preferred choice for our Killer Whale.
There are only a few LT1-specific dry manifold nitrous kits on the market, but by far the easiest one to install and maintain is produced by Zex. It offers a kit that's adjustable from 75 to 125 additional horsepower. Some people may get greedy and feel the need for more power and shun kits that are maxed out at 125, but those who are in the know understand that with a stock engine, this is the safe mechanical limit. Besides, we'd rather keep our rods and pistons inside our block rather than out of it. And yes, because it's designed for LT1 GM cars, it comes ready to install specifically for our application.


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ESJ459 - Studies in Curriculum (TESOL 7-10)
Unit details
2014 unit information
|Offering information:
* Cloud (online) offering to continuing students only from 2010.
|Enrolment modes:
Trimester 1 Burwood (Melbourne) Cloud (Online)*
|Credit point(s):
|EFTSL value:
|Cohort rule:
(For students enrolled in courses D347, E360, E365 or E455 only)
|Unit chair:
|M Weinmann
A sub-major study in one of Linguistics or
|Incompatible with:
|Contact hours:
3 hours or equivalent
TESOL specialist teachers require a sub-major study in one of Linguistics or a second language (i.e. not the teachers' first language), or appropriate TESOL studies as approved by the unit chair. It is highly recommended that TESOL students undertake Linguistics units ELL101, ELL102, ELL201 and ELL202.
The principal aim of this unit is to prepare students for teaching as specialist education practitioners through a study of the education specialism: TESOL: Curriculum Study A
This unit aims to introduce beginning teachers to the major aspects of teaching learners from language background other than English in both mainstream and specialist classes at secondary school level. It provides real and simulated classroom situations in which participants can practise and discuss teaching and learning procedures. The unit covers a broad range of theoretical and practical issues important to the study of TESOL such as second language acquisition, the use of curriculum frameworks, assessment practices and effective pedagogies.
1. Written essay (40%)
2. The development of a teaching/learning sequence based on current curriculum frameworks (60%), which consists of the activity demonstration (20%) and lesson plan submission (40%).
Unit Fee Information
|Student Contribution Rate*
|Student Contribution Rate**
|Fee rate - Domestic Students
|Fee rate - International students
* Rate for all CSP students, except for those who commenced Education and Nursing units pre 2010
** Rate for CSP students who commenced Education and Nursing units pre 2010
Please note: Unit fees listed do not apply to Deakin Prime students.


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Top Searches:
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July 22, 2013
Links: Australian Glass and the Pacific Northwest at Museum of Glass
Wsu Master Gardeners of Pierce County at Master Gardener of Pierce County
The Shape of Things by Neil Labute at Dukesbay Theater
All events for today »
Submit an event | All events
Down-and-out divorcee Andy Sargentee, with the help of his five motley friends, brainstorms a genius idea to make their dreams come true. They are going to rally their small town to produce an amateur adult film! They think they've found the road to fame and fortune, but their fantasy quickly turns into a hilarious misadventure as they encounter more than a few bumps in the road. Their good natured attempts lead to the creation of the most un-adult, adult film ever.
Rated R for sexual content and language.
Visit the official site
Cast: Lauren Graham, Jeff Bridges, William Fichtner, Patrick Fugit, Ted Danson
Produced by: Aaron Ryder
Directed by: Michael Traeger
Written by: Michael Traeger
Running time: 1hr 39min
Opens: Dec 07, 2007 LA/Dallas


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Teachers providing feedback on proposed new evaluation system
MEA staff lobbyists are meeting with teachers throughout the state to get their thoughts on a proposed new statewide system for evaluating teachers.
The Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness released a report this summer with recommendations for creating a "fair, transparent and feasible" system for evaluating teachers and school administrators, which would replace the 800 different systems currently in place across Michigan.
MEA is part of a bi-partisan workgroup of legislators, education advocates and others that is working to transform the MCEE's recommendations into legislation.
As the MCEE was crafting its report last year, 13 school districts participated in a pilot project to test the proposed evaluation system. MEA lobbyists Charles Agerstrand, Christina Canfield, David Michelson, Ph.D., and Dave Stafford are working with teachers in those districts to get feedback on their experiences with the pilot project and listen to their suggestions on the crafting of legislation.
"It's one thing to think about the process in theory; it's another thing to hear first-hand the benefits and challenges from those on the front lines doing the work," Canfield said.
Among MEA lobbyists' preliminary findings:
- Many teachers interview by MEA staff said they liked the part of the pilot evaluation process that encouraged them to reflect on their own teaching, as it helped them to focus on different aspects of their practice.
- Teachers who teach non-core subjects or special education said they found the MCEE's proposed evaluation model awkward and incompatible with their classes.
- There seems to be a clear division between teachers who were evaluated by well-trained administrators who showed fidelity to the process, and those who weren't. "Effective administrators delivered on the promises of the report, providing fair evaluations to teachers and providing them with valuable insight and input," Michelson said. "Administrators who weren't well-trained, or who used the evaluation process to further their own personal agendas against teachers, left teachers feeling frustrated and manipulated."
- Time seemed to play a huge part in how worthwhile the process was from teachers' perspectives. Many administrators in the pilot districts had trouble implementing the complete process. When they ran short on time, they took shortcuts. For example, one administrator took his written comments from a teacher's walkthrough and copied them, providing the exact same comments to several other teachers. Time constraints also caused some administrators to skip valuable pre-observation conferences.
Regardless of their experiences with pilot project, Stafford said members appreciate meeting with MEA staff and having their feedback relayed to lawmakers.
"Teachers deserve to be respected as the education experts they are, and their input is critical to this process as legislation is being debated in Lansing," Stafford said. "We look forward to continuing to meet with teachers and ensure their voices are heard loud and clear."


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- Advocacy Institute
- Civil Litigation Skills Practicum
- Concentrations
- Curriculum
- Institute Leadership
- Moot Court and Advocacy Programs
- National Civil Trial Competition
- Practical Learning
- Clinics & Experiential Learning
- Concentrations
- Externship Department
- Judicial Clerkships
- Lawyering Skills Curriculum
- Moot Court and Advocacy Programs
- National Civil Trial Competition
- Practice Ready Newsletter
- Public Interest Law Department
- Programs & Clinics
- Semester-in-Practice Externship
- Centers & Programs
- Clinics & Experiential Learning
- Concentrations
- Course Offerings
- Degrees Offered
- Law Reviews
- Student Support
Concentration Requirements
Core Requirements:
Students would be required to complete four upper-division courses to satisfy this Concentration:
- Business Associations (4 units)
- Business Planning: Financing the Start-Up and Venture Capital Financing (3 units)
- Mergers & Acquisitions (3 units)
- Securities Regulation (3 units)
Note: These are the same four upper-division requirements that must be completed in order to satisfy the requirements for the existing Corporate Law Concentration, which is a concentration that is also offered under the umbrella of the Business Law Practicum. While the core requirements overlap, the two concentrations are distinct because of the fundamental differences in the elective courses that must be completed in order to satisfy the requirements of each of these two Concentrations – as explained more fully in the next section of this proposal.
Required Electives:
In order to complete the Concentration, students must travel to LMU's main campus and complete two electives from an approved list of eligible MBA courses offered at LMU's Hilton School of Business. These two electives must be courses that are offered as part of LMU's MBA curriculum and must be related to the MBA's existing Entrepreneurship Program.
Based on our review of the MBA course catalogue and MBA course offerings for the 2013-2014 academic year, illustrative MBA courses include:
- Entrepreneurial and Small Business Marketing
- Financial Strategy
- Small Business Strategy
- Strategic Alliances
- Strategic Marketing
- Marketing Strategies for Innovative Products and Services (in the high-tech marketplace)
- Entrepreneurship
- Strategies for Technology Ventures
- Management Strategy
- Profit Planning and Managerial Decisions
- Business Valuation
- Entrepreneurial Finance
- Business Economics
- Social Entrepreneurship
- Strategies for Managing New and Growing Ventures
Based on our discussion with members of the MBA faculty, we are confident that there will be a sufficient number of approved MBA courses offered each semester in order for our law students to be able to complete the required two electives at the Hilton Business School. In addition, the Concentration Faculty Advisor will monitor the MBA course catalogue and suggest courses that should be added or deleted as appropriate.
NOTE: As a matter of existing LLS policy, in order for students to receive full credit for the two MBA courses that are the required electives for this new concentration, LLS students must complete all of the requirements for the Law & Entrepreneurship Concentration.
Research Requirement:
In addition to the core and elective classes, for students graduating after December 31, 2013, there is a required two-part corporate and securities research seminar provided by a law librarian. There is no registration process applicable to the seminar and no unit credit applies. The research seminar will be offered live and is recorded for download, so it can be completed either in the classroom or individually at a student's convenience. Both parts of the research seminar must be completed before the first day of the last month of classes leading to a student's graduation (thus, for most students, April 30).
Part One of the seminar addresses a California securities law problem and is available for download at https://my.lls.edu/node/3779. Log in using your LLS ID and password. After completing the problem, email or send hard copy of your deliverables to Professor Warren, who will record your completion of the requirement (email@example.com, office – B403).
Part Two, which looks into a federal securities law issue, will be taught live by research librarian Joshua Phillips on Friday, November 15, 2013. An email to all students registered with the Concentration will be sent prior to that date with the specifics on time and place. After Part Two is provided live, a similar download package will be set up on the same web page as Part One. Again, the research results should be sent to Professor Warren.
Experiential Requirement:
Students must complete the capstone course, "Business Planning I: Financing the Start-Up and Venture Capital Financing." This course allows students to understand the lawyer's role in planning and completing business transactions on behalf of start-up businesses by taking a "client" (i.e., an entrepreneur) through a "simulated deal" (i.e., a capital raising transaction for the new business "client"). Use of this simulated deal format acquaints students with the legal, ethical and business issues that confront the transactional lawyer in representing an early stage growth company.
Students are also encouraged to consider other experiential offerings related to the practice of corporate law, through internships and externships. In addition to academic advising, students enrolled in the Law & Entrepreneurship Concentration will be invited to unique networking opportunities and offered career guidance.
Law & Entrepreneurship Concentration
919 Albany St.
Los Angeles, CA 90015


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You have left before your reserved tickets are made available again.
In the interests of giving everyone the opportunity to buy tickets, reserved tickets must be bought within 15 minutes.
Once you enter the checkout process, your time limit will be extended to take into account any unfortunate delay.


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But since most TSA supervisors are too daft to actually supervise, bending the rules is easy to do.
Most TSA screeners know their job is a complete joke. Their goal is to use this as a stepping stone to another government agency.
Supervisors play absolutely no role in day-to-day functions except to tell you not to chew gum. Gum chewing is a huge issue with management. I once saw a supervisor make an officer open his mouth to prove he had a mint and not a piece of gum.
this screener also reveals
A small number of screeners are delusional zealots who believe they're keeping America safe by taking your snow globe, your 2-inch pocket knife, your 4-ounce bottle of shampoo and performing invasive pat-downs on your kids.
(Incidentally, the flap over the new rule allowing small pocketknives is overblown. Most of the public doesn't realize it, but you are already allowed to bring scissors, screwdrivers, tweezers, knitting needles and any number of sharp instruments on board.)
The rest are only there for the paycheck and generous benefits. Screeners start at $15 per hour, and there is tons of overtime — mainly because they are filling in for the many screeners who don't bother coming to work. For every 40 hours you work, you receive four hours of vacation and four hours of sick time.
One screener didn't come to work for four weeks. When he finally reappeared, he asked for another week off. The answer was no. So what did this brainiac decide to do? He took another week off — and didn't get terminated.
I always knew TSA was worthless, it's just that I was always called a conspiracy theorist. not all conspiracies are theory.


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The hotel's conference facilities consist of seven rooms and two conference suites, the largest of which holds up to 150 people. The nearby conference and convention centre can be booked for events involving up to 400 people.
The venues in the different parts of the hotel each have their own rustic feel and they provide attractive settings for conferences and seminars as well as private celebrations.
The Speicher room with its sloping ceilings, exposed beams and panoramic gable window is particularly atmospheric. The room is 170m² in size, and it can accommodate up to 150 people. We would be happy to reserve the nearby conference and convention centre for events involving up to 400 people. The 200-year-old Schnitterhof building, originally from a Wesphalian farm, has been meticulously reconstructed and combined with three other historical timber-framed buildings to form an inimitable hotel.
Almost all of the rooms and the spa area were renovated in spring 2010 and they are now elegant and gleaming. The hotel has 133 well-appointed rooms, ranging in size from 20 to 25m² and most have a terrace or balcony. Facilities include the rustic Schnitterhof restaurant, a sunny terrace café overlooking the park, the cosy Schnitterhof Bar, a smokers' lounge and a comfortable dining room with open fire.


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VIDEO: Beams in place on new West Cumbria bridge
Last updated at 17:22, Saturday, 25 February 2012
Workington's Northside Road will remain closed until 6am on Monday after six beams were lifted into place on the new Workington bridge.
Specialist workers have been on site from about 2am this morning to make sure the beams were lifted to form the northern side of the River Derwent crossing.
A massive crane lifted the beams up and over, guided by workers.
Although the beams were in place by about 2pm, the road will remain closed so workers can make sure they are securely in and safe.
The beams for the southern side of the bridge will arrive later, when road closure will not be required.
It is hoped that the new Northside bridge will be open by the summer.
Stuart MacFarlane, project manager for contractor Birse Civils, said: "Putting the beams in place will mean that you will be able to physically see the bridge going over the river.
"Everything went right to schedule and the weather was dry.
"There is still a lot of work to do, but we hope traffic will be able to cross the new bridge by August."
First published at 15:53, Saturday, 25 February 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk
Have your say
"For once, I feel that I've had a decent outlay from my council tax and Workington has had a LOT of money spent on it."
Oh how grateful we must all be to the dithering council and their `experts.`
Only people power eventually got them motivated.
We were bombarded with one excuse after another by the councils both CCC and Allerdale.
In reply to Dave Roberts, yes I do have quibbles, it could have been done faster, why did we have to get a petition to No 10 before they started to do anything, why have they gone for a 1 at a time approach? Surely Calva and the new bridge could have been worked on at the same time, why take 3 years? The people of Workington said right from the start that nothing was moving fast enough, I personally think that the Coucil (of the time) should be ashamed for taking so long. As to the contractors building the bridge (and those who built the others) along with the Army, big thumbs up we appreciate it.
View all 24 comments on this article


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Discover a selection of top forums generation heroes on the internet. Come to share your passion on forums generation heroes and meet other fans of generation heroes. Then, why don't you create your own forum of generation heroes ?
Your source for hot topics and video games.
gamers, #generation, games, video, xbox, play, gameplay, walkthrough, nintendo, sony, microsoft, playstation, vita, fighting, game, gaymer, gamer, girl, community, fight
Modern Superhero RP forum. Combination of both Marvel and DC heroes. Mature, friendly members and great storylines!
Girls' Generation Forum
The Rogue And The Wolf are the two tale heroes your parents never read you about. They'll growl their way into your heart to steal what you have sealed inside only to return it round your neck or in your pocket
rogue, wolf, tale, #heroes, your, parents, never, read, about, they'll, growl, their, into, heart, steal, what, have, sealed, inside, only, return, round, neck
A third generation Harry Potter roleplay group taking place a little more than twenty years after the great war.
admoneo, third, #generation, harry, potter, roleplay, group, taking, place, little, more, than, twenty, years, after, great
Free forum : Next born ninja!
Unsung Heroes of the Lance
Yes, Heroes is cancelled. But we'll love it forever, and it will always be remembered as being awesome.
#heroes, chat, forum, talk, free, television, blog, website, forumotion, discussion, chatroom
The best new next-generation wrestling game forum in the era and for the eras to come!
extreme, global, wrestling, best, next-generation, game, forum, eras, come!
Let us all come together to rp once more in harmony, or as close to it as we could get. The old days are no more, but new ones are on their way. Here is the freedom we have been wanting for so long.
#heroes, come, back, together, once, more, harmony, close, could, days, ones, their, here, freedom, have, been, wanting
In another world and time, an epic tale of Gods, heroes, wars, and one nation's rise to power...
saga, rhum:, invictus, another, world, time, epic, tale, gods, #heroes, wars, nation's, rise, power
This is where you can discuss all things Gen 0, a fan made pokemon game.
Equestria has been invaded. The sisters have vanished, their warriors defeated, their heroes scattered, and the Griffons have claimed Canterlot and lordship over Equestria.
role, play, little, pony, equestria, grimdark, mane, occupation, dawn, twilight, sparkle, rarity, pinkie, battle, fight, story, lore, friends, dystopian, grim, griffon, kingdoms, griffin, kingdom, fantasy
This is for the members of the Wartune Guild known as Heroes.
Elite Heroes of War [EHW], The latest and greatest gaming Clan. Join now and make new friends, Chat with friends and be part of this widely expanding clan.
[ehw], elite, star, wars, #heroes, battlefront, clan, site, xbox, heros, squadron, renegade, battle
When the world has gone to ruins, heroes are no more and the evil up rises once more. There is only one team of heroes capable of avenging the fallen.
avengers:, next, #generation, when, world, gone, ruins, #heroes, more, evil, rises, once, there, only, team, capable, avenging, fallen
Eventually the time comes when those with powers have a choice to make: do what they feel is right or let power corrupt. Sometimes these choices, though made for the right reason, are wha
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the new generation Of Bleach!welcome to it!where we write the past, present and future!we will make it for we are the creators of it all.
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A Battlefield gaming clan.
clan, knifing, commando, army, battle, feild, #heroes, groups, soldier, gunner, commandos, kcaclan, knife
A Forum for Networking, Openbor & Mugen Creating.
c.r.o.m., interactive, forum, networking, openbor, mugen, creating
The academy to train the duelists of clan Photon Generation.
Independent gaming clan.
alpha, #heroes, independant, gaming, clan, join, free, chat, role, play, discuss, games
The Dissident War has died down. Now that their story is over, what will yours be?
free, forum, genesis, project, kingdom, final, fantasy, story-based, hearts, original, characters, parallel, worlds, dimensions, universes, multiverses, super, #heroes, magic, magicians, science, fiction, writers, writing, community
The Forum for the Heroes: Universe Team


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The evolution of Getco
High frequency trading was once a fiercely secretive industry. But, part by design and part by regulatory scrutiny, some of its biggest protagonists have come out of the shadows with client-facing businesses, industry lobby groups and the hire of well-groomed former bank and exchange executives.
Become a financial news subscriber
Contact our Licensing team to discuss corporate subscription options on:
+44 (0) 20 7572 3499
Breaking news
Get exclusive access to breakng news, analysis and comment on the wholesale financial industry.
Join 37,000 subscriber including your clients, competitors and business partners
On the go
Available online, in print, and on mobile for access wherever and whenever you need it.
Provides in-depth analysis and context so that you benefit from an unique view of the entire wholesale financial industry.


text:
You must be registered to comment and vote on comments.
Calgary Flames (22-28-7) at Philadelphia Flyers (29-23-6), 1 p.m.
(SportsNetwork.com) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to head into the Olympic break by matching their longest winning streak of the season as they host the Calgary Flames in Saturday's matinee battle at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers have won three straight and four of their last five games. The club recently won the final two tests on a three-game tour of California and returned home to post Thursday's 3-1 triumph over the Colorado Avalanche.
Philadelphia enters Saturday -- the final day of action before the league goes on hiatus for the Winter Olympics -- holding onto third place in the Metropolitan Division with a one-point lead over Columbus. The top three teams in each division earn an automatic berth in the playoffs.
Steve Mason turned away 38 shots to lead the Flyers to Thursday's win over the visiting Avalanche. Mason, who is 4-1-0 with a pair of shutouts over his last five outings, could get a seventh straight start tonight despite battling cramps in the latter part of the win against Colorado.
"It started in the second period and just got progressively worse as the third period went on," Mason said of the cramping issues. "You just clock watch more than anything and you're just looking for a stoppage to calm down and slow your breathing down to slow the rate of the cramping. It was a long third period."
Mark Streit and Michael Raffl scored a goal apiece and Claude Giroux added an empty netter on Thursday for the Flyers. Sean Couturier registered two assists in the win.
Philadelphia's only four-game winning streak of the season came from Dec. 23-31 and the Flyers picked up win No. 4 of that hot stretch against the Flames.
The Flyers recorded a 4-1 win in Calgary on Dec. 31. as Brayden Schenn notched a goal and two assists and backup Ray Emery stopped 23-of-24 shots. Philly has won two straight and three of its past four games against Calgary and holds a 5-1-1 mark over the last seven encounters.
Calgary, however, has won two in a row and four of its last five tests in Philly and the club enters Saturday's matchup having won six of its past seven games.
The Flames have been playing their best hockey of the season during their recent 6-1-0 stretch. Calgary had a season-high five-game winning streak halted when it opened a three-game road trip Tuesday in Montreal, but it rebounded from that 2-0 loss to the Habs with Thursday's 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders.
David Jones notched the game-winner with 5:32 left in the third to help the Flames pick up the win at Nassau Coliseum. With the game tied 2-2 late in the final frame, a shot from Matt Stajan hit off Jones.
Mikael Backlund then buried an empty-netter in the closing seconds to account for the final margin.
Sean Monahan and Dennis Wideman each scored once, while Reto Berra registered 28 saves for Calgary, which snapped a four-game road losing streak and is now 10-14-4 as the guest this season.
"Reto was simply outstanding," Calgary head coach Bob Hartley said of his netminder. "He was the guy that kept us in the game and gave us a chance to come back."
Despite its recent hot play, the Flames enter Saturday 13 points out of the last playoff spot in the West.
Calgary's first game after the Olympic break is a home game on Feb. 27 against Los Angeles.
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I think it will make a for a pretty interesting feud. Ryback has needed someone credible to feud with to take him to the next level and The Miz is the right choice. I feel that it's going to be a pretty solid feud over the Intercontinental title.
Originally Posted by John Cena rapping on Paul Heyman


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A comedic romance film written by Charlie Kaufman, directed by Michel Gonfry, and starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet.< read all 14 reviews
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 American psychological-drama film by director Michel Gondry. The film uses elements of science fiction, nonlinear narration and neosurrealism to explore the nature of memory and romantic love.[1] It opened in North America on March 19, 2004 and grossed over US$70 million worldwide.[2]
Gondry worked on the story with writer/director Charlie Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth, a French performance artist. Together, they won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2005, alongside a nomination for Kate Winslet for Best Actress that year. The film stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet and features Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson, Elijah Wood, Jane Adams, and David Cross.
The title is taken from the poem Eloisa to Abelard by ...


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Can the Republican Party Move Back to the Center?
Shaping the next phase in the history of the Republican party is an ongoing project that won't really be completed until they have another president, and their 2016 nominee could well be that person. Part of what makes this process interesting is that there is no obvious choice. Republicans are famous for nominating the person who is "next in line," usually someone who ran previously and lost. Every Republican nominee dating back to Richard Nixon has fit this pattern, with the exception of George W. Bush in 2000 (and Gerald Ford, who is obviously a special case). But the people who lost to Mitt Romney in 2012 revealed themselves to be an extraordinarily unappealing group; Paul Ryan didn't exactly emerge from the race looking like a giant; and there are multiple governors like Bobby Jindal and Mitch Daniels who could be strong competitors. So the next GOP nominee could be a hard-right conservative, or a relative moderate, or something in between.
As E.J. Dionne points out in his column today, when a party spend some time in the wilderness, its path back to power usually involves some ideological accommodation:
After losing throughout the 1930s and '40s, Republicans finally came to terms with the New Deal and elected Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. Democrats lost three elections in the 1980s and did a lot of rethinking inspired by Bill Clinton, who won the White House in 1992. In Britain, the Labor Party learned a great deal during its exile from power in the Margaret Thatcher years. The same thing happened to the Conservatives during Tony Blair's long run.
Coming to terms with your opponents' successes doesn't necessarily mean accepting them in your heart; it can mean merely that you'll put off trying to undo them. This is what Republicans have done with the New Deal, and then with Medicare and the rest of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs. Republicans would love to repeal Medicare entirely (it is, after all, a single-payer government health care scheme), but failing that they'd still like to privatize it. Efforts to that end have so far been unsuccessful, however, and they feel the political need to pose as the program's defenders. But that's still a significant accommodation, one that helps the program survive.
So what are the chances the next Republican nominee will actually characterize his or her own candidacy as a move to the center? It may be almost impossible to imagine from today's vantage point, but things can change quickly. Mitt Romney's formula was to be extremely conservative on substance, while hoping that eventually he'd find a way to appeal to the center, and it failed. This is the inverse of the formula that Dionne is talking about, the one that brought success to Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, and David Cameron. There are obviously plenty of differences between those three, but they all constructed a policy array more to the center than their party's predecessors, which broadened their electoral coalition, but found a way to bring along their base as well, even if it was only through personal charisma. You may not remember, but George W. Bush did something similar: he ran a campaign that looked extremely centrist, all about "compassionate conservatism," issues Republicans usually didn't stress (he ran innumerable TV ads about education), and getting beyond the partisanship of the past.
For all that the GOP has been purged of moderates, it's entirely possible that the right 2016 candidate could craft a centrist appeal for the broader electorate, and successfully say to the party's base, "You've been suffering under Barack Obama for eight long years. If you follow me, we'll reach the promised land." Remembering how liberals felt after eight years of Bush, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the base, or enough of them anyway, went along for the ride. One person can make all the difference, if it's the right person at the right time. And then the party would begin a move back from the ideological fringe, one that looks all but impossible today. Stranger things have happened.
Fri, 2012-12-07 10:29
It's hard to imagine a shift to the center when you have Fox News and the Tea Party stoking the fires of extremism. As long as the Republican party continues to alienate minorities, women, and young people it will struggle just as it did this past election. I don't think it's the "party base" that needs to be convinced of the message, it's everyone else that needs to believe if Republicans expect a different outcome.
Barney Berkowitz
Sat, 2012-12-08 12:08
Random Thought
Mon, 2012-12-10 15:47
When exactly was the GOP a centrist party? At least during my lifetime (I am 42) and the bit of political history that I have studied, they have been fairly extreme for at least a generation...There was the Southern Strategy of Nixon & the Gang, the Welfare Queen/We Won't Mentioned AIDS/Trickle Down Economics/We Don't Care About the Poor or the Working Class of Ronnie and his Boys, there was Willie Horton from Poppy Bush and Let's Exploit Every Conceivable Wedge Issue from Gay Marriage to Religious Zealotry of Bush II (or, even Dumber). Not to mention all of the shennigans of the GOP at the Congressional and State level.
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The Cake Boss: Buddy Valastro
Sun, May 5, 2013 7:00 pm
The Community Theatre at Mayo Center of the Performing Arts, Morristown, NJ
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Chris Malloy's film strikes so deeply into the heart of Patagonia's wilderness we come to feel at home there. "180° South: Conquerors of the Useless" follows Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia. Along the way he gets shipwrecked off Easter Island, surfs the longest wave of his life -- and prepares himself for a rare ascent of Cerro Corcovado. Jeff's life turns when he meets up in a rainy hut with Chouinard and Tompkins who, once driven purely by a love of climbing and surfing, now value above all the experience of raw nature -- and have come to Patagonia to spend their fortunes to protect it
Rated No Rating .
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Cast: Keith Malloy, Yvon Chouinard, Jeff Johnson, Timmy O'Neill, Makohe
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Directed by: Chris Malloy
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Running time: 1hr 25min
Opens: May 21, 2010 Limited


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It's a great top 10 and I would hope to see all of them released sooner rather than later. For me though Glimmer is the most essential to her faction of the characters listed so she gets my vote.
Horde Troopers
Tung Lashor
Madame Razz/Broom
I'm looking forward (as most are) to the NYTF as Mattel will reveal new figures for 2013. How many they'll show i have no idea but the point of this poll is for a bit of fun only.
Taking into account @yodafreakmaster's thread re: Your Most Wanted List and the results tallied so far (which mind you is on-going of course) and Toy Guru's admission of sorts that one of the characters listed in the Top 10 will be revealed at the NYTF, i thought i'd do a poll to see which one you'd prefer...
Choices are:
* Mantenna
* Scorpia
* Two Bad
* Horde Troopers
* Tung Lashor
* Glimmer
* Modulok
* Madame Razz/Broom
* Mermista
* Castaspella
The Top 10 could obviously change at any time and by no means is this a definitive list but it is current so that's what i'll go by here. Personally i'd gladly take any one the Top 10 but to be honest i have been voting for Modulok in the Idol LoL. So, who would you like to see come NYTF... ?
Most Wanted MOTU Classics:
*MotU ~ Multi-Bot/Tung Lashor *PoP ~ Angella/Mermista *200X ~ Roboto/Calix *Filmation ~ Teela Na/Lord Masque
*Play-Sets ~ Snake Mountain/Fright Zone *Vehicles ~ Roton/Land Shark *Beasts ~ Night Stalker/Stridor
It's a great top 10 and I would hope to see all of them released sooner rather than later. For me though Glimmer is the most essential to her faction of the characters listed so she gets my vote.
It's a toss-up between Tung Lashor and Two Bad, but I went with Tung Lashor. He's my favourite Snakeman because he looks like an evil poisonous frog
"A knight is sworn to valor. His heart knows only virtue. His blade defends the helpless. His word speaks only truth. His wrath undoes the wicked."
I only have 4 left I really need or want
Castaspella if done right, is right there at the top.
Mantenna and Two-Bad are next.
Recent.... Lizard Man
Wanted.... NA She-Ra, Jitsu....
Needed.... Dragstor
Oh man, did I forget to use these [sarcasm][/sarcasm] again? Sorry....
My vote goes to Mermista.
"Oh Lord, Bless this M&M... and the mighty cockroach I slain in battle to get it." - Al Bundy
Vintage evil for me...Two-Bad.
"Wheresoever on earth he dwells, man is prey to two weaknesses: the need to pray and the need to love."-Marquis de Sade
"It is not by reasoning or by our understanding that we have received our religion; it is by external authority and command."-Michel De Montaigne
Heretical Vintage Purist and Non-Fan Extraordinaire!
My vote went to Glimmer.
Second would be Tung Lashor and third Mermista.
*Toy version Catra *Sagitar *Drissi *Crita *Lizorr *Zilora *Granita *Delora *Battle Armor Queen Marlena *Hawke *Pebb-Liss(Minicomic Comet Warrior) *Lady Slither
My latest Fan Art: http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/...=1#post3528763
Castaspella has my vote.
I serve up lots of hot, fresh action figure reviews on Action Figure Barbecue!
"We have a Ram-Man"
Two Bad got my vote.
Top Ten MOTUC wants: Sagitar, Great Black Wizard, Fang-or, Dragstor, Skeletor's Skeleton Warriors, Despara, Odiphus, Illumina w/Sleetah, Lady Slither, Tuvar & Baddrah 2-pack
I think that if I don't vote for Glimmer some people may believe I've finally gone insane... so, with that said, I voted for Glimmer... obviously.
FINALLY!! GLIMMER IS IN MY SHELF!! Now I need a Crita!! Crita is to Mara what Evil Lyn is to Teela. If we ARE getting Mara, then we NEED Crita.
Mantenna (please look like the staction!).
Gotta finish off the initial Horde Wave.
The Blonde Teela Thread
The Cloak and Dagger Evil-Lyn Thread
Sagitar (Jetlag) Horde Wraiths Azdar Belzar Chazdar Cloak and Dagger Evil-Lyn 200X Teenage Prince Adam 200X Teenage Teela 200X Sorceress General Rattlor (MYP) 200X King Randor and Queen Marlena 200X Battle Armor King Randor and Battle Armor Queen Marlena Ice Armor He-Man WMD Roboto
I went with Two-Bad. He's who I want most out of these. But don't get me wrong, ANY and ALL of these would be great!
All great characters, but Mantenna would be so great! I loved my Vibtage figure; Dad bought him for me after running my Endor Han Solo over with the lawnmower.
Not to sound like a creepy cheerleader for Uki, but it's nice to know there is at least one person on this forum who is extremely positive & friendly all the time. I don't think I could be that nice even if you paid me. If we ever give out awards for "forum member of the month", Uki gets my vote. -Mr. Shokoti
Poor Mermista myself and only other voted for her
My vote goes to Castaspella...I'd like to see her made sooner than later. The rest could be used to make 2014 look like the best year to get a sub!
I voted for Mermista, too. You have to think that Mantenna, Two-Bad, Tung Lashor, the Horde Trooper, and probably even Modulok are coming eventually in 2014, if not later this year, but Mermista would be a welcome surprise, especially since her tail (and the extra tooling that would require) might normally make her more of a long shot.
Hmmm...I wonder who I voted for...
While I really dont think we are going to get her this year, I could never vote for anyone else!
glimmer as she is who i need most of that list. gotta have my pop trinity.
but really any would thrill me. glad to see a pop vote cause glimmer and castaspella are top two wants since she ra and bow (and adora)
Tung Lashor gets my vote....Horde...Snake Men.....coolest vintage fig, coolest staction....
Mantenna is my #1, but Two Badd is a CLOSE second. I would gladly have any of the top 10 in our poll results so BRING THEM ON MATTEL
Even though I am sure she will eventually get made, I voted for Glimmer.
She-Ra without Glimmer is like He-Man without Man-at-Arms....
DESPERATELY need ThunderCats Minimates series one!!!
**Staunch FILMation lover!!! **** MUST have a New Adventures Subscription!!!**
MOTUC NEEDS more TROLLANS !!!
Oh deary my, how can Madame Razz only have 1 vote...MY vote?!
Most Wanted MOTU Classics:
*MotU ~ Multi-Bot/Tung Lashor *PoP ~ Angella/Mermista *200X ~ Roboto/Calix *Filmation ~ Teela Na/Lord Masque
*Play-Sets ~ Snake Mountain/Fright Zone *Vehicles ~ Roton/Land Shark *Beasts ~ Night Stalker/Stridor
WOOF! That is a TOUGH group of exciting characters to have to pick just one!
I voted for CASTASPELLA. The character design, colors and appearance, the episodes, and her backstory as a sort of arch-nemesis of SHADOW WEAVER really makes her "POP" from that list. Did ya see what I just did there??
Etherian Rebel JOSH for the MOTUC (see my avatar)!