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text:
[Even More] Absolutely, Unforgivably Shameless Self-Promotion
Here is something to do if you happen to find yourself in the world's largest office building next week.
Here is a description of the talk and the series of which it is a part:
Dr. Ethan Rafuse, a widely published author on the Civil War, will give the inaugural presentation of the DoD Historical Speaker Series at 1130 on 11 April in the Pentagon Auditorium. His talk will assess the opening months of the conflict President Lincoln called "A People's Contest." The ongoing program is planned and coordinated by the historical offices of OSD, the Joint Staff, and the four military services. A primary theme will be the commemoration of our nation's past conflicts, to include the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 (1812–1815), the 150th anniversary of the Civil War (1861–1865), the 100th anniversary of World War I (1914–1918), and the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War (1956–1975).
Comments (1) to "[Even More] Absolutely, Unforgivably Shameless Self-Promotion"
Great work, Ethan. I followed the talk through the miracle of the Interwebs.

subset: commoncrawl


text: At GTA Mobile our mission is to offer the best value in wireless while providing an exceptional customer experience… period. With 16 years in wireless retail in Northern California we have learned what our customers demand and pride ourselves on delivering. With 5 locations and growing here in the east bay, we look forward to serving you. .


text:
To download a file click on the name of the file that you need to download. It will either open a dialog box to save the file onto your computer or open a second window with the file in the top left hand corner. Right click on the image and select "Save Image As " you can then select where you would like the file save on your computer.
For Web, PowerPoint, Video:
For High-Quality Print: EPS format


text:
Excellent service
Posted: June 29, 2012|
Comments (0)
Sir – I am writing regarding the letter from Matthew Blake in the Gainsborough Target complaining about Mr McArdle and the lack of action about street lights.
I send an e-mail to customerservices @lincolnshire.gov.uk making the subject street lights and have always had excellent service.
Make sure you tell them exactly where and what the problem is.
Margaret Cook,


text:
...to introduce myself
A curious glare over a shoulder, an unaware sparkle of light in a dark place. The sun breaking through the clouds or rising over the water. Anything anyware can hold the magic...
The magic of the moment, the magic of reality. It's all around us. Stop and look and take a mental snapshot and seize the moment.
I go out and capture as many snapshots of reality as I can.
My name is Roel Duysserinck. On the internet know by the name OsFa. Since years a fanatic photographer with a nag for the off-limits.
I invite you to browse through my photo's, let me take you to places you could pass everyday without noticing.
Let me show you the world through my snapshots of reality, let me show you the world throuhg my eyes and lens.
And if you want to see your world throurh my eyes... Just hire me.
Roel "OsFa" Duysserinck
If you can't focus anymore... You are too close


text:
Mr. Bacon: Good afternoon. Season's greetings to you, Bill. And good afternoon to you, Charlie. You are probably the only people in the building who don't appear to be at a Christmas party at this very minute.
Let me start out with a brief announcement. And I'll have more details on this on Monday.
Secretary Cohen and Mrs. Cohen will lead a delegation of entertainers, sports stars and others to visit forward-deployed troops in Europe, next week. They will have on that trip Mary Chapin Carpenter; Ruth Pointer, one of the Pointer Sisters; John Carroll, the pianist and musician extraordinaire; Shane Minor, comedian Al Franken, actor Sean Kanan, the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders; Terry Bradshaw, Mike Singletary, Christie Brinkley and former MTV video jockey Julie Brown. So there is a long and diverse group of entertainers, all of who are donating their time to do this, to entertain the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.
And in addition, a number of organizations are donating footballs, soccer balls, phone-call cards and other things. And we'll have a detailed list for you, this on Monday. But the NFL and the Washington Redskins are donating footballs. The Washington United and Major League Soccer are donating soccer balls. And the Veterans of Foreign Wars are donating, I believe, 2,000 phone cards. But we'll have a complete accounting of this on Monday.
Q: Ken, can you just give us the dates of the trip? And were these going to Kosovo and Bosnia?
Mr. Bacon: We'll give you more details on Monday, when we have a complete accounting.
Q: When will they be going to Bosnia?
Q: Excuse me. Is he going to Bosnia and Kosovo?
Mr. Bacon: I said I will give you more details on Monday.
Q: Speaking of Kosovo, do you have anything on an American soldier being killed?
Mr. Bacon: Yes, I do.
Tragically, an American soldier was killed in Kosovo, the eighth to die there so far. He was a passenger in a humvee that hit a mine.
And the soldier, who was a member of the Special Forces, Staff Sergeant Joseph E. Suponcic -- S-u-p-o-n-c-i-c -- was killed. He's in the Army, obviously, and I'm just looking for his unit designation here. I think he's in the Third (sic) [Tenth] Special Forces Group. He was working as a liaison with the Russian forces. And the accident took place in the Russian part of the American sector, near a town called Kamenica, K-a-m-e-n-i-c-a. The driver of the humvee was injured but is okay and was released. This happened at 9:00 last night local time, and Staff Sergeant Suponcic was pronounced dead at approximately 1:42 a.m. today. It is obviously a tragic loss for his family, and we're sorry.
As I say, this is the eighth casualty. The others, several have involved traffic accidents, one was an electrocution, and two were shootings that could have been possible suicides but are still under investigation.
QAny other land mines?
Mr. Bacon: Pardon?
Q: Was this the first land mine?
Mr. Bacon: This, I believe, was the first land mine, yes.
Q: Do you have a hometown of record and his age?
Mr. Bacon: He was 26 years old. And I don't believe --
Q: (Off mike.)
Mr. Bacon: I'll get that. It's not readily available here. [Jersey Shore, PA]
Q: Ken, just as a point of interest: Because of the mine threat in Kosovo, wasn't the military using the armored humvees, which provide, up until now, a substantial protection against mines?
I don't think they've ever had a fatality in the armored humvee.
Mr. Bacon: I believe they were using a so-called up-armored humvee, yes. I believe that's all we're using now in Bosnia and Kosovo. I think I'm -- these soldiers were in C Company, 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group.
Q: How goes the Serb effort to eradicate land mines? Are they doing that? Is that a direct result of them not living up to their responsibility?
Mr. Bacon: Well, I think the exact circumstances of this are under investigation. They were driving along a road that was thought to have been cleared of land mines, but this is an area where there are many land mines, and they can shift according to weather conditions and other changes. But the circumstances are still under review. There has been a considerable amount of de-mining done in Kosovo, but the task is far from over. And mines are a main risk.
Q: A little more detail on that, if I might. I mean, have the Serbs turned over all the maps, done everything they were supposed to do in that regard, and in a more general sense?
Mr. Bacon: I believe they have turned over the maps. But there is a considerable way to go between having the maps and getting all the mines out.
Q: Was this mine -- (inaudible)?
Mr. Bacon: I can't -- it was on a road that was thought to have been cleared. But there are mines on either side of the road, as I understand it. But they were on the road.
Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania. You were right, ma'am.
Q: Different subject?
Mr. Bacon: Sure.
Q: The Rand Corporation released a report today that has been done for the Pentagon on the status of preparedness for terrorism attacks in the United States. And I wanted to ask your reaction to two points they made in this report to you. One was that there is still too much ambiguity in terms of where the responsibility lies in the federal government for responding to a terrorism attack, and the other one was that too much attention has been focused by the federal government on chemical and biological attack possibilities and not enough on conventional. Ken, since the report was done for the Pentagon and was released today, can I ask your reaction to both of those?
Mr. Bacon: I haven't seen a copy of the report. Have you?
Q: Ah, possibly. (Laughter.)
Mr. Bacon: I'm not aware that a copy of the report has been delivered here.
But first of all, as you know, the government has been spending more and more time on organizing to deal with terrorist attacks in the United States.
This is not a Defense Department responsibility, primarily; it is a responsibility of federal and domestic law enforcement agencies to deal with domestic terrorism. The military only operates in support, when requested to do so.
So with that caveat, I'll tell you what I understand to be the situation.
Obviously, we are working more aggressively today than we were two years ago on this, or three years ago, for several reasons. One is the passage of legislation called the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici bill, which deals with domestic threats. And that bill is the one that required first-responder training in 120 cities. That is being done. It started out with FEMA and the Defense Department taking the lead in training the police, fire, and other emergency response crews who would be first on the scene. That program is about to be taken over by the Justice Department and run by the Justice Department.
I think we've made considerable progress in this program, but it's still in the early stages. Not all 120 cities have been trained yet. And of course, much of the training has revealed that more training needs to be done. So that's one point.
A second point is that President Clinton has appointed Richard Clarke as sort of the supervisor or monitor of domestic disasters. He's pulling together work teams and helping everybody to get more organized and more focused on this. I think everybody would agree that we've made considerable progress in the last year or so, but we have more to go. So work continues on that.
Third, we have been blessed by an absence of domestic terrorism. We have had some examples. One is the World Trade Center. Another is obviously Oklahoma City. But in general, the United States, on a per capita basis, or any basis, has far fewer acts of domestic terrorism than most European countries have and most Middle Eastern countries have. So we have had less experience with this, fortunately, than many other countries have.
What we want to do is make sure that we take every step we can to prevent acts of domestic terrorism, because that's the first line of defense and, secondly, to be as prepared as possible, should they occur.
We have put in the last few years a lot of attention on combating possible chemical or biological incidents in the United States.
That's one of the areas in which Secretary Cohen has taken a lead in preparing the military. And he set up teams called RAID Teams that involve the National Guard, which of course is forward-deployed at home all the time, teams that can be available to move in quickly if there is a terrorist act involving chemical or biological agents, to do the proper analysis and to help structure the response.
We are trying to look at any type of threat, whether it's chemical and biological or explosive, or whether it would involve trying to interdict a water supply or stop up mass transit. We are trying to prepare to deal with all sorts of threats should they occur.
So I think that there is always more we can do. But the most important thing is that we are moving in the right direction. And more important than that, we are working very diligently with domestic law enforcement agents to provide the best possible intelligence, the best possible early warning, so that if we get wind of a possible attack we can try to interdict it. And by "we," I mean the "government," not the military because this is not a military job.
Q: Ken, Ms. Reno stated this morning that she will be on watch New Year's Eve, and she'll be in her office. And I wondered if there was any heightened state of alert for New Year's or shortly thereafter at Pentagon installations abroad and here, locally?
Mr. Bacon: Well, I think you missed the 45-minute briefing we had this morning on Y2K. At least I didn't see you here. But you should get the transcript. And there Deputy Secretary Hamre, working with a representative of the Joint Staff and a representative of our policy shop, laid out many of the steps that we're taking to be prepared; and -- one, that we have taken to be prepared for Y2K, and second, that we will take around the actual turnover time.
So, yes, we will have people here working on that. There will be enhanced watch teams working on that.
Q: Where will the secretary of Defense be on New Year's Eve?
Mr. Bacon: The secretary of Defense will be at a place of his own choosing. And he doesn't choose to disclose that at this time.
QYou, as the department's chief spokesman, certainly will be here on New Year's Eve night, though, won't you?
Mr. Bacon: I currently don't plan to be, but that could change. There certainly will be very capable spokespeople working on New Year's Eve.
Q: Could we change the subject?
Q: Vieques?
Mr. Bacon: Yes.
Q: Can you bring us up to snuff on Vieques and whether or not the Navy is going to send down a representative yet and how the talks are going?
Mr. Bacon: I don't really have much new to report. The center of activity really is between the White House and the representatives of the Puerto Rican government right now. We are, as I said, in the stance of waiting for things to settle down. This is a cooling-off period. We are willing to begin direct discussions between the Navy and the people of Puerto Rico, when appropriate. So far we have not received a signal from the Puerto Ricans that this is the time to do it. And we are waiting for the results of more discussions at the White House-to-Puerto Rican government level.
Q: Can you tell us who from this building took part in today's discussions at the White House?
Mr. Bacon: I don't have a list of people who are there. I assume that Bob Tyrer is there, who has really been the -- he's the secretary's chief of staff and has been the leader in this building in pulling together our stance on Vieques.
Q: How about Secretary Danzig?
Mr. Bacon: I just don't know. I'll find out.
Q: Ken, do you have or does the Pentagon have any visibility on whether the Russians launched a tank assault on Grozny?
Mr. Bacon: All the information I've seen in the building is based on media reporting, so you probably know as much as has been reported in the press. You know as much as we do.
Q: Ken, the more people -- followers of Osama bin Laden have been arrested in Pakistan. If the military is ready, if asked, overseas -- because he's still planning to attack all the American installations, including military or embassies and all that.
Mr. Bacon: I'm sorry. You -- it was about Osama bin Laden, but you're saying --
Mr. Bacon: Right.
Q: Now this time -- and he's still calling again to attack Americans and their installations around the world. Is the military ready, if asked --
Mr. Bacon: Well, the military is -- has been alerted to these threats, obviously, and has adjusted its alert stance appropriately, and will continue to do that over the next several weeks.
I really don't want to get into talking about possible responses, but I think you can be sure that we're watching the situation very closely, as is the State Department. We're evaluating every statement and every piece of evidence we get and taking prudent action in response.
Q: Do you feel that the environment is now worse for the possibility of a terrorist attack?
Mr. Bacon: I think that any time terrorists are planning strikes or making statements about planned strikes, we have to take those statements and the plans as we see them very seriously, and we have.
Q: Ken, you mentioned that the military was adjusting their alert stance appropriately. Has the threat condition been increased anywhere because of the recent information?
Mr. Bacon: Generally that's something that's done on a local basis and I'm not -- I just don't have that information.
Yes. Dale.
Q: To get back to Vieques for a moment, you said a minute ago that the department is ready to enter into discussions as soon as the Puerto Rican government indicates that it is as well. All the indications that I think most of us have gotten since the announcement here a couple of weeks ago was that the department had gone about as far as it thought it could go with the plan that the SECDEF recommended to the president. Does the department now feel like it could go further in terms of limited -- fewer days of bombing, or a larger economic package? What is there to negotiate here from the department's standpoint?
Mr. Bacon: The department feels that it's made the best -- it's put a very good package on the table, and as good a package as we can come up with. So we are not concentrating on ways to change that package right now. Our hope is that at some time people from the Navy and the Marines can sit down with people from Puerto Rico and discuss the implications of that package, what we've done to accommodate to their concerns, and what we've offered in terms of trying to improve the relationship in a way that will help the people of Vieques while at the same time allowing the Navy and the Marines to resume some level of training. And so far we haven't been able to do that. But our hope is that we will be able to in the future.
Q: Thank you.
Q: Yes. On Vieques still, you have mentioned a cooling-off period.
Do you mean a cooling-off period till March, when the next battle group is scheduled to train, or a cooling-off period of five years with the hope of resumption of live bombing after that time?
Mr. Bacon: No, that's not what the proposal involves at all. The proposal says that we would be prepared to end bombing, that we will end bombing in five years unless the people of Vieques decide that they don't want to do that. And so we have made a commitment to end bombing within five years. The issue is taking advantage of the cooling-off period now so that we can get the training back on track by the spring.
Q: By the spring. So are there already discussions with other bases where Plan B might be implemented if we're at the same scenario or situation in March?
Mr. Bacon: Well, I think that right now the White House is concentrating on trying to get a dialogue going with the Puerto Ricans. That's what the meeting is about today. There could be other meetings in the next few days. And then we'll see what happens after that.
Q: Senator Warner is going to be holding hearings probably in February on his bill to close Roosevelt Roads if normal operations on Vieques are resumed. What's your position on that bill?
Mr. Bacon: Well, I think we need to see the bill, but I think it's very clear -- the Navy has made it very clear that it will be difficult for them to remain fully engaged in Puerto Rico if they can't carry out meaningful training there.
Q: (Off mike) -- next week? No?
Mr. Bacon: Right now we plan a briefing on Tuesday, and we'll see how it goes and if there's a need for a briefing on Thursday. If you have a vote on it, cast your ballot with Captain Taylor and we'll honor the plebiscite.


text:
Both interactively-selectable information and audio information are recorded on a compact disc medium. The music is recorded in Red Book format on the disc in a normal way so that it is reproducible by a standard CD player. The Red Book information is also re-recorded in Yellow Book format in a different area on the disc. The Yellow Book information may be compressed. A second portion of Yellow Book information includes interactively-selectable program information. The music information is not interrupted unless selected by a user.
1. A method of playing information from a storage medium which includes first continuously uninterrupted program information and second interactively-selectable program information that does not interrupt the first program unless such an interruption is selected, comprising the steps of:
first reading a first area of the medium which includes the first program information thereon at a rate which is faster than a reproduction rate at which said first program information must be output to prevent unintended interruption of program information;
first outputting said first program information at said reproduction rate while simultaneously storing parts of said first information in a first cache;
first determining when said first cache reaches a predetermined level of fill;
second determining a desired interactive program to be played;
second reading, subsequent to said first reading and responsive to said first and second determining steps, a second area of the medium which includes said desired interactive program, said reading being carried out at a rate which is faster than a reproduction rate at which said second information is output, and simultaneously filling a second cache with contents of said second information;
second outputting, subsequent to said first outputting, said second information at said reproduction rate while simultaneously storing parts of said second information in a second cache;
second determining, subsequent to said first determining, when said second cache reaches a second predetermined level of fill;
subsequently repeating said first reading step, said first outputting step, said first determining step, said second reading step, and said second determining step,
wherein said predetermined level of fill of said first cache is a level of fill which allows said first information in said first cache to be played for an amount of time at least equal to a time of said first seeking step plus a time of said second seeking step, plus a time required to fill said second cache to said predetermined level of fill of said second cache.
2. A method as in claim 1 wherein said first reading includes the steps of first seeking an area on said medium where said first information is physically located, and said second reading step includes the step of second seeking an area on said medium where said second information is physically located.
3. A method as in claim 1 wherein said first information is Red Book audio information, and said second information is Yellow Book data information.
4. A method as in claim 1 comprising the further step of reading a third area of the storage medium, subsequent to said first and second reading steps, said third area being different than said first or second areas of the disc, to obtain third information which has the same content as said first information but which is recorded in a different format than said first information.
5. A method as in claim 4 wherein said first information is recorded in Yellow Book format and said third information includes the same information as said first information, but recorded in Red Book format.
6. A method as in claim 3 wherein said first reading step reads at least 300 kb/s, said reproduction rate is 150 kb/s, and said second reading step reads at 300 kb/s.
7. A method as in claim 6 wherein said second reproduction rate is 90 kb/s.
8. A method as in claim 1, comprising the step of attenuating a volume of said first information when said second information is selected.
9. A method as in claim 1, wherein said second reading step occurs before said first reading step on initial start up.
10. A method of playing information from a storage medium which includes first continuously uninterrupted program information and second interactively-selectable program information that does not interrupt the first program unless such an interruption is selected, comprising the steps of:
first reading a first area of the medium which includes the first program information thereon at a rate which is faster than a reproduction rate at which said first program information must be output to prevent unintended interruption of program information;
first outputting said first program information at said reproduction rate while simultaneously storing parts of said first information in a first cache;
first determining when said first cache reaches a predetermined level of fill;
second determining a desired interactive program to be played;
second reading, subsequent to said first reading and responsive to said first and second determining steps, a second area of the medium which includes said desired interactive program, said reading being carried out at a rate which is faster than a reproduction rate at which said second information is output, and simultaneously filling a second cache with contents of said second information;
second outputting, subsequent to said first outputting, said second information at said reproduction rate while simultaneously storing parts of said second information in a second cache;
second determining, subsequent to said first determining, when said second cache reaches a second predetermined level of fill;
subsequently repeating said first reading step, said first outputting step, said first determining step, said second reading step, and said second determining step,
wherein said predetermined level of fill of said second cache is a level of fill which allows said second cache to be played for an amount of time at least equal to a time of said first seeking step plus a time of said second seeking step, plus a time required to fill said first cache to said predetermined level of fill.
11. A device for reading information stored on different areas of an information storage medium, comprising:
first means, having portions sized and arranged to receive a readable medium thereon, and including a movable reproducing head, which moves to access different areas of said medium;
means for controlling said head to read said different areas;
a memory, including a first cache area receiving information from a first area of said medium and a second cache area receiving information from a second area of said medium; and
controlling means for controlling access to said memory, to simultaneously read information out of said first and second cache areas and to read information into at least one of said first and second cache areas, in a way such that said first cache area is never completely emptied, and such that program information indicative of information in said first cache area is produced in an uninterrupted manner,
wherein said at least one cache area is filled to a level of fill which allows said first information in said first cache to be played for an amount of time at least equal to a time of seeking that is required by said controlling means, plus a time required to fill said at least one cache to said predetermined level of fill.
12. A device as in claim 11 wherein said first and second information are recorded in Yellow Book format, said first information being Yellow Book format information indicative of Red Book audio, and said second information being Yellow Book format information indicative of interactively-selectable programs.
13. A device as in claim 11 wherein said memory is a dual port memory.
14. A device as in claim 11 wherein said first means includes means for alternately reading a first area for a predetermined time followed by reading a second area for a second predetermined time.
15. A method of presenting programs to a user, comprising the steps of:
recording a disc which has a first part that includes first and second kinds of information, the first information being continuously uninterrupted music information which is not interrupted unless so selected, and the second information being interactive information associated with said music information;
recording another copy of said music information in a second part of the disc in a format which is playable on standard CD players;
playing said disc in a CD-ROM type player by retrieving the music information from said first part of said disc and interactively retrieving the video information from the first part of said disc, storing said information in respective cache memories, and reading said information from said cache memories in a way which continually reproduces said music information;
reading the same disc using a standard CD audio player, including reading said information from said second part of said disc.
The present invention describes an interactive media which includes both music and independently interactively-selectable material. More specifically, the present invention discloses a special kind of Compact Disc and reading system for reading the Compact Disc.
Compact Discs ("CDs") are today's medium of choice for recorded music. CDs have significant technical advantages over vinyl including a wider bandwidth. CDs are also much smaller in size and hence have been more appropriate for portable use, such as in automotive applications.
Other similar media, including mini-CDs and digital audio tapes ("DATs") are also becoming popular because of similar advantages.
While all of these media have the advantage of miniaturization, that same logistical advantage has eliminated one of the nice parts that used to be accompanied with vinyl recordings.
Since vinyl recordings were twelve inches in diameter, they had a relatively large area album jacket. This jacket had at least two printable sides, sometimes four sides and sometimes even more. Liner notes were printed on this jacket--including artwork, information about the albums and the producers, lyrics to the songs, and the like. The liner notes could be read while listening to the album, and formed a nice part of the experience.
While the same presentation has been attempted on the smaller-sized media such as CDs, the small size of this media has prevented an effective presentation. Users rarely read the CD liner notes.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate this problem in a new and completely unobvious way, while ensuring compatibility with the installed base of CD reading equipment.
The solution devised according to the inventors of the present invention takes recognition of the fact that digital media such as CDs usually has spare recording area thereon. CDs can store as much as 72-74 minutes of full-bandwidth audio material, and rarely are the audio programs actually that long. Taking recognition of this fact, the present invention modifies the contents of the CD media in a way which maintains compatibility with the installed base of reproducing equipment, but yet includes additional information thereon including videos, still pictures, and other material, which is associated with the program on the media, the making of the program, or any other information which might be interesting to the listener. This information is interactive--meaning that any information can be played at any desired time.
According to the present invention, various steps are taken so that the program being played, usually music, is not interrupted during the interactive pieces unless the user selects such an interruption. Any interactive piece can be played at any time, with a minimal wait. The present invention teaches various techniques of caching the program and interactive material that enable this advantageous operation.
FIG. 1 shows a representation of the layout of the preferred disc media used according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the electronics used according to the present invention to reproduce and play the information;
FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of the reading operation used according to the present invention;
FIG. 3A shows a timing diagram of the reading operation and how it empties and fills the respective caches;
FIG. 4 shows an interactive flowchart of exemplary information recorded on the media of the present invention; and
FIG. 5 shows a sample control screen used by the program of the present invention to control the information which is being reproduced.
The presently preferred embodiment will now be discussed in detail with respect to the drawings. According to the preferred embodiment, the programs are music programs on a medium which is an audio CD. The preferred modified audio CD is shown in FIG. 1.
Standard audio tracks are recorded on a CD using eight to fourteen modulation ("EFM"). The characteristics of EFM are well-known, and are described in a standard known as the Red Book, promulgated by Phillips.
Read only memory CDs, commonly known as CD-ROMs, are recorded according to a different standard known as the Yellow Book. The preferred disc of FIG. 1 includes Yellow tracks 102, 104 in Yellow Book format, and tracks 106 in Red Book format. In the preferred mode of the invention, the Yellow Book format tracks 102, 104 are all physically located within the track which a Red Book format player recognizes as track 1. The Red Book tracks are numbered as tracks 2-N, where N is the highest-numbered track on the disc.
Since tracks 2-N are recorded in conventional Red Book format, conventional CD players will recognize disc 100 as being a conventional CD audio disc. However, track 1 is not readable by a conventional red track CD reader.
The least elegant way to overcome this problem is to simply inform the user to skip over track 1 and begin the CD player at track 2. Another option is to put some Red Book audio at the beginning of track 1 which, when played, enunciates "Skip to track 2". Yet another option is locate the Yellow Book data as the outermost track on the disc. This requires some yellow book data in track 1 to command a CD-ROM player to look to track N+1 for the program information. This technique enables the user to play tracks 1-N, with track N+1 (the last track) being the Yellow Book data. Use of any of these techniques allows this CD to be playable on a conventional Red Book audio player.
CD-ROM players are also capable of playing red-track audio. The red track audio is output from a CD-ROM player as analog audio information and is not typically recognized as data by the CD-ROM player.
The inventors noticed a number of problems that would need to be solved in order to effectively incorporate yellow track information on a CD in a way that allows independent interactive selection. One important problem is how the music will be maintained during any selection of interactively-selectable yellow track data using the standard installed base of CD-ROM players. Interruption of the music program during interactive pieces would be unacceptable, unless, of course, the user requests such interruption.
According to the present invention, a user can choose any of a number of interactive videos at any time. CD-ROM players, however, have only a single read head. Therefore, the CD-ROM player needs to access the stored yellow data at the same time as it is playing the red data.
Interruptions in the music contained in the red track would be very disconcerting to the user, and hence the major design parameter of this system was prevention of unintended interruption of the music track. Since a single head device can read only one location at any time, the head must move between the interactive information and the Red Book information. There is a seek time, which ranges between 200 ms and about a second, for the head to reach its destination.
The inventors initially solved this problem by caching the entirety of the CD-ROM, including the audio and the interactive segments, into a large cache memory, e.g. a 300 Megabyte hard disc. Then, various parts of this hard disc can be read out interactively. By caching the entire CD onto the hard disc, any interactive video can be requested at any time during the playing of the red track.
While this operated acceptably, it requires that the user have 300 or so megabytes of memory available for the caching. Each time the user wants to play a CD, the entire disc is cached, which may take as long as ten to twenty minutes. Accordingly, this is not a practical solution.
According to the present invention, the information from the CD is stored into two separate caches, preferably RAM caches, following a procedure whereby each cache is continually emptied while it is being filled. The inventors of the present invention recognize that the vast majority of CD-ROM players currently being sold are so-called double speed players or faster. Audio compact discs (Red Book discs) are read by conventional players at approximately 150 kb/s. A double speed player reads the disc at double that speed, as the name implies. The inventors realized that this excess capability to read information could be used to supply information to caches and thereby allow information from two parts of the disc to be simultaneously played, even allowing for the seek time of the player's head. The read head in the player is controlled to read different parts of the data according to certain rules which maintain data in both caches. The data in the cache storing the Red Book information is being emptied at all times, but is never allowed to completely empty, in order to prevent interruption of the music track.
While doing this, the inventors found problems that no one else had ever appreciated. First, most currently-operational CD-ROM players do not pass red track format information as data--only as analog audio. This prevents the red track format information from being cached. The first embodiment of the present invention addresses and solves this problem.
The next generation of CD-ROM players does pass this information as data. Still, even when the red book format information is passed as data, the inventors noted another problem that reproduction of Red Book Audio is not sample-accurate addressable. This causes a problem with the present invention, since the caching system of the present invention must start caching again, beginning at the data where it last left off. If the caching system reads the first 3/4 second of Red Book audio from the red tracks, and then accesses yellow tracks, it has no way to return to where it left off in the red tracks.
Even those more modern CD-ROM players which pass the red track audio as data have this latter problem.
To overcome this technical hurdles noted above, the inventors of the present invention devised a system that provides the Red Book audio as compressed data within the Yellow Book track, as area 102. The red book information is preferably, but not necessarily, compressed before recording. Alternately, this format information may simply be bandwidth-reduced, since many CD-ROM players and computers do not reproduce the full range of fidelity which would be necessary to extract the full bandwidth information.
Yellow Book track 102 is preferably a compressed digital copy of the data in red track area 106--however, since it is in yellow track format, it will be passed as sample accurate data. We will refer to this data herein as Red Book copy tracks. Yellow area 104 includes the interactive data including the video/audio graphics and program for the album liner notes.
The red track data can be stored into Red Book copy tracks 102 in any standard way. Typically the copied red track data is stored as ".WAV" files or ".TIFF". These can be compressed using well-known schemes in the art including MACE (TM) or bit rate reduction by using 8 bit quantizing or 22 k sample rates.
A basic system and process for reading and using the information will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 shows the preferred hardware layout for operating the present invention. CD-ROM player 200, which can access information faster than it can play that information, receives disc 100. Read electronics 202, which may be part of the CD-ROM driver or part of a personal computer, controls the operation. A cache memory 204 is preferably the RAM of a personal computer, preferably a dual-port RAM.
Cache memory 204 is conceptually divided into a Red Book cache area 206 for the Red Book copy tracks, and a Yellow Book cache area 208.
Microprocessor 210 controls the system according to the flowchart of FIG. 3, such that the Red Book cache area 206 is continually being emptied, but never allowed to completely empty. Since a double speed CD-ROM driver is used, the Red Book cache area 206 is filled twice as fast as it is emptied. During the spare time, the CD-ROM read head is moved to access the Yellow Book information in area 104 to refresh the Yellow Book cache 208. The Yellow Book cache 208 can also be filled at least twice as fast as it is emptied. According to the present invention, the read head is moved between the Red Book copy tracks 102 and yellow data 104, alternately filling the caches, while allowing the caches to empty simultaneously with their filling.
It should be understood that the flowchart of FIG. 3 does not represent the overhead tasks which microprocessor 210 carries out, including finding addresses from which to read and write. Those having ordinary skill in the art understand how to control the processor 210 and its peripheral components 212 to effect these conventional overhead tasks.
The caching process of the present invention is conceptually analogous to two buckets, each with a hole in the bottom, being filled from a single hose. Each bucket is filled until full, while the hole allows the information in the bucket to leak out. The hose is moved to fill the other bucket while the information leaks out of the first bucket.
The process starts at step 300 where fixed data is copied to the hard drive. This fixed data includes parts of the controlling program and other information necessary for running. It also copies the largest static images. This initial copying step is estimated to take about 30 seconds.
Step 302 reads yellow track number 1 at 300 Kb/s for 3 seconds to load 900 Kb into the yellow track cache 208. Of course, it should be understood that the data rates given herein are merely exemplary, and other data rates for fill rates and empty rates could easily be used. These preferred rates represent the process which the inventors believe represent the best trade-off between cache size and performance.
Step 304 represents the one second seek time to the Red Book copy tracks 102, followed by step 306 at which the information in Red Book copy tracks 102 is loaded into red cache 206 while the contents of red cache 206 are simultaneously read out. The red tracks are read at 150 Kb/s while the cache 206 is loaded at double that speed. It takes fives seconds to fill the 750 KB cache at this rate.
The red cache 206 is detected as being full at step 308. Once the red cache is full, step 310 detects whether there has been a user request for an interactive yellow data portion to be played. If not, reading of the Red Book copy tracks continues.
If there is a request for interactive information at step 310, however, the system fills the yellow cache 208 at step 312. This includes a one second seek to the correct area of yellow tracks 104, followed by approximately three seconds of filling the yellow cache. Once the 900 Kb cache 208 is filled, control returns to the red book copy tracks to re-fill the red cache.
The yellow track cache holds 900 Kb and is read at a reading rate of 90 kb/s. This allows the yellow cache to hold ten seconds of information. Each fill of the yellow cache requires three seconds. There are two-one second seeks, and each fill of the red tracks requires five seconds. Conversely, the red cache holds five seconds of information, which corresponds to two-one second seeks and the three second yellow cache fill.
The filling and emptying sequence is shown in the time chart of FIG. 3A. FIG. 3A shows the fill state of the Red Book cache for the Red Book copy tracks ("RB cache"), the fill state of the Yellow Book cache ("YB cache") and the position of the reading head. The timing diagram of FIG. 3A assumes that both caches start out empty. At time 0, the head is at the Yellow Book information 104 and reads the information therefrom, into the YB cache, at 300 kb/s. Once the Yellow Book cache is full at time t=3 seconds, the read head seeks to the Red Book information for 1 second, followed by reading the Red Book information is read from the track at 300 kb/s while being simultaneously read out of the cache at 150 kb/s. This provides an effective fill rate of 150 kb/s. Red Book cache 206 has a capacity of 750 kb, meaning that it takes five seconds to fill while it is being emptied. At time t=9 seconds in FIG. 3A, the Red Book cache 206 is full, and therefore the head position must move from the Red Book position RB to the Yellow Book position YB. This takes one second, so at time t=10 the Yellow Book information YB continues filling the Yellow Book cache, this time at 300 Kb/s-90 Kb/s=210 Kb/s.
Three seconds is the longest time that the head can remain on the yellow book information: The Red Book cache 206 is 750 kb, and the information is read out at 150 kb/s, so the Red Book cache 206 lasts only five seconds. Since there is a one second seek time to the Yellow Book information, and a one second seek time back, this means that the system can only fill the Yellow Book cache 208 for a total of three seconds. At time t=13, therefore, the head begins seeking to the Red Book information. At time t=14, substantially the same moment when the Red Book cache 206 has emptied, the read head is on the Red Book information and begins filling the Red Book cache 206 again. At this time, however, the Yellow Book cache 208 is emptying.
The process continues: Five seconds later, at time t=19, the Red Book cache 206 is filled. Yellow Book information, according to this embodiment, is being read from the cache 208 at 90 kb/s. This means that after two one-second seeks and a five second fill, 7�90=560 kb have been removed from the Yellow Book cache. The Yellow Book cache is therefore not completely empty at time t=25 at which time it begins filling again.
The Yellow Book cache 208 is filled while reading. The filling occurs at 300 kb/s and the reading at 90 kb/s, leaving an effective fill rate of 210 kb/s. After 560/210=approximately 2.6 seconds, the Yellow Book cache 208 is again filled at a time which is referred to herein for convenience as t=19. Control then returns to the Red Book cache 206, to repeat the process.
It should be apparent that this alternating filling and emptying operation maintains both caches emptying at the same time, but never completely emptied. Different data rates could adjust the slopes in the time chart of FIG. 3A.
It was found by the inventor that, unexpectedly, a smaller cache size allows faster response to commands. Any time a command for a different track or a different interactive video is made, the current cache will be emptied prior to implementing the command; with the caching system alternating between reading yellow track data 104 and red track data 102.
Yellow track data includes video, e.g. Quick Time (TM) movies, still images and audio. The audio in the yellow tracks 104 is associated with the interactively-chosen program, and hence is different, in general, than the audio in the red tracks 102, 106. According to the present invention, the program may also attenuate the red audio while yellow audio is playing. The red audio remains uninterrupted in content even when it may be attenuated. This attenuation can be carried out in any well-known way.
A sample interactive flowchart is shown in FIG. 4. Control module 400 schematically represents the process of control of the various interactive segments of FIG. 4. The line 402 represents the interface between yellow tracks and red tracks. Everything to the left of line 402 is held in Yellow Book cache 208, and everything to the right of line 402 is held in Red Book cache 206. During all times of operation, one of the red tracks, shown as track 404, is being held in the red cache 206 to be continuously played.
There are two kinds of yellow tracks on the disc: the unassociated tracks 406 and the associated tracks 408. The associated tracks 408 are each associated with a red track. For example, a video such as segment 408 is associated with a particular red track 410 and hence provides video that is associated with that red track 410. The unassociated video, such as 406, is not associated with any particular red track, and hence can be requested by the user at any time. The unassociated interactive video includes information such as "on the road", showing information about the band's tours, "meet the band" which includes personal, biographical and professional information about members of the band, and song lyrics. This is more conventional liner note type of information and can be requested at any time.
The control screen which is preferably used for operating this system is shown in FIG. 5. The control screen includes standard CD playing icons such as play icon 500, skip forward icon 502 and skip backwards icon 504. A specific track can also be selected from the keyboard using track key 506. A video associated with the currently-played track can be played if available as shown by "play video" icon 508. This icon will be displayed in high contrast if available; otherwise the icon will be displayed in shadow.
Selecting the liner notes icon 510 brings up a menu showing the different categories of liner notes which are available. This includes, in this embodiment, those videos shown as 406 in FIG. 4. For example, a video or still pictures of the band on the road, including a fans video, band interview and live performance. A meet the band segment includes names and biographies on the members of the band as well as some graphics images thereof. An in the studio portion may include a studio tour and information about the producer. Songs and lyrics includes information about the various songs, and the lyrics of the songs. Of course, it should be understood that different ways of organizing the flow chart are possible.
The second embodiment is intended for operation with a next generation CD-ROM player in which the information indicative of Red Book is passed as data. This information on the CD-ROM, however, is not sample accurate. According to the present invention, appropriate sample-indicating codes are stored on the CD-ROM, into either the R3W bits, or into the P, Q code, to enable the system to read the Red Book data on a sample accurate basis.
In this embodiment, therefore, the red track data is real red track data, not a yellow track copy of red track data. The basic system of the second embodiment is similar to that of the first embodiment. It uses the same preferred layout shown in FIG. 2. The cache memory 204 is divided into a Red Book cache area 206 and a Yellow Book cache area 208. The operation is precisely the same as that in the first embodiment, except that:
the read head alternates between the Yellow Track information and the Red track information, rather than accessing a Yellow track copy of the Red track information; and
a sample indicating code, which essentially mimics sample accurate operation, is read from the disc along with the data content, to allow the system to pick up where it leaves off.
Although only a few embodiments have been described in detail above, those having ordinary skill in the art will certainly understand that many modifications are possible in the preferred embodiment without departing from the teachings thereof.
For example, while the control of this embodiment has been described as operating using a microprocessor and peripheral hardware, it could also be carried out using an entirely hardware-based configuration.
All such modifications are intended to be encompassed within the following claims.
Patent Citations
Non-Patent Citations
Referenced by
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INCUMBENT POSSIBLE CANDIDATES e>
ArizonaGov. Jan Brewer (R) state Attorney General Terry Goddard (D)* e>
The untested Brewer, who was Arizona's secretary of state until her predecessor joined Obama's Cabinet, has fought with her party over a proposed tax increase.
ColoradoADVERTISEMENTGov. Bill Ritter (D) former Rep. Scott McInnis (R) state Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry (R) e>
Low approval ratings, controversy over his appointing Sen. Michael Bennet, and the recession place Ritter in Republican crosshairs.Sen. Michael Bennet (D) former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton (R) Aurora City Council member Ryan Frazier (R) Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck (R) ftate House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (D) e>
Bennet, an untested appointee with low name identification, faces a possibly bruising primary against an experienced candidate and the likelihood of a tough general election campaign if he wins the primary.Rep. Betsy Markey (D) State House Minority Whip Cory Gardner (R) e>
Markey has been surefooted but might face a tough challenge in this Republican-leaning, exurban district.
IdahoRep. Walt Minnick (D) Iraq veteran and McCain Nevada campaign director Vaughn Ward (R) e>
Minnick benefited from a split Republican Party in 2008; he won't have the same advantage this time in a strongly Republican district.
NevadaGov. Jim Gibbons (R) Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid (D)* Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman (D)* former federal Judge Brian Sandoval (R) former state Sen. Joe Heck (R) North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon (R) e>
A series of scandals and a collapsing state economy have left Gibbons facing dismal poll ratings, a tough primary, and a potentially strong Democratic candidate.Sen. Harry Reid (D) businessman Danny Tarkanian (R) state GOP Chairwoman Sue Lowden (R)* state Sen. Mark Amodei (R) former state Rep. Sharron Angle (R) e>
Reid's poor poll numbers have Democrats fearing a repeat of Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle's 2004 defeat.Rep. Dina Titus (D) banker John Guedry (R)* e>
Titus won in 2008 with only 47 percent of the vote and could face another tough race in this centrist district based in suburban Las Vegas.
New MexicoGov. Bill Richardson (D) Lt. Gov. Diane Denish (D) (term-limited) former Rep. Heather Wilson (R)* Dona Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez (R) state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones (R) businessman Doug Turner (R) e>
Denish is the front-runner, but Republicans have strong options.Rep. Harry Teague (D) former Rep. Steve Pearce (R) e>
Former oilman Teague took a risk by supporting the Democrats' bill to limit climate change; his likely challenger is Pearce, who ran for the Senate rather than re-election in 2008.* Possible but undeclared candidates Compiled by e>
National Journal Researcher Cameron Joseph.
2010 Races to Watch


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|« Back to Article
Latino education tied to state's fate
By Gary Scharrer : October 23, 2012 : Updated: October 23, 2012 11:42pm
Photo By Ralph Barrera/Associated PressFifteen lawyers representing six different plaintiff groups crowded one side of the Travis County courtroom of state District Judge John Dietz on Monday, Oct. 22, 2012 in Austin, TX. to launch the sweeping school finance trial involving about two-thirds of Texas school districts. Judge Dietz listens to opening remarks in his courtroom. (AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Ralph Barrera)
Photo By Ralph Barrera/Associated Press
Lawyers launched a school finance trial involving about two-thirds of Texas' school districts in October.
Photo By Ralph Barrera/Associated Press
Fifteen lawyers representing six different plaintiff groups crowded one side of the Travis County courtroom of state District Judge John Dietz on Monday, Oct. 22, 2012 in Austin, Texas to launch the sweeping school finance trial involving about two-thirds of Texas school districts. Some of those 15 attorneys including from L-R: Rick Gray, David Hinojosa, David Thompson, representing AISD, and Mark Trachtenberg, stand as Judge Dietz enters the courtroom for the start of opening remarks. (AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Ralph Barrera)
AUSTIN — Whether Texas prospers or gets pulled down by poverty hinges on educating the state's fastest-growing population, Hispanics, demographer Steve Murdock said Tuesday.
During opening testimony of a school-funding lawsuit, Murdock said by 2050, Texas will be home for 12 million non-Hispanic whites and 31 million Hispanics.
Hispanic children will make up nearly two-thirds of the state's public school enrollment, while the percentage of Anglo children, now about 30 percent, will have dropped to 15.5 percent, said Murdock, Texas' first official state demographer.
Murdock became director of the U.S. Census Bureau under President George W. Bush.
The purpose of Murdock's testimony was to highlight the importance of all Texas children receiving an adequate education to show the consequences if Texas fails to deliver, lawyer Richard Gray told state District Judge John Dietz.
Gray represents one group of school districts in the lawsuit that includes more than 600 districts that claim the state isn't providing adequate funding to educate 5 million students.
Some of the districts also complain that funding disparities exceeding $2,000 per child make the system unconstitutionally inequitable and inefficient — as the Texas Supreme Court ruled in the 1989 landmark Edgewood case.
"What we can do for education becomes not only important for the individuals who get the education. It's important for their households and their family," Murdock told the court. "It's important for their communities. It's important for businesses of their communities because there's more money to spend on a variety of goods and services... and it helps in term of tax revenue."
About 8 percent of Texas' non-Hispanic whites have less than a high school education compared to 40.4 percent among Hispanics, Murdock said.
Education remains the best predictor of economic success, he emphasized. In 2010, one in 10 Texas Anglos lived in poverty, compared to more than one in four Hispanics, Murdock said.
The state's future depends on Hispanics, since they will make up most of the population growth in the coming decades, he said.
"Their need is our need in the sense that how well minority population groups do in Texas is how well Texas will do," Murdock said.
Humble ISD in northeast Houston represents the challenge facing Texas.
White non-Hispanic children made up 75 percent of Humble ISD's school enrollment 12 years ago. Today, Anglo children are a minority (46 percent) of the district's enrollment.
In the past 12 years, the percentage of low-income children in the Humble ISD has increased from 15.9 percent to 35 percent.
"Virtually everything (Murdock's) data showed is the experience we have had in our community," Humble ISD Superintendent Guy Sconzo said.
The Humble school district is struggling with the state's new accountability standards and budget cuts.
More than 1,100 Humble ninth-grade students failed at least one of the new end of course tests last spring, and 1,050 students failed a retesting after summer remediation.
Humble ISD taxpayers approved a maximum school operations tax rate of $1.l7 for the 2008-09 school year that generated an extra $17.9 million per year — but the district then lost $24.2 million when state lawmakers cut $5.4 billion from public education last year.
"In one fell swoop that (local tax) revenue went away," Sconzo said.
San Benito CISD Superintendent Antonio Limon is scheduled to testify today about the impact of inequitable school funding on schools, including his property-poor school district in South Texas, near Harlingen.
The school finance trial is expected to continue until mid-January.


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Monthly Archives: January, 2011
5 Great Interviews with Chanoyu (Tea Ceremony) Practitioners
By Blake Harvey on 1/9/11
I recently found a very nice blog "Tea and Travel" written by Deborah Huff. Over the past couple of months, she has interviewed 5 practitioners of Japanese tea ceremony. I always appreciate reading how people first became interested in chanoyu and the unique perspectives they have on the different facets of studying Tea. Below are […]
Posted in Top Stories | Tagged Belgium, Canada, Colorado, interview, Pennsylvania, spirit of tea, tea culture, United States, Urasenke


text: A crashed into the Checkered Flag convenience store on Wayman Road in Madisonville WBIR, Jerry OwensA lot of high school students were inside the gas station when the accident occurred, but none of them were hurt, according to the manager. Laurie Watson McDanielThe gas station's manager said the man driving the car said his gas pedal jammed, causing him to crash into the store. Laurie Watson McDanielOfficials investigating scene after car drives though Madisonville gas station. Laurie Watson McDanielThe car crashed into the Checkered Flag convenience store off Highway 411 at Wayman Road just before 8 a.m. Laurie Watson McDanielLike this topic? You may also like these photo galleries:ReplayLast SlideNext Slide


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by HammerTone
on 1/17/2014
I've tried several lead free "silver bearing" solders .. this is as good as any of them and priced much better than most. The melting point on this type is about 10 degrees lower than the non silver version. I recommend you give this a try.
by jayt
on 8/15/2013
I have used a couple of other lead free electronics solders (tin/antimony and tin/copper) and this is far better. If one were to compare it with a good leaded solder one probably would not be as enthusiastic, but if one needs or wants to avoid lead this stuff is pretty good.
While silver is pertty darn expensive, 3% of 6oz is not really all that much and the price premium over the tin/copper version seems rather excessive. Still, while the price vs intrinsic value seems high, for the performance (again comparing this to other lead free) the price is maybe not so terrible.
Note that 1mm is only moderatly small, one would probably not want to try surface mount with this stuff. even some of the finer through hole work might be a little akward.
Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader
21-8220 - Desoldering Pump - Standard Version
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Cleans tip quickly without reducing tip temperatureCleans better than conventional spongesMay also be used as portable soldering pencilholder Non-skid base
83-16530 - Raspberry Pi™ 2 Model B 1GB Project Board
The Raspberry Pi 2 is a single-board computer developed in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. It's a capable little PC which can be used for many of the things that your d...
21-10115 - 60W Compact Digital Soldering Station
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Great job, product arrived on time, communication was excellent, price was good. Overall very satisfied.


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Well played, Naoki Yoshida. Well played.
Metacommentary aside, we've actually gotten some useful bits, chiefly in the form of a fully translated Letter from the Producer LIVE and an update on what's happening with items and money when the relaunch happens. There's a lot of information to hit there, so I'm just going to take it piece by piece and cover what I see as the highlights. I wouldn't say that this information really fixes some of the communication concerns I've had, but it certainly mollifies me for the moment.
All right, good. This is good.
I'm fond of several of the ideas at work here, especially the fact that the game is going with both an instanced and shared form of housing in neighborhoods. While we'll have to see the actual implementation, the new plan avoids the problem of having ghost houses out in the open while still giving players the feel of being part of a larger community. I look forward to getting myself a nice little plot of land; in fact, the wording seems to imply that you can buy multiple plots, which would sweeten the deal significantly.
Cost may be an issue, but I suspect that it will be affordable for most players now, especially since the game will likely price lots within reach of newer players. The introductory ones, anyway. We may wind up with veterans building large clusters of mansions around small newbie homes.
The biggest thing we haven't yet seen is a point to housing. For me personally, that's not an issue; having a virtual dollhouse is reward enough. But the best housing systems give you both the option to build a house and rewards for doing so. Final Fantasy XI certainly did, albeit in a rather limited fashion, and I'm hoping that Final Fantasy XIV follows suit.
Changes to dated items
On the one hand, making these old items unique and untradable is the right move; these pieces of gear will become cosmetic little souvenirs. But removing the "recommended" part of equipment? Significantly less cool. These items are already useless for much beyond RP costuming; making them less able to perform their sole remaining function is not a good idea. Considering the existing penalties for equipping something outside of recommendations, I'd say it's not like leaving in the option is game-breaking in any fashion.
Crafting/gathering changes
What we've heard so far about these changes is good, but we don't know much. We've essentially been told once again that both Hand and Land classes are getting their own resources, crafting is being streamlined to be more accessible, and gatherers will have more control... but we're long on ideas and short on hard examples.
To be fair, we've also seen more of these processes in action now, and the inclusion of a place to store all our recipes is massively welcome. I'm going to assume that it operates along the same lines as the present system, so looking up recipes in the first place will be a bit of a bear, but being able to recall these things at the drop of a hat is more than welcome.
There are holes in what we've been told. Obviously, crafters will be involved in housing, but which crafts? Woodworking is obvious, and Goldsmithing seems likely, but beyond that it becomes increasingly questionable. And the roles of these crafts in the future is worth explaining -- will Alchemy still be a useful middleman with a dearth of unique recipes for its own consumption? How many Cooking recipes will we be looking at? You get the idea.
When it comes to the gathering changes, it's a bit more ambiguous. I'm fond of gathering now, but I can see how some of the additions would be very useful. I do hope that the current flow of harvesting isn't too badly disrupted by the changes. Making the process more involved is definitely worthwhile, however.
And you can't start as a non-combat class any longer. That's a bit disappointing, since I've long touted that as one of the features of the game to recommend it over others. There's that "attracting people not currently playing" bit again...
Money changes
This is pretty universally worthwhile. It's a minor change that will be largely transparent, and quite frankly values for money right now are absurd even when you take into account that the game doesn't feature decimal currency. It kind of stings to be dropping to a tenth of my current wealth, but the long-term benefits are worthwhile.
Content changes
One thing on this answer really stood out to me: Yoshida's statement that guildleves won't change much. This isn't really in line with other things that he's said, up to and including statements that leves will be familiar but obtained and used in a different fashion.
The problem here is that people either tolerate leves or actively dislike them. Making it clear that they aren't changing much gives me a sneaking suspicion that the total quantity of quests will get you through two, maybe three classes. For all those times when you don't have content to consume? Hope you like leves -- the ones that quests were supposed to be replacing.
That's all speculation. But I do feel a small twitch in one of my eyes at the thought.
As always, feedback is welcome in the comments below or via mail to firstname.lastname@example.com. Next week, wasn't there a Final Fantasy XI expansion coming out? Did we hear about that? Whatever happened to it?
From Eorzea to Vana'diel, there is a constant: the moogles. And for analysis and opinions about the online portions of the Final Fantasy series, there is also a constant: The Mog Log. Longtime series fan Eliot Lefebvre serves up a new installment of the log every Saturday, covering almost anything related to Square-Enix's vibrant online worlds.


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When Is 'Terror Behind the Screen' 2014?
The 2014 Terror Behind the Screen will feature aliens, zombies and killer clowns every Thursday, Friday and Saturday between Oct. 3 and Nov. 1 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Even if you've been before, this year will be all new!
And we're introducing some new technology that will be an unbelievable treat! But that's all we can say right now. WE'VE ALREADY SAID TOO MUCH!
Tickets will be $12 available at the door.


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Listening to the voices of girls, the review also includes the findings of a small, online survey and focus groups of girls around the country. Girls' definitions, experiences, and aspirations of leadership are highlighted along with tips and lessons for youth development organizations and communities.
Order or download (PDF) Exploring Girls' Leadership for actionable issues, outcomes, and approaches for youth leadership by youth development organizations, communities, and educational institutions.
For more information on this review, email the Girl Scout Research Institute or call (800) GSUSA 4 U.


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Online college rankings of the top budget-friendly—aka "Best Buy"—master's in educational leadership online.
The GetEducated rankings are calculated by comparing tuition and distance education fees for 86 different master degree programs in educational leadership or education administration at 62 online schools.
The rankings feature 40 affordable online master's in educational leadership all with a sticker price of less than $19,000.
These comprehensive rankings include the most affordable online degrees for master's in education leadership and administration offered by regionally accredited schools in the US. To appear on a Get Educated Best Online Colleges ranking list, the online degree profiled must objectively cost less than the average cost of all degrees surveyed in the comprehensive national data set.
Average Cost: $18,246
Most Affordable: Fort Hays State University ~$7,654
Most Expensive: University of Southern California ~$50,008
Search All Online Masters in Education >>
Costs were valid at the time of collection (Spring 2014).
RANKSCHOOL / DEGREESTATEPRICENOTE1AFort Hays State UniversityMaster of Liberal Studies / Educational Leadership & Management - Administration(KS)$7,6542AUniversity of WyomingMaster of Arts in Education / Educational Administration, Adult & Postsecondary Education(WY)$8.250$11,022ResidentOthers3AAmerican College of EducationMaster of Education in Educational Leadership(IL)$8,3144AFort Hays State UniversityMaster of Science in Educational Administration (Principal)(KS)$8,8885AWestern Carolina UniversityMaster of School Administration(NC)$8,915$28,810ResidentOthers6ALamar UniversityMaster of Education in Teacher Leadership(TX)$9,000$10,512ResidentOthers7AArkansas State UniversityMaster of Science in Education in Educational Leadership(AR)$9,3608A-University of Texas Online ConsortiumMaster of Arts in Education, Educational Leadership-Principal Certification(TX)$9,600$21,720ResidentOthers9A-Stephen F. Austin State UniversityMaster of Education in Educational Leadership / Principal Certification(TX)$9,696$13,296ResidentOthers10A-Emporia State UniversityMaster of Science in Education Administration(KS)$10,940$14,825ResidentOthers11A-University of Nebraska at KearneyMaster of Arts in Education / Education Administration: School Principalship PreK-8 or 7-12(NE)$11,088$16,884ResidentOthers12A-Ball State UniversityMaster of Arts in Education in Educational Administration & Supervision / Principals Licensure(IN)$11,712$19,308ResidentOthers13A-University of MissouriMaster of Educational Leadership(MO)$11,89014A-American Public UniversityMaster of Education / Educational Leadership(WV)$12,30015B+Old Dominion UniversityMaster of Science in Education / Educational Leadership: Administration & Supervision K-12(VA)$12,36016B+Columbia CollegeMaster of Education in Educational Leadership(MO)$12,42017B+The University of West FloridaMaster of Education in Educational Leadership(FL)$12,537$13,574ResidentOthers18B+University of ArkansasMaster of Education in Educational Leadership(AR)$12,75619B+
University of South DakotaMaster of Arts in Educational Administration / School District Superintendent(SD)$12,80220B+Saint Josephs CollegeMaster of Science in Education / School Leadership(ME)$12,96021B+University of Nebraska-LincolnMaster of Arts in Higher Education Administration(NE)$13,147$23,353ResidentOthers22BUniversity of Louisiana at MonroeMaster of Education in Educational Leadership(LA)$14,41823BIndiana Wesleyan UniversityMaster of Education in School Administration (IN)$14,48724BEastern Kentucky UniversityMaster of Arts in Education / Instructional Leadership(KY)$14,70025BLouisiana State UniversityMaster of Arts in Education / Higher Education Administration(LA)$15,01226BUniversity of New EnglandMaster of Science in Education / Educational Leadership(ME)$15,96027B-Central Michigan UniversityMaster of Arts in School Principalship / Charter School Leadership(MI)$16,071$9,504ResidentOthers28B-University of Illinois at SpringfieldMaster of Arts in Teacher Leadership(IL)$16,07629B-Louisiana State UniversityMaster of Education in Educational Leadership(LA)$16,26330B-Upper Iowa UniversityMaster of Higher Education Administration / Leadership(IA)$17,00431B-Concordia University-WisconsinMaster of Science in Education / Education Administration(WI)$17,01032B-National UniversityMaster of Science in Instructional Leadership(CA)$17,28032B-Northcentral UniversityMaster of Education / Educational Leadership (AZ)$17,28033C+Kansas State UniversityMaster of Science in Educational Leadership(KS)$17,52534C+Fielding Graduate UniversityMaster of Arts in Collaborative Educational Leadership(CA)$17,64035C+Kennesaw State UniversityMaster of Education in Educational Leadership(GA)$17,89236C+Florida State UniversityMaster of Science in Educational Leadership / Administration(FL)$17,944$40,674ResidentOthers37C+Brandman UniversityMaster of Arts in Education / Educational Leadership (CA)$18,000$18,000$13,200ResidentOthersMilitary37C+Jones International UniversityMaster of Education in Higher Education Leadership & Administration(CO)$18,00038C+Park UniversityMaster of Education in Teacher Leadership(MO)$18,180
The published cost is an estimated sticker price for the entire degree and typically reflects the most affordable online degree option. Actual costs vary by student. Factors such as transfer credits, prerequisite courses, professional licensing and financial aid availability will affect final cost.
Editorial Note: Online colleges do NOT pay to be included in any Get Educated online degree rankings survey. These best online college rankings are editorially independent, open to any regionally accredited or candidate college that offers a master's degree that is available at least 80 percent through online learning and that is open to enrollment by the public.If your online college is regionally accredited and not currently reviewed by Get Educated, please contact us for inclusion. Each online degree ranking list is calculated every two years. The next Best Affordable Master's in Educational Leadership Online rankings will be undertaken in Spring 2016.
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Ben Freedman: Hi, there and welcome to neo-fight.tv, the technology review with two points of view. My name is Ben Freedman.
Tiffany Young: And I'm Tiffany Young. And today's Friday?
Ben Freedman: Friday!
Tiffany Young: What do we do on Fridays? Email, we love to answer your questions sent to us via email.
Ben Freedman: Yes.
Tiffany Young: So let's start with the first question.
Ben Freedman: Okay.
Tiffany Young: Okay.
Ben Freedman: Read it away.
Tiffany Young: I will. Thank you.
Ben Freedman: Okay.
Tiffany Young: First question is. I often work at night and keep the lights low as to not to disturbed my wife, very thoughtful.
Ben Freedman: Very thoughtful.
Tiffany Young: Do you have any tips for dark room computing? So, let see. I've got two. One is, don't compute in the same room that your wife is in because it's dark and she tries to sleep. The second is -- don't compute in the dark room, right!
Ben Freedman: Yes. You know, the thing is not a good idea.
Tiffany Young: No.
Ben Freedman: I mean --do you never have compute somewhere where it is dark?
Tiffany Young: No. I don't know. I mean, I'm sure that you know feeling like in smaller space. You probably do not have an option. But I do have an answer not to be complete smart ass but like I am being. But I do have a solution and that is the keyboard pen.
Ben Freedman: Yes. Sure.
Tiffany Young: You show the keyboard there?
Ben Freedman: I love this --
Tiffany Young: This is actually pretty -- yes, pretty cool product.
Ben Freedman: Can I have this -- this is the Saitek Eclipse Keyboard.
Tiffany Young: Right.
Ben Freedman: And -- what is this -- I mean, it's very nice high quality keyboard and you can turn on; you turn on-turn off these lights. Now, I don't know how well you'd be able to see them here. There's light on the side --
Tiffany Young: It's pretty bright in the studio.
Ben Freedman: Yes, it's pretty bright in here. And you can adjust the how bright the light that it is on-off. You can adjust the color.
Tiffany Young: Right.
Ben Freedman: Let me see if I can show you this blue. There it is.
Tiffany Young: Oh! It changes based on the mood.
Ben Freedman: Is in red.
Tiffany Young: Little sultry.
Ben Freedman: I don't know why you able to see that. Let me see like a tip that out a bit more.
Tiffany Young: You see it? If you can't see it, but its red, yes.
Ben Freedman: I'll put some pictures of it and then look?
Tiffany Young: Purple.
Ben Freedman: Purple.
Tiffany Young: Nice.
Ben Freedman: Yes.
Tiffany Young: So.
Ben Freedman: So, it also has a media keys up here and you can turn the light off if you don't want to. But you know, you don't always have the option going to the different room. And I actually sometimes enjoy working in a so dark room. But it's hard to type if you can't see the keyboard.
Tiffany Young: You're absolutely right. The other solution that is the little LCD, they have a little LCD that we showed that. I show sometime back --
Ben Freedman: The USB light?
Tiffany Young: USB light.
Ben Freedman: Right.
Tiffany Young: Exactly. That you can plug in as well sort of sees over. But you know I have to really say that for -- it's me have the lights are dimmed. You know, for airport travels inside an airplane.
Ben Freedman: Yes. Also, you're not going to be using this in the airport. I mean, it's a little --
Tiffany Young: No -- well no, if you travel. If you travel, you know, how they--
Ben Freedman: Now, this is a solid key -- I would want to chat with this because this is solidly built. It's heavy.
Tiffany Young: Well, I know but if you happen to need it you know, going out overnight flight to Tokyo --
Ben Freedman: I like your idea better than USB light.
Tiffany Young: But yes, USB lights. It's more affordable for sure.
Ben Freedman: Definitely.
Tiffany Young: Anyway, so our next question is?
Ben Freedman: Our next question is, I need to use my laptop in my car but my batteries always dies, what do you suggests? You know -- I -- there's a couple good solutions to this problem. Most companies that sell laptops, most computer companies will have a mobile charger --
Tiffany Young: Right.
Ben Freedman: That like Dell does and Fujitsu does it. I'm not sure if Apple does or not. But even if not you can usually get a mobile charger that will plug your laptop into this cigarette lighter.
Tiffany Young: Oh, no Apple does.
Ben Freedman: Apple does?
Tiffany Young: Yes, yes.
Ben Freedman: Yes. And that way you can charge your laptop from the car. You know don't use it while you're driving, obviously.
Tiffany Young: Right.
Ben Freedman: But you can use it.
Tiffany Young: It turns face to go up.
Ben Freedman: Right. So that -- you know, once solution is to use a mobile charger. I know its even wipe out you can travel with your, you know your mobile charger if you hasn't like this. I mean that that really can suit all your need.
Tiffany Young: Right. Are you talking about a -- well I was going to show that the Smart AC 210.
Ben Freedman: Yes.
Tiffany Young: Is that what you're talking about?
Ben Freedman: No, I'm talking about an actual charger for the laptop that plugs into your car.
Tiffany Young: Oh! Okay, Alright. Here we go, okay.
Ben Freedman: This thing --
Tiffany Young: So this thing is for all the other items that don't have --
Ben Freedman: Oh, you can plug your laptop into this.
Tiffany Young: Right! I know what's even while you can travel with your -- you know, your mobile charger. If it hasn't like this, I mean that that really can suits all your need.
Ben Freedman: That's a good point.
Tiffany Young: So there's two outlets here, one for like a printer or --
Ben Freedman: Plug your printer in.
Tiffany Young: Anything really that you know needs that actual sturdy you know, old fashioned kind of outlet.
Ben Freedman: Well, if you got this, you don't need a special charger you could --
Tiffany Young: No, no, you don't.
Ben Freedman: Right.
Tiffany Young: And this is -- it's 110 volts so standard.
Ben Freedman: Yes, standard regular power. You plug it into your cigarette lighter.
Tiffany Young: You know its light weight. Its compact and you can really kind of travel with it and it's good to go for.
Ben Freedman: One thing I would say about this thing is that, it uses -- you know, if you're using some power heavy juice devices --
Tiffany Young: Right.
Ben Freedman: Like a printer and a laptop. It's going to use a couple 100 watts. You may want to keep your car engine running if you're going to do that for the length of time.
Tiffany Young: Right, good idea. Always a good idea.
Ben Freedman: If it's 10-20 minutes of use not a big deal but its hours.
Tiffany Young: Right.
Ben Freedman: You know this could run your -- its like running a couple 100 watts. It could run your car battery down.
Tiffany Young: Like a head lamps or headlights sort of like that.
Ben Freedman: Sorts like a headlights on.
Tiffany Young: Like that.
Ben Freedman: That's right.
Tiffany Young: So, anyway, so that's two solutions really for travel, mobile travel. Keeping your stuff powered up.
Ben Freedman: That's right! And that's all the time we have for neo-fight.tv this week but if you happen to want to subscribe to the show, we'd love you to visit our website, www.neo-fight.tv. That's where you can subscribe to the show.
Tiffany Young: Absolutely.
Ben Freedman: And if you happen to have an extra 30 seconds, take a look at this.
Posted: 10/12/2009
Views: 1,527
Duration: 06:22
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Landscape Managers in the United States with more than 10 years of experience in their profession represent slightly less than two-thirds of Landscape Managers. Salaries average out to around $46K per year and spread from $32K to $68K per year. In the world of Landscape Managers, total cash compensation can vary between $32K and $68K. Each package generally includes bonuses and profit sharing proceeds, and in exceptional cases, those amounts can reach heights of $10K and $7K, respectively. Career length and the particular city each impact pay for this group, with the former having the largest influence. There are far more male Landscape Managers survey respondents than women, making up 88 percent. The majority of Landscape Managers claim high levels of job satisfaction. Although just over a half have medical coverage and nearly one-third have dental coverage, more than two-fifths claim no health benefits at all. The numbers in this rundown were provided by PayScale's salary survey participants.
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Landscape managers ensure that the landscaping standards of the hiring company are maintained. This involves planning the design of the landscape, with day-to-day operations including overseeing maintenance crews, maintaining budgets, conducting soil analysis, and performing grounds inspections. Depending on the specific needs of the position, ordering equipment and implementing new features may also be required. Equipment varies in function and operation, but general experience with landscaping tools should cover most requirements.Read More...
The work is primarily done in an outdoor environment, with the employee working directly on the grounds to ensure the landscape is carefully managed. However, meetings and communication with management and teams may be done in an office setting. Hours vary depending on company needs, but shifts are commonly available during typical business operating hours. Work involves exposure to extreme temperatures depending on the location and has physical requirements related to operating equipment and performing manual labor on a regular basis.
A wide variety of positions are available under the title of landscape manager, ranging from working with large collections of properties to maintaining grounds at single buildings. Although the latter may require more work experience, large corporations also often hold higher requirements related to experience. Generally speaking, landscape manager positions require a minimum of five years in management experience in a related field, but entry-level opportunities are not uncommon. Educational qualifications are typically not required, but some positions list a bachelor's degree or technical/trade school diploma as a preferred qualification.
Median of all compensation (including tips, bonus, and overtime) by years of experience.
For Landscape Managers, more experience in the field does not usually mean bigger paychecks. The average inexperienced worker earns $38K, and someone who has worked for five to 10 years can expect a bigger median salary of $43K. On average, Landscape Managers make $45K following one to two decades on the job. In the end, the overall pattern seems to be that more experience generally corresponds to higher pay; a Landscape Manager with more than 20 years of experience can earn $56K on average.
|Extremely satisfied
Rated 5 out of 5
based on 103 votes.
12 %
88 %
|Medical: 55%
|Dental: 33%
|Vision: 21%
|None: 43%


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Create a welcoming and spacious entryway by removing clutter like boots, keys and wall hooks.
Stylist Sasha Seymour added warmth to her crisp white hall with an ornate chest and antique cane chair. Fresh flowers add a touch of colour. Such streamlined simplicity may not be achievable everyday, but is certainly doable for an open house.
Watch an Online TV tour of Sasha Seymour's Retro-Inspired Townhouse. Plus, get more Decorating To Sell tips in our photo gallery.
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