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There has been much clamor over the use of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracing," to unlock vast resources of not only natural gas but also oil in Ohio. Several myths have been circulating about this process which is absolutely essential to making the horizontal wells being drilled in the Utica and Marcellus shale formations productive.
Some groups and individuals have been quick to predict apocalypse from fracing, claiming that the practice poses an extreme danger to underground water systems. But such hysteria has been fueled by much misinformation. This article is being written to dispel some of the misconceptions about fracing.
This article is being written to dispel some of the misconceptions about fracing. One such misconception is that fracing is dangerous when, in fact, it is not when done responsibly. Energy companies planning to drill for oil and gas in the Utica shale that underlies parts of Ohio have placed the highest priority on safeguarding underground water sources. In fact, there will be a minimum of five layers of protection through the shallow zones from which people obtain their drinking water.
The Ohio Revised Code 1509 which spells out all requirements for oil and gas drilling states: "a well shall be constructed using sufficient steel or conductor casing in a manner that supports unconsolidated sediments, that protects and isolates all underground sources of drinking water as defined by the Safe Drinking Water Act, and that provides a base for a blowout preventer or other well control equipment that is necessary to control formation pressures and fluids used during the drilling of the well and other operations to complete the well." The myth that drilling and fracing operations aren't subject to the Safe Drinking Water Act is indeed just that - a myth.
Companies that will be drilling Utica shale wells in Ohio will generally start out by pile driving a very large diameter piece of pipe or casing, usually about 26 inches in diameter and 40 feet long, into the earth. As an alternative to pile driving this casing, a borehole 30 inches in diameter may be drilled and the same casing is run in the hole and cemented in place. This is called conductor casing and serves as the foundation for the well.
Next, a company will typically drill a large diameter borehole about 17 1/2 inches in diameter, using air or fresh water through the deepest fresh water zone and continuing a minimum of 50 feet below it. A second string of pipe usually about 13 3/8 inches in diameter called surface casing is run in the hole and cemented over its entire length back to the surface. During this process, an inspector from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is required to be on location to monitor the casing and cementing operation to ensure that clean cement is circulated back to the surface. This process instantly provides two layers of protection across the fresh water zones.
Next a vertical borehole approximately 12 1/4 inches in diameter is drilled down to a depth of approximately 1,000 feet above the targeted producing zone, i.e. the Utica shale which is expected to vary in depth from about 6,000 feet to 9,000 feet in Ohio. Another string of pipe called an intermediate casing string is run in the hole and cemented back to the surface. Again, an inspector from the ODNR must be notified and given the option of coming on location to ensure once again that clean cement is circulated back to the surface. This ensures a third and fourth layer of protection across the fresh water zones. The bottom of the intermediate casing string represents the approximate kickoff point from which the process of drilling the horizontal borehole begins.
A special drilling assembly is then used to build a curve over approximately the next 500 to 1,000 feet of depth to the point where the drill bit enters the shale formation horizontally. The horizontal section of the borehole having a diameter of approximately 8 3/4 inches is then drilled approximately 5,000 to 7,000 feet into the shale. At that point, another string of pipe usually 5 1/2 inches in diameter called production casing (one more layer of protection) is run in the hole and cemented in place from the end of the horizontal section clear up into the vertical section of the intermediate casing.
The fluids including spent frac fluid, oil, salt water native to the shale, natural gas liquids, and natural gas from a well extracted from the formation will generally be produced through yet another string of metal pipe called production tubing that is run inside the production casing. This can provide yet a sixth layer of protection through the shallow fresh water aquifer. A diagram of a typical horizontal well completion is shown in attached figure.
With the well properly cased and cemented, the process of fracing can now be addressed. The fracing process has been in use since the 1940's to extract natural gas and oil from rocks. It was not until 2003, however, that a Texas oil and gas company began using multiple stage frac treatments coupled with the technique of horizontal drilling to recover vast amounts of shale gas in north Texas. Horizontal wells and multi-stage fracing have since been used to unlock natural gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia, and in other shale formations in North Dakota, Montana, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
Fracing is a process in which a mixture of water, sand and chemicals is injected under high pressure through perforations or holes created in the production casing that has been cemented in place in the shale.
It is done in the shale far below the water table at depths of 7,000 to 9,000 feet. The frac fluid injected into a well does not mix with the groundwater due to the fact that the aquifer has been protected with four to six layers of steel casing and cement.
The fracing process creates a vertical crack or fracture in the rock that is generally about a 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch in width, less than a few hundred feet in height, and extends less than 500 to 800 feet in length away from the horizontal well bore to access oil and gas in the rock that would otherwise be inaccessible. Some people worry that the fracture created will extend all the way back up to the fresh water aquifer or even to the surface of the earth. This is another myth. The fact of the matter is that all of the service companies working in Ohio that perform frac treatments couldn't pump enough water, sand, and chemicals under a high enough pressure to create such a fracture.
If it is impossible to create a fracture that extends back to the surface, how then might frac fluid get into the fresh water aquifer?
For the water and chemicals used in the fracturing treatment to contaminate the fresh water aquifer, the fluid would somehow have to penetrate several layers of steel casing (production tubing, production casing, intermediate casing, surface casing) and cement. In a few vertical wells across the country where only one string of surface casing was cemented to surface and no intermediate string was run (only two layers of protection) a few incidents have been reported. In almost every incidence, however, the cause of the contamination was traced to an inadequate casing cement job. This concern is alleviated by having companies run special survey tools on the casing and cement after it is given a chance to harden to ensure that there is a competent cement bond around the outside of the pipe.
In the case of the Utica shale wells, an ODNR inspector is notified and has the option to be on location when any casing is run and cemented to make sure that the cement job is properly executed and clean cement is circulated back to the surface. Results of the cement bond surveys are also supplied to the ODNR.
The disposal of waste water from the fracing process is, of course, a concern. Spent frac water may not be produced back to the surface and pumped into creeks, lakes, sewage treatment plants, etc. in Ohio. That practice is absolutely forbidden under Ohio oil and gas law. Spent frac water must be flowed back into plastic-lined pits approved by the ODNR and the Ohio EPA or into containment trailers located on the well site. It must then be hauled off location and properly disposed of in a manner that satisfies ODNR and EPA regulations. No exceptions!
Though there have been no documented cases of ground water contamination in Ohio due to fracing and only a small number of other surface water contamination episodes, companies are taking extra precautions to make sure the disposal of wastewater from the fracing process is done safely. The energy industry has developed methods to recycle injection fluids, thereby cutting back on the amount of wastewater requiring treatment and disposal.
Companies are also publicly documenting the chemicals they use in their frac fluids. Though some of the chemicals in their pure form are toxic, they generally account for less than one half of one percent of the injected frac fluids. The chemicals are diluted even further because they are mixed with salt water or brine that is native to the shale formation when produced back after the frac job. Research is under way by several companies to come up with even more benign chemicals for use in fracing. In Ohio, companies are required to submit a copy of the ticket from their frac jobs that details chemicals used along with volumes of fluids and treatment pressures to the ODNR. A website called www.fracfocus.org is also available to the public to examine what companies are using in their frac treatments.
Barring an increase in taxes on oil companies, investment in fracing (along with horizontal drilling) will surely grow while generating huge economic and fiscal benefits for companies, landowners, and states alike. Oil companies plan to use the same drilling technique to produce oil elsewhere in the country. Among the areas that possess great potential for additional oil recovery are Alaska, North Dakota, Montana, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, and Louisiana.
In a recently-published study, the National Petroleum Council cited the importance of fracing. It said fracing is partly responsible for the dramatic turnaround in U.S. oil and gas production in recent years, and concluded that "under the most optimistic assumptions the U.S. and Canada combined could produce up to 22.5 million barrels per day, with oil shale formations producing 3.3 million barrels of oil per day."
Today 95% of wells drilled in the U.S. require fracing to make them productive. The practice has already been used about a million times in the U.S. over the course of 60 years. It is closely monitored and regulated. Even EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has said that fracing can be done responsibly to develop the energy resources we need.
If America wants to reduce its dependence on foreign oil and develop its own sources of reliable and affordable oil and natural gas, we must ramp up domestic shale production utilizing horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing methods and do it in a responsible manner. There will always be a modest amount of risk, but the benefits to Ohio's economy and our nation far outweigh them.
Dr. Robert W. Chase is chair and professor of Marietta College's Department of Petroleum Engineering and Geology.


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Modest population growth trend thought troubling sign for Lakes Region economy
LACONIA — The population growth that has driven growth and prosperity throughout much of the Lakes Region since 1970 slowed markedly during the last decade and shows scant sign of accelerating soon.
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"The [Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary] extends from the high tidemark of five islands—San Miguel, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Anacapa, and Santa Barbara—to six miles (9.7 kilometers) off their shores, taking in 1,658 square miles (2,668 kilometers) of Pacific Ocean."
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in "Blue Refuges: U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries," March, 1998 National Geographic magazine)
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By Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Experience as an archbishop, as a Vatican diplomat and in the Roman Curia gave Indian Cardinal Ivan Dias of Mumbai a high profile in the College of Cardinals at the end of Pope John Paul II's pontificate.
The cardinal frequently is a featured speaker at Vatican-sponsored events, yet he is reluctant to grant interviews, and very little about him has appeared in the press, either in India or abroad.
When the chief Vatican correspondent for Italy's state-run television station -- the station that has an exclusive cooperation agreement with the Vatican for broadcasting papal events -- tried to interview the cardinal, he politely declined all but a brief exchange.
"If you want pictures of me, I prefer you take them while I'm praying, not while I'm talking. People on their knees are more eloquent," he told the reporter. "Humanity needs witness of faith, not orators."
Just a month after the Indian prelate was named a cardinal in February 2001, Pope John Paul named him to be one of three presidents of the world Synod of Bishops and a member of three key Vatican congregations: doctrine, Catholic education and worship and the sacraments.
The need for strong, convinced witnesses of faith is a recurring theme in his speeches and messages, whether addressed to an international gathering of priests, a Vatican conference on health care, a religious order holding its general chapter or one of his rare interviews.
In October, Cardinal Dias was the homilist at one of the liturgies held during a Vatican-sponsored international gathering of priests in Malta. He said that "in a world dominated by information technology, by New Age teaching and by the decline of ethical values," God is calling priests to be models and guides of holiness for others.
Cardinal Dias told the priests, "God forges saints on the anvil of love, which sometimes takes the form of a cross.
"Every saint has had to overcome difficulties and suffering of various kinds, but all of them have done so with a profound interior peace and with spiritual joy. In fact, we know that a sad saint is a poor saint," he said.
While his own cultural background and his diplomatic experience make him sensitive to the need to respect and value other religions, Cardinal Dias, 68, was one of the most outspoken supporters of the controversial 2000 document by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the uniqueness of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Speaking to reporters in Rome shortly after the document, "Dominus Iesus," was released, the then-archbishop said, "It is a reaffirmation of what we believe and what we think," namely that "Jesus is the only savior of the world."
"We have a right to say who we are, and others can accept it or not," he said.
Giving strength to the suspicion that the document was prompted particularly by the interreligious efforts of Asian theologians, and especially those working in India, he said clarity was needed in countries where the vast majority of people are not Christian.
Trying to find ways to communicate what the Catholic Church believes and to foster dialogue, some Indian theologians have presented the faith in ways that have not always been as clear as "Dominus Iesus" calls them to be, he said.
"The faith of the people is strong and constant," he said. "If a few theologians are making mistakes, that is a problem for the bishops."
Yet, in a speech to an international meeting of bishops the same week, he said the Catholic Church, through its bishops, "must make every effort to relate to every human being without any superiority complex and with a spirit of true and humble service."
The spiritual beliefs and practices of other religions, he said, are "a genuine invitation to dialogue, not only in those things which they have in common with Christian culture, but also in their differences."
In December 2001, with fundamentalist Hindus continuing their attacks on Indian Christians and with heightened world concern about Islamic fundamentalism in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States, Cardinal Dias invited leaders of all Mumbai's religious communities to his home.
The cardinal said the gathering was "a meeting for peace in a world torn apart by war and hatred" and pledged that he and the other leaders would "spread the message to the world" that religious faith always seeks peace and promotes respect for others.
Cardinal Dias has consistently warned of the dangers of materialism. At a 2003 Vatican conference on clinical depression, Cardinal Dias said the Christian virtue of hope, based on faith, is needed not only by individuals, but also by rich countries as a whole and by "the developing nations who often try to mimic the richer ones."
Despite "affluence in wealth, the immensity of knowledge and spectacular inventions and achievements," he said, entire countries are being "crushed down by godless ideologies and enticing proposals that exalt the anti-God cultures, including the culture of death."
The cardinal also told the conference he believed the sacraments of reconciliation and of the anointing of the sick could cure people who are depressed because they are gay.
He told the conference he knew a priest who had helped two male couples and a female couple by leading "them first to receiving individually the sacrament of reconciliation, and then the anointing of the sick because their problem was leading them not to death of the body, but more seriously that of the soul."
"You will be glad to learn that all the three cases were cured completely of their unnatural tendencies," he said.
In his preaching and teaching, Cardinal Dias also has a penchant for combining quotes from Scripture with everyday images.
"The bishop, like the donkey, must carry Jesus high on his shoulders for all the people to see and hear and follow. The hosannas and the alleluias, the palm and olive branches, the clothes strewn before it on the roadside are not for the donkey, but for his lord and master," he told an international conference for bishops in Rome in 2000.
The cardinal's faith and 39 years in the Vatican's diplomatic service have been evident in his pastoral ministry in India, whether he was denouncing the fundamentalist attacks on Christians or leading prayers for peace between India and Pakistan when tensions arose over control of Kashmir.
When he was named to the College of Cardinals, he said his experience in the diplomatic service taught him to avoid confrontation and solve problems through dialogue and fostering good will, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand.
But that did not stop him from clearly asserting the rights of Catholics in India to worship freely, to serve the poor and needy and to invite others to join the Catholic Church.
Ivan Dias was born April 14, 1936, in Bandra, a Catholic stronghold in the western Indian city of Mumbai, then Bombay. After graduating from Jesuit-run St. Stanislaus High School, he entered the seminary.
In a 2001 interview with the Italian magazine 30 Giorni, he said the Blessed Virgin Mary was important in his vocation and is a continuing influence in his faith.
"It was the Blessed Mother who attracted and seized me," he said. "Her image is even on my episcopal ring."
The cardinal said he learned his love for the liturgy from his family.
"As is the case with many Indian families, my mother took us to Mass every day. That is not unusual in India, because it is normal for a family to approach the Eucharist each day," he said.
He was ordained a priest in 1958 and worked at St. Stephen's Church in Mumbai for two years before going to Rome to study at the Vatican institute for diplomats. On completing his studies in 1964, he was appointed to the Vatican Secretariat of State.
He worked for the secretariat's Eastern Europe desk for nine years, at the height of the Cold War, and became acquainted with the then-archbishop of Krakow, Poland -- later Pope John Paul.
He also began picking up familiarity with an increasing number of languages, eventually managing to function in more than a dozen different tongues.
He served at nunciatures in Scandinavia, Indonesia and Madagascar.
He was transferred to the Vatican's Council for the Public Affairs of the Church as chief of the desk that served several former Soviet republics, as well as West African countries and China.
In 1982 he was consecrated archbishop and sent as apostolic nuncio to Ghana, Togo and Benin. In 1987 he was appointed apostolic nuncio to South Korea, where he worked for four years. He said he was impressed by the South Koreans' deep faith, which prompted him to learn Korean.
In 1991 he was appointed apostolic nuncio to post-communist Albania, where his task was to rebuild the church after decades of harshly imposed official atheism.
The future cardinal invited foreign missionaries to the country and worked with the Albanian government to recover Catholic churches and schools. By the end of his tenure in 1997, the Vatican had consecrated six bishops for Albania.
While in Albania, he received the Gold Medal of the Order of Mother Teresa, a national award for service to honor the nun who was born of Albanian parents in Skopje, now in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.


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Once again on the summer lineup at the Constellation Brands — Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center (CMAC) is Lady Antebellum. The concert, slated for 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29, is part of the Take Me Downtown Tour 2014. Also appearing will be Billy Currington and Joe Nichols. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets go on sale Friday, Feb. 14, at noon for $69.50 and $55 pavillion seating, and $30 lawn seating. Tickets will be available at Ticketmaster — online, charge by phone 800-745-3000 and ticketmaster outlets. Tickets will also be available at The Blue Cross Arena Box Office.
For more information, visit www.cmacevents.com or Facebook.com/CMACfan. All dates, acts, showtimes and ticket prices are subject to change without notice.
Location, ST | website.com


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Tyson Williams, the 4-year-old son of Raiders defensive line coach Terrell Williams, died Friday night at Oakland Children's Hospital from a "sudden and unexpected illness," according to a team release.
"We were all shocked by the news we received when we arrived in Baltimore," Raiders coach Dennis Allen said in a statement. "Terrell and Tifini have been dealing with unimaginable tragedy this week and our hearts go out to them. We're all deeply saddened by the passing of Tyson, and our deepest sympathies go out to Terrell and his entire family."
In addition to his parents, Tyson is survived by an 8-month-old brother, Tahj.
Allen said the defensive staff would share the workload in Terrell Williams' indefinite absence.
The team requests that condolences be sent to Williams at team headquarters at 1220 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda, CA 94502.
Steelers: Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders said he will appeal the $15,000 fine levied against him by the NFL on Friday. Sanders was fined for faking an injury during a game last month.
The NFL also fined the organization $35,000 over Sanders' sudden -- and quickly healed -- leg injury in the fourth quarter of a 24-17 victory against Cincinnati on Oct. 21.
Sanders fell to the ground unexpectedly as the Steelers were preparing to huddle. He was tended to by team doctors and spent one play on the sideline before returning.
Sanders is expected to start Monday when Pittsburgh plays host to Kansas City.
He will replace Antonio Brown, who will miss the game because of an ankle injury.
Safety Troy Polamalu (right calf), tackle Marcus Gilbert (ankle) and linebacker Stevenson Sylvester (hamstring) are also out against the Chiefs.
Running back Rashard Mendenhall is questionable while battling a strained right Achilles.
Giants: Cornerback Will Hill was activated, and cornerback Michael Coe (hamstring) was placed on injured reserve.
Hill returned to practice last week after serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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Small Dog Beds
Cute Luxury Small Dog Beds For Your Pet
Small dogs have special requirements when it comes to where they sleep! They need little dog beds to keep them warm and comfortable. Your small dog would look silly on a dog bed designed for a large Labrador Retreiver if he is a tiny Yorkie! Small dog beds are made specifically for small dogs that want the extra comfort and warmth. The small and extra small dog beds are just as comfortable and beautiful as the large dog beds, but will cuddle your small dog.
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If you have your own small dog, you probably know that small dogs love to feel close to you and snuggle. This is why many of them are called "lap dogs". This is also why these tiny cuddlers need a special small dog bed that will give them the comfort and support that they need to get a relaxing night sleep. These small dogs want to feel contact at all times; it makes them feel loved and safe.
Most puppies enjoy puppy beds that are rounded or enclosed so that they can curl up in the bed and have the bed surround them. This closeness gives the dog a relaxing sense of calmness and security. The puppy will get the feeling of contact and love from the small dog bed that it would normally get from you
Small dogs typically want to crawl into your bed and snuggle up to you under your covers. Many dog owners do not want the dog sleeping in the bed with them, or have trouble sleeping in the bed with the dog, so the dog is going to need a suitable alternative. What about during the day or other times when the dog does not have the option of cuddling next to you? These are instances when a bed for small dogs can be the best option.
Many dog owners incorrectly assume that it is okay to have their dog sleep on the carpet or floor of their home. Not only is this an uncomfortable and cold place for your dog to sleep, but it can also cause real health problems. The dog can develop sores or callouses sleeping on hard surfaces, or develop back or joint problems.
A cute dog bed provides your pampered small pup with a cozy and comforting place to go rest and relax. Having a designated bed of their own can give your dog a sense of security and provide a place to go where they can feel safe. A small dog bed is an excellent way to cater to your precious small dog's special needs and ensure that they are as happy and well rested as possible.
Don't forget to add a dog blanket to your small dog bed to keep them extra warm.


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Human Rights Committee
18 July 2013
Also Discusses its Methods of WorkThe Human Rights Committee today continued its first reading, paragraph by paragraph, of a draft General Comment on Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on the right of everyone to liberty and security of person. The Committee then continued to discuss its methods of work in relation to the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures.
The Committee adopted the first ten paragraphs of a draft General Comment on Article 9 of the Covenant. The discussion focused on the alternative wording proposed by Gerald L. Neuman, Committee Rapporteur, on paragraph 3, which underlines, among others, that Article 9 recognizes and protects both liberty of person, which concerns freedom from confinement of the body, and security of person, which concerns freedom from injury to the body. Committee Experts decided to add a reference to mental integrity to the definition of bodily integrity and reiterated that the right to security of person was independent from the right to liberty of person. The Committee then turned to paragraphs 11 to 13 of the draft General Comment, which concern arbitrary and unlawful detention. Several Experts noted that a legal detention could be arbitrary and the notion of "arbitrariness" had to be interpreted broadly to include elements such as inappropriateness, injustice and lack of predictability. Remand in custody had to be reasonable and necessary in all circumstances. It was agreed that a decision to keep a person in detention should be open to periodic review, and should not continue beyond the period for which a State party could provide appropriate justification. The Human Rights Committee publishes its interpretation of the content of human rights provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the form of General Comments on thematic issues. To date, it has issued 34 General Comments. The draft General Comment on the right of everyone to liberty and security of person was presented by Committee Rapporteur Gerald L. Neuman on 21 March (see press release CT/13/10). The Committee will resume its discussion on the draft General Comment on Tuesday 23 July, at 10 a.m.This afternoon the Committee discussed the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures. The mandate encompassed three main functions: taking decisions on the registration of communications; dealing with requests from authors on interim and protection measures; and responding to any procedural matters that could arise after registration. The scope of the Special Rapporteur's mandate extended from the moment a new communication was received until the communication was scheduled to be examined by the Committee's working group on communications. Committee Experts discussed various suggestions regarding interim and protection measures for people submitting communications to the Committee. Experts indicated that the Committee's rules of procedure should be amended in order to allow the Committee to grant additional protective measures. Ordinary protection measures were available for alleged victims but measures attending to other involved parties, such as the family of the victim, were lacking. The Special Rapporteur should keep on file the reasons for giving or refusing provisional measures; and an anonymised summary could be included in the Committee's annual report. Committee Experts also addressed the registration of communications. A distinction had to be made between non-registration and declaration of inadmissibility. Communications that were manifestly inadmissible were registered and this led to a considerable loss of time. Finally, Committee Experts discussed the conditions under which the proceedings should be confidential. The Committee continued its afternoon meeting in private to consider communications from individuals claiming to be victims of violations of the provisions of the Covenant.The Human Rights Committee will next meet in public on Monday, 22 July, at 10 a.m., to hear the presentation of the report of the Special Rapporteur for follow-up on concluding observations and to continue the discussion on the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures.__________
For use of the information media; not an official record


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DEAR AMY: My husband's best friend from work, "Billy," is an amazing man. He speaks several languages and has traveled the world. He's friendly, confident, funny, easy to talk to, well-dressed, and is a warm, generous guy.
We love him to death, but he can't get a date. The problem is, he's physically unattractive. He's on the low end of homely.
I've introduced him to every single woman I know. They like his personality and all agree that he's a wonderful guy, but none of them can get past his looks.
I know he's tried every avenue he can think of -- online dating, social groups, singles clubs, church groups.
Online is worst. He's had hundreds of women abruptly cut off communication as soon as they see a picture. If he posts a picture at the outset, no one will respond at all.
My husband and I have both run out of ideas. I think that it doesn't help that he wants to have children. He would make a wonderful father. Is there any hope for him?
DEAR SYMPATHETIC: "Billy" might be looking for love in all the wrong places. Yes, he has looked everywhere he, you (or I) can imagine, but has he volunteered to be an after-school tutor (or coach) at the local Boys and Girls Club? Has he looked into being a foster father or a Big Brother? Would he like to try to adopt a child?
What I'm getting at is if this wonderful guy would be a great dad, maybe he should cut out the middleman (or woman) and turn his search toward sharing his life with a child who will value attention, love and companionship as much as he does.
Being a single man is no longer the impediment to fatherhood that it once was. As his biggest and most generous fan, maybe you should engage him in a conversation that could ultimately change his life. Start like this: "Billy, have you ever considered becoming a dad? If you're interested, we'd love to help."
DEAR AMY: I dated a girl in high school for a short time, and the relationship ended on good terms. I am now in college, and we are good friends (we do not go to the same school).
There is a part of me that is still interested in dating her because I haven't found another woman quite like her, but I am not sure how to approach her about it because I go to college out-of-state and I don't know if she is interested in dating.
I don't want to ruin the friendship by saying what I feel if she doesn't feel the same way, but I am also not sure how to approach her about it.
Confused Bachelor
DEAR CONFUSED: You two have a dating history and a close friendship. This is going to be easier than disclosing your romantic interest to a friend because you've dated her before.
Simply ask her: "Have you ever thought about the two of us hanging out together again?"
She may throw the question back at you: "I don't know, have you?" If so, you can say, "Yeah, I do think about it. But I don't want to mess up our friendship. What do you think?"
Send questions to firstname.lastname@example.com or Ask Amy, Chicago Tribune, TT500, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.


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Ferry House Hostel- Tarbert
The Ferry House Hostel is located in the heart of the village of Tarbert, one mile from the Tarbert/Killimer car ferry which links Killarney and Dingle in Kerry to Doolin and Cliffs Of Moher in Clare.
The three storey stone building with wooden floors and open fires was built in the 18th century and worked as a hotel then, it was totally re-furbished in 1996. Within two years it was voted Best Hostel In Ireland by 'Lets Go' American travel guide.
Our place, which is near shops, bars and restuarants, has a wonderful atmosphere as does the village itself.
Availability & RatesTo view availability and prices please select dates and click 'Update Dates'
Hostel Facilities & Policies
- Bicycle parking
- Card Phones
- Common Room
- Credit Cards Accepted
- Free Parking
- Hot Showers
- Internet Access
- Self-Catering Facilities
- Linen Included
- Luggage Storage
- No Curfew
- Parking
- Restaurant
- Tours/Travel Desk
- Towels For Hire
- Vending Machines
Cancellation PolicyThis property has a 1 day cancellation policy. Failure to cancel within this time will result in a cancellation charge equal to the first night of your stay.
DirectionsShow MapHide Map
Tarbert is on the N69 road which runs along the bank of the Shannon River.We are 38Km from Kerry Airport and 44Km from Shannon Airport.We are very centrally located to tour
the South and the West of Ireland we are 2Km
from the car ferry which runs every half hour
and connects South and West.
Distance From Major Towns
Killarney.... 42 Ml
Dingle .... 47
Clifs/Moher . 49
Limerick City 34
Galway City . 92


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Not for the faint of heart, Marie Colvin's last report from Homs, Syria shows the slow death of a baby boy. The city has been under siege for 18 days, resulting in thousands of casualties. Colvin was killed earlier this morning in the home where she was staying.
Update: David Remnick's tribute to Colvin over at The New Yorker is worth a read.


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A bowling alley in west Jackson is back open for business.
Metro 21 is the new name of the old Cotton Bowl Lanes on Lynch Street.
Members of Jackson State University's Sonic Boom of the South played Tuesday during the ribbon cutting ceremony. Local leaders said the business is part of revitalization efforts in the area.
"It's a beautiful facility," Mayor Harvey Johnson said. "Not only will it offer bowling, there are arcade games, a grill here. It's a wonderful addition to west Jackson."
Managers said there are already several bowling leagues ready to use the facility.


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"Revolution" Ends, "TMNT/Batman:TAS" Begins in IDW's November 2016 Solicitations
Comic Books
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Joe Casey and Chris Burnham's graphic novel "Officer Downe" from Image Comics will make its way to theaters thanks to Living Out Loud Films, which will finance the film.
Morrison and Burnham's "Nameless" #1 has "a lot to focus on and love."
Hardman, Bechko, Burnham, Higgins and more gathered to reveal the inner workings of the creator-owned comics experiences at Image Comics.
Batman creators including Marv Wolfman, Chris Burnham, Brian Buccellato and more celebrated the Dark Knight's anniversary with fans in Long Beach.
Peter David and Scott Koblish present "Deadpool's Art of War" in October, but you can check out a preview now! Plus, Chris Burnham's first issue variant!
Jock, Chris Burnham and more gathered to celebrate â2000 AD,â discussing how long they plan to age Dredd, the new "DREDD" illustrated screenplay and more.
"Batman Incorporated" alumni Chris Burnham and Cameron Stewart illustrate variant covers for "Multiversity" and "Teen Titans," respectively.
Artist Chris Burnham discusses the pressure of working on Grant Morrison's Batman and teaming with the acclaimed writer for "The Nameless."
Marc Tyler Nobleman's effort to get wider recognition for Batman's co-creator! Tulsa cartoonist Larry Pendleton passes away. Interviews with Burnham, Marz and Venditti!
At Image Expo, Jamie McKelvie, Chris Burnham, Paul Azaceta, Wesley Craig and Nick Dragotta discussed artistic methods with Image co-founder Erik Larsen.
Scott Snyder, Bill Willingham, Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Kyle Higgins and Chris Burnham discuss their new projects at Image Expo 2014.
CBR presents an exclusive preview of Gregg Hurwtiz and Alberto Ponticelli's mostly-silent "Batman: The Dark Knight" #26.
Grant Morrison's epic run on "Batman" has come to a close, and Chris Burnham and Joe Keatinge are both adding to its legacy with stories in the one-shot "Batman Incorporated Special." Plus, exclusive Burnham art!
With his new Image Comics ongoing series âZero,â writer Ales Kot explores the grunt work of super spydom with a raft of diverse artists from Tradd Moore to Tonci Zonjic and beyond.
Doug Zawisza gives "Batman Incorporated" #13 by Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham 4 stars, saying the writer gives readers "one more enjoyable Batman story on his way out the door" for his final issue.
Greg McElhatton gives "Batman Incorporated" #12 4 stars, saying the penultimate issue of Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham's run on the title has "gorgeous art and a fast-paced story."
DC Comics has released a preview of Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham's "Batman Incorporated" #12. With Leviathan and the Heretic on the ropes, Batman comes close to avenging all he's lost July 3.
DC Comics has released a preview of the final issue of Grant Morrison's "Batman Incorporated" saga, giving a first look at Chris Burnham's interiors for the end of Morrison's run.
Though Grant Morrison draws down the curtain on "Batman Incorporated" in July, DC Comics will give the series a final hoorah in August with a one-shot anthology featuring work by Chris Burnham, Dan DiDio and others.
DC Comics' Superman/Batman 101 panel at C2E2 finds John Layman, James Tynion IV, Chris Burnham and more giving a crash course on the World's Finest heroes. CBR has LIVE updates throughout the hour.
Greg McElhatton gives "Batman Incorporated" #10 by Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham, Jason Masters & Andrei Bressan 4 stars, saying, "Everything's aligning in a manner that promises an explosive conclusion."
This week, we get to know our Viper, Prince Robot IV has a very bad day, Magik has a very big sword, Kate Bishop hearts Hawkeye and Bat-cow jumps over the moon.
DC Comics has released a preview for "Batman Incorporated" #9 written by Grant Morrison with art by Chris Burnham. The aftermath of Damian's death is revealed March 27.
With Damian Wayne's death rocking the book, "Batman Incorporated" writer Grant Morrison compares the event to Jason Todd promising a final arc where Batman takes action to avenge his son.
This week, Damian Wayne rests in peace, Clint Barton's bad Penny shows up, Richie Savoy takes center stage, Legion gets the first (and the last) word and "Seven Percent" springs a surprise.
DC Comics has released new covers for March's Batman-family titles in reaction to the events of Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham's "Batman Incorporated" #8 and the fate of Damian Wayne.
Greg McElhatton gives "Batman Incorporated" #8 4 stars, calling Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham's Robin R.I.P. issue "an elegantly constructed comic, one that brings you so much joy and fun before everything comes crashing down."
ROBOT 6 looks at the events unfolding in this week's "Batman, Incorporated" #8 and what they mean for Batman, Robin, Damian Wayne, the DCU as a whole and Grant Morrison moving forward.
DC Comics has confirmed what recent rumors and cover leaks have already led readers to suspect with regard to the fate of current Robin Damian Wayne in Grant Morrison's "Batman Incorporated" #8.
DC Comics has been keeping details of the next major Batman story arc originating in Grant Morrison's "Batman Incorporated" under tight wraps, but a photo has surfaced on Twitter that gives credence to fans' theories.
DC Comics has provided CBR with an exclusive first look at Tony Daniel's variant cover for "Batman Incorporated" #7, written by Grant Morrison with art by Chris Burnham.
For this special edition of Shelf Porn, "Hack/Slash" and "Revival" co-creator Tim Seeley takes us on a tour of the shelves of 4-Star Studios, which he shares with Mike Norton, Chris Burnham, Jenny Frison, Josh Emmons and Sean Dove.
Courtesy of DC Comics, CBR has an exclusive preview of "Batman Incorporated" #6 by Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham. Leviathan continues to gain control of Gotham City January 2.
The gnarled alternate identity of Talia al Ghul prepares to strike at Gotham and Bruce Wayne as Damian is caught in the middle in an exclusive Juan Jose Ryp variant for "Batman, Incorporated" #6.
At MorrisonCon's "Third Millennium" panel, Grant Morrison, Darick Robertson, Frank Quitely and Chris Burnham dished details on "Batman Incorporated," "Happy!" and "Multiversity."
DC Comics has provided CBR with an exclusive preview of Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham and Frazer Irving's "Batman Incorporated" #0. Explore the origins of the network of heroes assembled to battle Leviathan on Sept 26!
Greg McElhatton gives "Batman Incorporated" #3 4.5 stars saying the issue by Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham "runs the risk of making everyone demand that their monthly comics are this good."
Just because "Batman Incorporated" ends with issue #12, Grant Morrison hasn't stopped tapping Bat History, with new reinventions of characters, new secrets and new storytelling tricks still in store.
Courtesy of DC Comics, CBR presents an exclusive preview of Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham's "Batman, Incorporated" #3! Matches Malone returns on Wednesday, July 25!
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In a recent article, Ryan Cartwright argued that free software isn't playing the "same game" as proprietary software is. He's right—but that begs the question: what game is GNU/Linux playing?
Thirty years of proprietary software thinking have conditioned us to think that marketshare is a critical measure of success, and so we've convinced ourselves that we have to "win" against Windows in order to "succeed". But this is simply not true. GNU/Linux can be a very great success even if it never achieves more than 1% of the installations in the world. The reason is the difference between "power" and "freedom".
The freedom metric
"Success" means something very different when your goal is "freedom" than it does when your goal is "power". Proprietary companies exist to make money, thus power over the marketplace—the ability to demand tribute (in the form of Windows license fees paid to Microsoft)—is the essential definition of success. For free software, however, the goal is to provide the freedom to choose and use free software (the GNU/Linux operating system and its associated universe of applications). For those who seek to create freedom, such monetary tribute is a nice form of applause, but it is not essential to success.
"Success" means something very different when your goal is "freedom" than it does when your goal is "power"
Freedom cannot be forced on people. Freedom to choose GNU/Linux means also the freedom to choose Windows as well. We can argue that it's a bad deal, but we don't have the right to force people to choose one over the other. Nor should we pass value judgements on them for their choice: we don't know the basis of their decisions, nor can we claim superior knowledge of their business. In brief, we don't need power over them! Seeking it is actually counter-productive to our goal of creating a more free software ecosystem.
Hence, we have no obligation nor need to eradicate Windows in the marketplace nor to consume marketshare. That's because we aren't a massive multi-national corporation which must exercise power over people in order to survive. Marketshare: defined either as sales of services or as total numbers of installations is a nice sign of success for GNU/Linux, but it is in no way essential to the end goal of achieving freedom.
Freedom is primarily achieved by providing the means for self-reliance. When individuals can provide for their own needs independently, without placing burdens on others, they are more free.
Freedom is primarily achieved by providing the means for self-reliance
GNU/Linux provides self-reliance in the form of software you have complete control over. Instead of having to pay a tribute in order to receive a benefit from a corporate provider, you are able to provide for your own needs using a freely-available product. In practice, of course, you really do this through voluntary sharing networks or "the community" of open source users and developers, rather than trying to operate on your own. However, you are by no means required to participate in this community, and of course, there may very well be more than one such community if one is not universally appealing (as a simple example, there are lots of Linux user groups divided by geography or language).
What does matter: sharing and standards
So what makes you free to choose free software? Essentially, what you need are quality and stability. There is also the touchier matter of interchangeable data format standards. To explain these criteria, let's consider the reasons you might be un-able to use a free software application to do a job:
- Software crashes due to bugs (quality)
- Software is too out of date (stability)
- Can't open the files (data standards)
The first two problems have nothing to do with marketshare for free software programs. They have to do with the level of development activity: How many different platforms and configurations has the software been tested in; how many people are finding bugs; and how much time is being spent on fixing them once they are found?
All of these have to do not with the percentage of people merely using the software in the marketplace, but with the absolute number of people developing and testing the program. In other words, a niche program that less than 1% of the public is using, but which has a strong, highly-motivated group of developers and users may be more successful than a package which is used by 99% of the population, but has few people interested in keeping it working (of course, it's unlikely that such a popular program would not find dedicated users, but this is by no means a closely-correlated relationship).
what matters is the people who are sharing their time to work on the project
In other words, what matters is the people who are sharing their time to work on the project. And that is enabled by the nature of the license, which allows the software itself to be shared. In other words, the strength providing the quality and stability of free software comes from the sharing of community effort and of the software itself. Marketshare, as such, has a limited impact on this for free software (the major exception is when a company makes significant money from the product and therefore decides to share developer time to work on it—but again, there is no strong correlation here: a company is free to free-ride or contribute, regardless of its income from the software).
So why do people quote marketshare as if it were the absolute most important metric? Because, for proprietary software it is: if only 1% of the public buys licenses for software A, but 99% buy licenses for software B, then B has 99 times as much money to pay developers. And that's really important for proprietary development projects, because they don't share. By not sharing the code, they not only discourage the desire to share effort, but they actually make it much more difficult (or even impossible) to do. As such, all development and testing time on proprietary software must be paid for. Thus, it is the availability of funds, driven entirely by marketshare, that determines the quality and stability of proprietary software. That's why it's sensible for proprietary software developers to quote marketshare as a selling point.
But those rules don't apply to free software—it relies on voluntary sharing to achieve the same ends. And it turns out that that is much more cost-effective.
The third item, data standards, does have a connection to marketshare, albeit it a tenuous one. If a single supplier wields effective monopoly control of the marketplace, it can also monopolize the formats of data that are used for communications. For example, when Microsoft had such total domination of the word processing marketplace, it created a situation in which a proprietary data format—MS Word DOC format—became a de facto interchange standard. Since this format was secret and only fully supported by MS Word, it created an obstacle to people wanting to use free software. A similar situation exists with respect to various DRM encrypted file formats and video codecs used today.
If a single supplier wields effective monopoly control of the marketplace, it can also monopolize the formats of data that are used for communications
Avoiding monopolies
These are openly hostile attacks on market freedom by those companies. They are, as the law puts it, "anti-competitive", because they put competitors at an unfair disadvantage. This creates a situation in which quality is not sufficient to allow a product to be used. It isn't just free software that suffers from this! This is a problem for all competing software.
Thus, in the interest of promoting both freedom and market efficiency, such tactics, whether intentional or not, should not be permitted. This can be achieved through legal means, primarily by not granting monopoly copyright nor trade secrecy protections for such standards. It can also be achieved by social movements to use standards which are freely available. Finally, having more than one effective competitor in the marketplace will result in natural market forces to encourage use of open formats.
However, even where marketshare matters, it matters only in the need to avoid extreme monopoly: it is not that GNU/Linux needs to have a 90% or even a 50% marketshare to be a "success", it is only that allowing one other software (Microsoft Windows) to have a 90% or 99% marketshare is damaging. A 10% or 15% share of the marketplace would be completely sufficient. More importantly, that 10% or 15% needn't belong to GNU/Linux—it just can't belong to Microsoft (or any other single provider). We're perfectly fine if that marketshare is controlled by Apple's OS X or Free BSD, or some other operating system, so long as it really is independent of Microsoft control.
Success for free software is having the freedom to use it
This is a very different situation than with proprietary software, where "success" is directly proportional to marketshare (or absolute market size). In the end, for the cause of freedom, we don't need a strong marketshare. We just need a free market and enough sharing to get the software developed.
Of course, freedom may not be everyone's goal for free software. Some people may simply want market domination, and there are companies like Canonical (maker of Ubuntu) who will benefit from increased adoption of GNU/Linux. Their financial successes—at whatever level—are beneficial to the overall success of GNU/Linux, because they mean that more money will be spent on developing GNU/Linux. However, even if such companies fail, GNU/Linux will not: development will continue whether there is financial backing from sales of services or not, so long as there are enough people who need the software enough to share their time in keeping it working and providing new capabilities.
Sharing matters more but market-share matters to too.
"Freedom cannot be forced on people."
- Terry Hancock
That is true. Freedom is not imposed on people.
"Freedom to choose GNU/Linux means also the freedom to choose Windows as well."
- Terry Hancock
That is true as well, but I'm more concerned about people's freedom not to choose windows. That's why it's important to push back against their monopolistic, anti-competitive business practice.
Consuming Microsoft's market-share is vitally important for the purpose of giving people the freedom not to choose Microsoft Windows, because Microsoft has so much money, they're subsidizing the hardware manufacturers to block users from access to choices other than Microsoft.
"We can argue that it's a bad deal, but we don't have the right to force people to choose one over the other. Nor should we pass value judgements on them for their choice: we don't know the basis of their decisions, nor can we claim superior knowledge of their business."
- Terry Hancock
If I were a business owner, I would not permit my employees to use Microsoft products. If I were the owner of a business, I would have the right to choose what operating system my employees used on my internal network, and Microsoft products would be an unwelcome and insecure intrusion into the privacy, security and integrity of my network. So in that circumstance, I could require people to choose free software over Microsoft.
If I were in charge of choosing the curriculum of a computer literacy class or a computer science course in college, I would also feel entitled to require that the software they learn should be available to students with full respect for their user freedoms and available at no cost.
If I were in charge of setting standards for public infrastructure, I would be comfortable requiring that voting machines must not be proprietary software, and that other public infrastructure not be entrusted to proprietary (and implicitly inferior) software.
"In brief, we don't need power over them! Seeking it is actually counter-productive to our goal of creating a more free software ecosystem."
- Terry Hancock
I agree, we don't need power over them, but we need to curtail their power over us. Seeking to effectively resist oppression is not counter-productive to keeping a free software ecosystem. It's okay for tactics to be reactionary in some cases, but the strategy needs to be proactive.
What goes around comes around...
If I were the owner of a business, I would have the right to choose what operating system my employees used on my internal network
So, you assert that there's nothing wrong with companies that require you as an employee to use Microsoft Windows? You are in a sense, correct, but I personally chaff at that kind of treatment.
If I were in charge of choosing the curriculum of a computer literacy class or a computer science course in college
You assert similar power for school administrators.
If I were in charge of setting standards for public infrastructure
Again, you assert that such organizations should have that kind of power over you.
You then assert that your proposed decisions are right (as if these "ends" justified the above "means"):
I would also feel entitled to require that the software they learn should be available to students with full respect for their user freedoms and available at no cost
I would be comfortable requiring that voting machines must not be proprietary software, and that other public infrastructure not be entrusted to proprietary (and implicitly inferior) software
Well, maybe -- those are fairly good ideas. But there are people who believe just as strongly in the opposite decisions, and can make their own arguments for why various proprietary softwares should be used. As a no-brainer example: many school curriculum planners would insist that it is much better for students to learn the particular software programs they are most likely to use in the business world, which right now, means Microsoft software.
Would you want them to have that level of power over you?
Power is a two-way street. Freedom is the centerline of that street. Don't reach across it, unless you want people reaching back.
In each of these cases, the take-home point is not that those people should have the power to make those decisions and enforce them on other people, but rather precisely the opposite: that because they do have power over other people, their decisions should be open to public scrutiny and democratic decision making.
The teacher should listen to his students' opinions on what software they should learn. The choice of voting software should be subject to approval by the electorate, and (one could argue) the source code should be available for public review. And so on.
The good news (from your PoV), is that you should have the right to agitate for those decision-makers to make decisions in favor of free software. The bad news is, the proprietary lobbyists have the same right.
"there are people who believe just as strongly in the opposite"
"...there are people who believe just as strongly in the opposite decisions, and can make their own arguments for why various proprietary softwares should be used." - TH
Terry, suppose that instead of you and I discussing software, people were talking about slavery and abolition. Suppose one person had just made the case for abolition of slavery and someone who were a bigot and an ignoramus (not at all like you) responded by saying something like this: "there are people who believe just as strongly in the opposite"?
The answer is that those people who believe just as strongly in the opposite are wrong.
One of the popular criticisms of liberals made by "conservatives" is the lack of moral conviction or moral clarity. The "conservatives" call it "moral relativism" or "moral ambiguity".
In this case, hypothetically placing yourself in the shoes of your ethically deranged opposition creates confusion rather than clarification.
I remember as a child when commercial television and vending machines found their way into my public school. At the same time, school lunches were reduced in quality and availability.
There is a long tradition of academic freedom which is being ravaged by private interests. Now, where is the federal funding for public schools? Where is the federal funding for college education?
All of the public infrastructure of the United States is under attack across the board. It is the work of people like Grover Norquist who wants to "drown the government in a bathtub".
I'm really not inclined to consider your hypothetical question about the proprietary software being imposed on me in the same manner I would demand free software.
In the private sector, companies can and do require applicants to use proprietary software. They have that right to do so.
In school they also require students to learn proprietary software quite often. In school, they should not be permitted to impose proprietary software on students.
In the infrastructure of our voting system, they should not be permitted to use proprietary software.
For voting infrastructure, public school children's curriculum, I have zero tolerance for proprietary software. I'm not willing to entertain the idea that the opposition has a leg to stand on in this debate.
They can take their proprietary software and shove it!
Terry, suppose that
Terry, suppose that instead of you and I discussing software, people were talking about slavery and abolition. Suppose one person had just made the case for abolition of slavery and someone who were a bigot and an ignoramus (not at all like you) responded by saying something like this: "there are people who believe just as strongly in the opposite"?
From Answers.com
big·ot (bĭg'ət) n. One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.
Bigotry is not limited to one side of any fence. Those who opposed slavery did not suggest the imprisonment of the slave owners without giving them the opportunity to change and neither should we.
Statements like the following one could easily be perceived by those you oppose as bigoted. I am not saying you are a bigot I am saying that in this context the label could be applied by both sides and that makes its use in an analogy worthless.
The answer is that those people who believe just as strongly in the opposite are wrong.
They may be but if you believe "Freedom is not imposed on people" then surely you have to allow them the opportunity to be wrong. Now some of us may believe strongly that--because of certain practices by proprietary companies--certain parts of society are not being given a fair opportunity to express their freedom of choice but if you are saying the answer to this is to impose free software on them then you are going a step too far in my eyes.
In your previous comment you list a lot of "if I were" statements, all of which suggest that you are not or have not been in those positions and so have the luxury of being able to make statements such as the ones you made. In reality to impose anything on a group of people will generally bring about resentment towards it (unless they agree with it). That resentment can breed dissent, which can ultimately breed revolution. It's something the music "industry" are having to learn with regards the removal of fair use by DRM. If you impose any key decision (such as what software to use) without either explaining to, consulting with and winning the approval of those you are imposing upon, you may well end up doing more harm than good to [y]our cause.
Terry is correct, if you want people to choose free software, imposing it upon them is not the way to win their hearts and minds. Educate them, coax them if you want to but if you remove all other options you will likely alienate them. This is a lesson the proprietary software world is having to re-learn and it is one the free software community would be foolish to ignore.
You're speaking in generalities.
I was specific about my examples. I would not suggest that people in the private sector could legally or should have any software choices forced on them by regulation. Therefore, the business owner has the power to choose the software because its all happening in the private sector.
However, another specific example I gave - voting infrastructure, should absolutely not allow the choice of proprietary software.
Can you imagine why I might think so?
Also, another specific example - public school-children's computer curriculum. Proprietary software should not be accepted in public school for the same reason there should not be Coke and Pepsi machines in public schools.
The school consists of a captive audience of children who get preyed upon by mega-corporations like Microsoft and Coca-Cola.
The citizens of the U.S. are deprived of our freedom to vote as Americans by a proprietary voting machine company such as Diebold which has used proprietary software to steal elections for George Bush.
I don't have a say when some government contract is awarded to Diebold. I'm part of a captive market with proprietary software imposed upon me.
This is an issue of moral clarity in the case of our voting infrastructure. There are no valid arguments to be made for using proprietary software in our voting infrastructure.
I take your point about the literal meaning of the word "bigot", but I was using it with the connotation the word has acquired from its use in discussion of ethnic issues.
There is always someone who might say one thing or another, but that is not necessarily a good reason for one to doubt oneself.
A coherent mind does re-asses deeply held understandings every time a critic disagrees. That would be too reactive and disruptive to the integrity of a coherent mind.
I understand Terry's point about our internal sharing being more essential than our outward evangelism. My point is that we cannot cede the battle over market-share against proprietary software.
I would not suggest that
I would not suggest that people in the private sector could legally or should have any software choices forced on them by regulation. Therefore, the business owner has the power to choose the software because its all happening in the private sector.
When I said "In reality to impose anything on a group of people will generally bring about resentment towards it (unless they agree with it). That resentment can breed dissent, which can ultimately breed revolution." -- to which I think you are referring here, I was not talking about legislatively imposing software choices upon business owners. I was referring to the practicality of business owners or their IT managers imposing such decisions upon their staff. Yes I know it is done all the time with proprietary software but IME that brings about the same resentment and dissent and eventual dislike of the software being imposed. If you are a business owner, you are of course within your "rights" to make such a decisions without consulting anybody. But I happen to believe business leaders have a responsibility towards their staff as well and dictats rarely go down well. Sometimes though, yes, the business owner has to make the tough choice but choosing free software is always about more than the bottom line and if you want your staff to "get it" then imposition of free software is not a good place to start.
With regards software choices in voting structures, personally I believe that technology and an anonymous but secure voting system don't mix very well. I am a luddite on this matter and would rather not have electronic voting machines at all. I am yet to be convinced that an electronic system can register that I have voted and keep the way I voted anonymous. But if we have to have them then yes an open process requires systems that are not proprietary.
I did understand the way you were using bigot but I don't think you can use it wth that meaning in this context, thus the only other definition we have is the one I gave. To make an analogy between proprietary software and human slavery might add gravitas to our argument but it also cheapens the true horror of daily life for those in real slavery. Proprietary software companies might lock users into contracts and attempt to keep their custom by foul means or fair but should the customer wish to stop using that company's products, they can.
As for ceding market-share, my views on this are well documented on this site. Indeed they sparked Terry's post. :o)
Re: slavery analogy
The reason I brought that up is not to compare software freedom and or lack thereof with actual human slavery.
Today, software licensing isn't an issue of such obvious moral clarity as the issue of people owning other people.
Perhaps in the future, lack of software freedom may actually become a form of control used to impose real human slavery. Perhaps it is already happening in places like Iraq.
The reason I brought it up is to show that when the conversation is about an issue more obvious moral clarity than software licensing is today, the idea that there are two sides to an argument doesn't really change the obviousness that one side is ethical and the other side isn't for most observers.
My point is that you can always find people who disagree with even the most obviously righteous positions on ethical issues.
That doesn't mean those who disagree should be held in equal regard and we should be forced to debate them as if they were just as ethical as ourselves.
This is one of the major things which went wrong with the media in recent years which has lead to the terrible circumstances we see in Iraq.
Sane people were forced to debate against crazy people because corporate-media pundits presented two sides to every argument, even when one side was obviously deceptive, insincere, and unethical.
I don't think we should hold the proprietary software advocates up as if they are on equal footing in this debate.
The free software community should seek to prevail over proprietary software in the free market by non-regulatory means, and we should seek to have proprietary software pushed out of middle schools, high schools, and essential public infrastructure by government regulations.
We argue the point not the person
That doesn't mean those who disagree should be held in equal regard and we should be forced to debate them as if they were just as ethical as ourselves.
The idea that somebody should be held in less regard to ourselves simply because they disagree with our viewpoint is a dangerous one. Their argument may well be considered invalid or of less importance to the debate but that does not give us the right to disregard them for holding it. Rather do we not have a duty to explain why we find their argument is invalid rather that let them continue in ignorance?
The free software community should seek to prevail over proprietary software in the free market by non-regulatory means, and we should seek to have proprietary software pushed out of middle schools, high schools, and essential public infrastructure by government regulations.
As much as I'd love to see only free software used in such institutions I feel we differ on the idea that a certain viewpoint should be banned simply because we consider it "bad" for them. Again I would rather see them be given opportunity (which granted they are rarely given now) to discover free software and utilise it. I am not one who subscribes to the idea that the way to beat proprietary software is to leglislate it out. Legislation should not dictate which software is to be used, it can and should dictate that all options be fairly and openly considered within such bodies.
The point vs the person
I never singled anyone out as a person. The people I referred to were only referenced by what they believe, not who they are, so that set of people is as transient as the thoughts in those people's minds.
Also, in the specific quote of mine which you referred to, I hadn't even specified what ethical belief they disagreed with.
Of course I never suggested "a certain viewpoint should be banned".
I'm in favor of legislation which prevents certain public infrastructure and public services from depending on private corporations.
I'm against privatization of the military, for example. I'm also against allowing proprietary software in the curriculum of public school children as I mentioned before.
The reason for this is because the proprietary software does not belong to the user, it belongs to someone other than the school children who use it. It thereby subjugates those children to the control of the private entity which owns the software.
Free software does not do this to school children, therefore it is like comparing apples and oranges.
I agreed with you when you wrote this:
I don't see it that way
I never singled anyone out as a person. The people I referred to were only referenced by what they believe, not who they are, so that set of people is as transient as the thoughts in those people's minds.
That's the point, you are dismissing people because of what they believe. You specifically said they (not their viewpoint) should not be held in equal regard because of their viewpoint. Irrespective of the view in question no free society can ever claim to be free if it treats those with a certain viewpoint as lesser members of that society. You may feel you were saying that their view should be disregarded but what you said was that they should be and it was that which I disagree with.
I agreed with you when you wrote this:
That was a long comment ( it's a habit of mine :o) ) but I guess you mean this bit in particular "I personally feel that the free software community does have to compete with the proprietary companies ... but it's more about winning hearts and minds than revenue and it is in this field that my concern lies.". I still do believe that but the context is important, I do not believe free software has to or should attempt to compete with proprietary software on fiscal or market share grounds precisely because those grounds are dictated by the proprietary software companies. Free software should compete with proprietary software on its own terms and within its own strengths. Whether we like it or not a product which is not governed by unit cost can never compete in those terms with one that is -- it's pointless.
Yeah, you've got a point.
It is better in general to focus on the ideas rather than the people who are presenting them.
There are people, however, who've established a track record of malicious deception.
Even while it's considered bad form to focus on the messenger rather than the message, we still must hold each other accountable for cases in which a pattern of willful deception has been established.
Regarding your comment which I brought up - I read it wrong. I meant to say I disagree with it and I agree with the guy who said free software ought not to be compared to proprietary software because it's like apples and oranges.
Ubuntu is not a company
Ubuntu is not a company. Canonical is.
Good point.
Yes, you are right of course. Sorry for the error.


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by Adam Proteau - May 24, 2013 11:24 PM UTC
Pittsburgh finished the job, eliminating Ottawa in five games with another strong performance from James Neal and Tomas Vokoun.
GAME 5: PITTSBURGH 6, OTTAWA 2 – PENGUINS WIN 4-1 Why Pittsburgh won: The fact of the matter is, the Penguins are a deeper and more talented team than the Senators in every position but goaltending – and in Game 5, Pittsburgh made that apparent in addition to getting solid netminding from Tomas Vokoun.
by The Hockey News - May 23, 2013 10:45 PM UTC
A little luck and a whole lot of The King keep the Rangers alive; The Red Wings continue to be, well, the Red Wings and take a shocking 3-1 lead on Chicago; and Jonathan Quick shuts out the Sharks as the Kings remain perfect at home.
GAME 4: RANGERS 4, BOSTON 3 – BRUINS LEAD 3-1 Why New York won: For two periods, the Rangers were not the better team in Game 4.
by Adam Proteau - May 22, 2013 10:55 PM UTC
The Penguins piled on in Game 4, scoring seven and taking a commanding 3-1 series lead.
GAME 4: PITTSBURGH 7, OTTAWA 3 – PENGUINS LEAD 3-1 Why Pittsburgh won: The Penguins stumbled out of the gate in Game 4, surrendering their second straight regulation-time shorthanded goal to Ottawa just two-and-a-half minutes into the first period and trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes.
by The Hockey News - May 21, 2013 10:50 PM UTC
New York continued to struggle on offense and has now dug itself a 3-0 series hole; San Jose got out front and held off a late Los Angeles push to pull even in their series.
GAME 3: BOSTON 2 at NY RANGERS 1 - BRUINS LEAD 3-0 Why Boston won: The Bruins fourth line of Dan Paille, Scott Thornton and Gregory Campbell outscored New York's top two offensive lines.
by The Hockey News - May 21, 2013 1:10 PM UTC
Discover teamed with Make-A-Wish and the NHL to grant the wish of 13-year-old Arvada, Colo., resident, Logan Piz, who wished for a chance to spend a day with the Stanley Cup and share it with friends and family. Logan was surprised with the Stanley Cup May 15 at The Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver where he is currently being treated for Ewing's sarcoma.
Discover teamed with Make-A-Wish and the NHL to grant the wish of 13-year-old Arvada, Colo., resident, Logan Piz, who wished for a chance to spend a day with the Stanley Cup and share it with friends and family.
by Ryan Kennedy - May 20, 2013 11:04 PM UTC
The Red Wings took a surprising 2-1 series lead over the Blackhawks by establishing a physical game and finishing with finesse.
GAME 3: DETROIT 3, CHICAGO 1 – RED WINGS LEAD 2-1 Why Detroit Won: The Red Wings pounded the Blackhawks early on in the hits department, throwing off a team that should know a thing or two about winning in the playoffs.
by The Hockey News - May 19, 2013 6:14 PM UTC
The Rangers power play let them down again as the Bruins cruised to a 5-2 win and a 2-0 series lead; and Ottawa barely got into overtime, but took Game 3 against Pittsburgh.
GAME 2: BOSTON 5, NY RANGERS 2 – BRUINS LEAD 2-0 Why Boston won: New York has had trouble generating offense in the playoffs – especially on the power play and Boston has the depth and talent to trump them in that category too.
by The Hockey News - May 19, 2013 12:30 AM UTC
The refreshed Red Wings evened their series against the Blackhawks while the Kings' Jonathan Quick could only keep the Sharks at bay for so long.
GAME 2: DETROIT 4, CHICAGO 1 – SERIES TIED 1-1 Why Detroit won: The Red Wings were opportunistic offensively, disciplined defensively and they got good goaltending.
by The Hockey News - May 18, 2013 11:15 AM UTC
Since retiring from professional hockey Daniel Tkaczuk has dedicated himself to helping young players develop the skills necessary to succeed on the ice. On this installment of Pro Tips, Tkaczuk demonstrates a drill that develops a player's ability to score on wraparounds.
If you are not automatically redirected, click here. .
by Adam Proteau - May 17, 2013 10:59 PM UTC
Led by Sidney Crosby's hat trick, the Pittsburgh Penguins took a 2-0 series lead and chased Craig Anderson from the net.
GAME 2: PITTSBURGH 4, OTTAWA 3 - PENGUINS LEAD 2-0 Why Pittsburgh won: Because when you have the best hockey player on earth on your team, and when that player erupts for a hat trick and imposes his will on a game, not even mediocre goaltending – like the goaltending supplied by Penguins netminder Tomas Vokoun in Game 2 – can stop you from winning.
by The Hockey News - May 17, 2013 12:15 PM UTC
THN and Yahoo! continue to roll out our joint awards by announcing Zdeno Chara, Jay McClement and Colton Orr as winners.
JOHN FERGUSON AWARD/TOUGHEST PLAYER: ZDENO CHARA By Greg Wyshynski The notion of being the "toughest" player in the NHL can swing to opposite sides of the spectrum.
by The Hockey News - May 17, 2013 10:40 AM UTC
London, Halifax and Portland descend on Saskatoon, where the Blades host this year's major junior championship tournament.
Click here if you're not automatically redirected. .


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Neosho brought home fourth place out of eight schools at the Birddog Invitational golf meet on Monday at Briarbrook Golf Course.
The tournament, which is hosted by both Webb City and Carl Junction, saw Joplin take first with a combined score of 340, followed with a tie between Carl Junction and Carthage for second with 356. Rounding out the final five squads were Neosho 370, Nixa 376, Nevada 379, Monett 384 and Webb City 417.
Individually, Joplin's Griffon Locke tied with Carthage's Austin Bunnell as the overall medalists with scores of 80.
Individual scores for the Wildcats were Ryan Kelly 99, Kyler Snow 89, Blake Augustine 82, Tyler Clemons 102 and Calin Adams 100.
The Wildcats are set to entertain Joplin at 4 p.m. today at Neosho Golf Course.
Location, ST | website.com


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Precise Logic® Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor
Precise Logic® Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor
SpecificationsExpand All
More Details
Color Confirmation SystemNo
- Measurement Range Pressure: 20-300 mmHg / Pulse: 30-160 beats/minute
- Measurement Accuracy Blood Pressure: +/- 3 mmHgPulse Rate: +/- 5%
- Measurement Tracking No
- Circumference Range Upper Arm: 7 7/8" to 15 3/4"
- Large LCD Display Yes
- Blood Pressure/Pulse Rate Display Yes
- Operating Environment 50°F to 104°F 30%-85% RH
- Power Source Four "AA" Batteries (included)
- Case No
- Dimensions (H x W x D) 23/32'' x 79/64'' x 23/64''
Owner's Manuals
FAQsFrequently asked questions about your product
What should I do if my product needs service?
NOTE: This does not apply to TVs, Microwaves, Vacuums, and Massage Chairs
For repairs and exchanges:
Ship your product to:
Panasonic Factory Service Center
4900 George McVay Drive
Suite B; Door-12
McAllen, TX 78503
Please include your name, address, telephone number, email address, copy of your purchase receipt (for warranty service), and a description of what is wrong with the unit. Freight collect shipments will not be accepted.
Panasonic is not responsible for damage that occurs in transit. All contents should be packaged for safe travel to the service center. Customer should use a reputable small package shipping company that is able to provide a package tracking number and insurance (if customer should so desire to insure their package).
Units that are abused, damaged, infested with insects, have corrosion, etc. will be placed out-of-warranty.
Once your unit arrives at the facility, you may contact us for status at:
Tel: 956-683-2930
Toll Free: 1-866-907-9111
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Please reference your Service Job number when contacting You will be contacted if there is any cost you are responsible for.


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STOCKTON - A Stagg High School student suffered a minor injury during a confrontation outside school after dismissal Thursday.
The 15-year-old girl had been among a group of onlookers watching a fight that broke out on a levee near campus about 2:30 p.m., according to Stockton Unified School District spokeswoman Dianne Barth. After the fight, somebody fired a gun from a departing vehicle.
The student went to a hospital that evening and was treated for a grazing injury on her foot and released, Barth said. Stockton Unified police found four shell casings at the site of the incident, but there had been no arrests as of Friday afternoon.
The after-school gunfire put the school on lockdown for the second time Thursday. That morning, police swept the campus because of a report that students had been seen with a gun off campus before school.
Location, ST | website.com


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Ladies split weekend
The girls turned in mixed results against Sparks and Silver Stage last weekend. On Friday, the Warriors struggled in the fourth quarter and Sparks took advantage for a 40-34 win at Whittell. On Saturday, the girls redeemed the weekend with a 28-18 win in Silver Stage.
It started at home against a powerhouse Sparks program. The Warriors were up 19-16 at halftime, and the girls seemed to have the game on lock. Their turnovers were down, to four to be exact, and they held a 26-23 edge going into the fourth.
The Warriors were cruising, but with four minutes to go they hit a bump in the road. Their point, Emily Harris, fouled out, and Sparks seized the opportunity to surge back.
"We had them beat the whole game, and the wheels kind of fell off in the fourth," coach Tom Esposito said. "After Emily fouled out with four minutes left we had seven turnovers, which probably cost us the game."
Sparks came from behind to outscore Whittell 17-8 in the last quarter.
Amanda Harris led the Warriors with 13, Emily Harris added seven and Tori Jimenez put up six.
The girls erased Friday's bittersweet fourth, with a 28-18 win against Silver Stage on Saturday.
Whittell jumped out to a 15-7 lead at halftime and maintained about a 10-point lead throughout the game.
Emily turned in 12 points, and Amanda had six.
"It wasn't a great shooting night, we only score 28, but we regrouped, eliminated some mistakes and were able to win that game," Esposito said.
The girls are 8-7 overall and 1-0 in league.
Boys make strides
On the surface it may seem like a bad weekend for the Warriors, but there is a silver lining to the boys' two losses.
All season Coach Phil Bryant has expressed quality of play over wins and losses, and last weekend quality ball is exactly what Whittell played. The boys lost at Truckee 50-44 Friday, and lost to Sparks 57-49 Saturday, but both games were closer. -
"The two losses may appear bad in the win-loss column, but what the average fan may not see is the fact that we are getting better," Bryant said. "Last year, we lost to those schools by huge margins. In fact, the halftime score with Sparks last year was 45-4."
This year, the boys were in both these games until the final moments.
The Warriors were dramatically undersized against the Truckee starting lineup, but still managed to jump out to a 23-18 lead at halftime.
They were able to slow the game down and keep a win within reach, but couldn't manage to hang on against Truckee's big inside game of David Burnham and Adam Morgan.
Austin Neil led the boys with 20 points, and was the only Warrior in double figures. -
"I have to compliment the Truckee coaches and players for their sportsmanship and hard play throughout the game," Bryant said. "I hope they walked away with the same kind of respect for us."
The Sparks game on Saturday can be summed up in one word - physical.
Spark was bigger and played an aggressive game.
"I thought we reacted to the physical play pretty well. It was evident that they could score inside almost whenever they wanted. Their leading scorer didn't score against us and that may have been what caused some frustration on his part," Bryant said.
Neil and Garrett Bronken combined for 27 points, but the Warriors had limited scoring from the rest of the team.
And at the end of the weekend, it was free throws, not physical play, that cost the Warriors both games. The Warriors were 7-for-12 against Truckee and missed the front end of three one and ones. Against Sparks they went 12-for-25.
"As I said earlier in the season, these two games were the yardstick for us to see how far we have come since day one," Bryant said. "We still have Incline and South Tahoe ahead of us and they are the strongest two teams in the league right now."
If last weekend was the yardstick, the Warriors have covered some good ground so far this season.
Freshman point guard Palmer Chaplin continues to get better, and Bronken has turned into a reliable and steady combo guard. Austin Neil has also stepped up and shown maturity on the court this season, and for Bryant, that's the best improvement one of his players can show.
The boys are 10-6 overall and 0-3 in league.


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Men's Nike LIVESTRONG Element Half-Zip
If you are a year round athlete who doesn't let the weather slow you down, the Nike LIVESTRONG Element Half-Zip Running Jacket is the all-utility tool that you need this season. This comfortable jacket is designed to set you up for success no matter what work out you throw at it.
The mock-neck and Dri-FIT fabric are designed to help keep you warm during cold weather training sessions. This moisture wicking design combined with the mesh underarm panels for ventilation is the perfect combination for temperature control.
Don't let the cold stop you from being successful this season. Instead, gear up without excess bulk in the Nike LIVESTRONG Element Half-Zip Running Jacket.


text: Gold necklaces can be adorned with a cross or crucifix, pendants, charms, lockets, & symbols with necklace varieties like chain, link, rope, & more. Find 14k gold & sterling silver in necklaces, bracelets, & earrings in hoops, dangle, & more styles. Enjoy our selection 10kt, 14kt & 24 karat gold jewelry at Boscov�s Department Store!


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I posted this previously but due to computer issues lost the thread. I am a senior this year and am hoping to play college softball. I have played third base for the previous three years on my Varsity team. I have also played shortstop, outfield and caught. Our team came in second in our division in states last year with me scoring the only run in the game. The year before we made semifinals in states. I usually am the lead-off batter and have a very successful bases-stolen record. While I am not sure at this time of my batting average it is well over .500. I have been recruited by a Division III school and invited to several tryouts including Division II. I want to take every opportunity to improve on all my skills and am looking for a team within a reasonable distance of Avon so I can better my chances of playing softball in college. I have my own car and am able to make practices. Thank you.
we are looking for solid players to complete our summer roster we are in the weastern ma area so if you are interested please contact me at email@example.com as i keep getting kicked off here
Blue Crush Softball based in chelmsford, is looking for ss. please call 978-808-7560 or email email@example.com Had ver successful season last year placing 3 times.
ss/3r/c/ of ulity player needed.
Dear AlexB,
My name is Scott Shader and I am the Head Coach of Smackdown Softball 18U. We currently have 11 players committed to our team and your skills at third, shortstop and outfield would be the exact match we are looking for. I have 4 seniors on the team, three of which plan to play softball in College, two of which already have commitments to play in College. The remainder of our team are juniors with one sophmore and 1 freshman. We are currently finishing up indoor play in Worcester MA.
Our plan for the summer is to play 8 weekends in a row starting June 15th and finish the summer 2012 season by the August 3, 2012 weekend. The purpose of that is for our seniors who are going to College to have time to spend with their families in August prior to leaving.
We plan to play in two State championship tournaments this summer, three College exposures and three other tournaments.
If you are interested in learning more about our team or want to come and play one of the next two Sunday's with us undoors for free as a tryout, please contact me at 508-713-7956 or by email at firstname.lastname@example.com
Scott Shader
Head Coach and Founder
Smackdown Softball
ACTIVE is the leader in online event registrations from 5k running races and marathons to softball leagues and local events. ACTIVE also makes it easy to learn and prepare for all the things you love to do with expert resources, training plans and fitness calculators.


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After reading a hundred or so threads and struggling with supressing muxed subs in mkv files I have a question about transcoding.
When PS3 Media Server is NOT transcoding what process is rendering the video stream?
My primary issue is that I cannot stop muxed subs (embedded srt files) from displaying unless I force transcoding and check the "Definitely disable subtitles" box.
I can re-mux my subs so that when the file is played on my computer (with Windows Media Player, Media Player Classic or VLC Media Player)subs are not shown by default but as soon as it is played over PS3 Media Server the subs are always shown.
Another very minor issue I'm curious about is muxed cover art. It appears that PS3 Media Server does not support muxed cover art in mkv files. Is that a correct conclusion?
Thanks for any help.


text:
Discover a selection of top forums sporeons races on the internet. Come to share your passion on forums sporeons races and meet other fans of sporeons races. Then, why don't you create your own forum of sporeons races ?
Early Bird Racing Sim Racing League was founded in November 2013, with a mission of providing a realistic racing environment, one with emphasis on clean racing and respect. EBR races and practices are scheduled to allow a summer and winter break from
iracing, early, bird, racing, league, arca, nascar, nationwide, game, (ebr), earlybirdracing, exfinity, daytona


text:
Robin Williams, Actor, Remembered By Friends and Fans
Robin Williams, an Oscar-winning actor and comedian was found dead at his home in California on Monday. As the news broke, friends and fans started sharing their memories of him on Twitter. He was known for movies "Dead Poets Society and" "Good Will Hunting," the television show "Mork & Mindy," as well as for his stand-up career.
Many in Washington, from President Obama to members of Congress, remembered him as someone who visited the troops overseas, or made them laugh and feel inspired.


text:
Here is my debug.log:
I am using a computer running lubuntu connected by ethernet.
I also connected my ps3 to my router by ethernet. And my router is connected by ethernet to the modem.
I did this because my modem only has 1 ethernet port.
I am running the latest official version of firmware on the PS3.
I did a download speed test on both my ps3 and the computer is about 10-15 Mbps at the lowest times.
I got the videos to start and play but there is a lagging issue.
It's weird though, my android nexus 7 is connected by wifi to the server and seems to stream more smoothly than the ps3.
There are so many suggestions/methods in the FAQ that I am a little confused.
I am wondering what method you think is best based on my information.
I tried playing with the duplex settings on the ps3 but it didn't help.
Is my network just too slow, are there ways to optimize PMS for lower settings?


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STOCKTON – Police officers investigating a burglary from a business in the shopping center at West Hammer Lane and Don Avenue Wednesday night were led to a suspect who resembled a recently terminated employee.
The officers made contact with the terminated employee a few blocks northwest of the business around 10:30 p.m., and he consented to a search of his room in the 8300 block of Edgefield Drive, police reported.
During the search, officers recovered a portion of the stolen money along with clothing matching what was worn during he burglary, according to a report.
John Logan, 25, of Stockton was then arrested on suspicion of burglary.
Location, ST | website.com