text:
Texas Specification No. 425-40-03E
Effective Date: June 22, 1990
Reformatted Date: June 28, 1996
1. SCOPE: This specification establishes the minimum requirements for vertical, rigid front, full suspension steel filing cabinets designed for general filing of material under condition of medium to heavy use.
2. APPLICABLE SPECIFICATIONS AND STANDARDS: Reference to specifications, standards, test methods, and other documents shall be to the issues in effect on the date of the Invitation for Bids. The following documents form a part of this specification to the extent specified herein:
2.1. AMERICAN NATIONAL STANDARDS INSTITUTE (ANSI), 1430 Broadway, New York, NY 10018:
2.1.1. ANSI/BIFMA X5.3-89 -- Office Furnishings, Vertical Files, Tests.
2.1.2. ANSI Z 34.2-87 -- Self Certification by Producer or Supplier.
2.2. AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS (ASTM), 1916 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103:
2.2.1. ASTM B-117 -- Method of Salt Spray (Fog) Testing.
2.2.2. ASTM D-522 -- Test Method for Elongation of Attached Organic Coatings With Conical Mandrel Apparatus.
2.2.3. ASTM D-523 -- Test Method for Specular Gloss.
2.2.4. ASTM D-2247 -- Practice for Testing Water Resistance of Coating in 100% Relative Humidity.
2.2.5. ASTM D-2794 -- Test Method for Resistance of Organic Coatings on the Effects of Rapid Deformation (Impact).
2.2.6. ASTM D-3359 -- Method for Measuring Adhesion by Tape Test.
2.2.7. ASTM D-3363 -- Test Method for Film Hardness by Pencil Test.
2.2.8. ASTM D-4060 -- Test Method for Abrasion Resistance of Organic Coatings by the Tabor Abrasive.
2.2.9. ASTM G-23 -- Practice for Operating Light-and-Water-Exposure Apparatus (Carbon-Arc Type).
2.3. IRON AND STEEL SOCIETY (ISS), 410 Commonwealth Drive, Warren Cole, PA 19103:
2.3.1. Sheet Steel Manual.
2.4. FEDERAL SPECIFICATIONS, Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402:
2.4.1. A-A-704D -- File Cabinets, Vertical, Steel.
2.4.2. TT-C-490C -- Cleaning Methods for Ferrous Surfaces and Pretreatment for Organic Coatings.
3. CLASSIFICATION: Vertical filing cabinets shall be classified by type and size as follows:
3.1. Types:
3.1.1. Two Drawer.
3.1.2. Three Drawer.
3.1.3. Four Drawer.
3.1.4. Five Drawer.
3.1.5. Eight Drawer. (Six inch (6") half height).
3.1.6. Ten Drawer. (Six inch (6") half height).
3.2. Sizes:
3.2.1. Letter (nominal fifteen inch (15") width and twenty-eight inch (28") depth).
4. DEFINITIONS: Terminology used in this specification is intended to be generic in nature and consistent with meanings that have been defined through general use, industry standards, and accepted trade practices. Where variant meanings may exist, the applicable interpretation shall be determined by the Texas Procurement and Support Services (TPASS).
4.1. Normal Use: Use which can be expected in a general office setting operating on a standard forty (40) hour work week.
5. REQUIREMENTS: Products furnished under this specification shall meet or exceed the following requirements:
5.1. General Requirements:
5.1.1. Cabinets furnished under this specification shall meet or exceed the requirements of Federal Specifications A-A-704 and TT-C-490, and ANSI/BIFMA X5.3.
5.1.2. Cabinets shall be new, unused, currently standard products of an established manufacturer except for such deviations as may be required by this specification.
5.1.3. Cabinets shall be free of all imperfections, defects, and hazards which might affect appearance, normal life, serviceability, or user safety.
5.1.4. Details not specifically defined herein shall be in accordance with the best commercial practice for products of this type.
5.1.5. Cabinets shall be constructed to withstand the strains, vibrations and other conditions incidental to shipping, storage, and service.
5.1.6. There shall be no exposed raw metal edges.
5.1.7. All hardware shall be corrosion resistant.
5.1.8. All components not specifically mentioned, that are necessary for the units to be complete and ready for use shall be furnished.
5.2. Fabrication:
5.2.1. All welding, riveting, and bracing shall assure rigid joints in proper alignment, and adequate strength.
5.2.2. Welds shall be sound and without porosity. Exterior welds shall be smooth. Interior welds shall be finished to eliminate sharp edges or rough surfaces.
5.2.3. The back shall be securely welded to the sides to form a complete jacket.
5.2.4. The file cabinet shall not deviate from a true vertical state (titling).
5.3. Materials: The materials used in the construction of vertical filing cabinets shall conform to the requirements stated herein. When not specified, they shall be of the quality used in good commercial practice.
5.3.1. Steel: The steel sheet used in fabrication of cabinets, drawers, and shelves shall be "commercial quality", cold rolled steel. Steel sheet used for all exposed parts shall have a "stretcher leveled standard of flatness" as defined in the applicable section of the Steel Products Manual.
The thickness of steel to be used for individual parts shall be as specified herein and are the minimum thicknesses permitted subject to the tolerances given in the Steel Products Manual. The steel sheet used shall be smooth, free of rust, scale, pits, scratches, laps, crimps, and buckles.
5.3.2. Hardware: The material for cabinet, drawer, and shelf face hardware shall be Type 302 corrosion resistant steel, anodized aluminum, chromium plated aluminum, chromium plated die-cast zinc alloy, brass, or bronze.
Hardware, bolts, nuts, screws and accessories located elsewhere in the cabinet shall be corrosion resistant.
Face hardware shall be polished or satin finish, whichever is manufacturer's standard. It shall be free of sharp edges and burrs.
5.4. Finish: All metal surfaces to be painted shall be thoroughly cleaned and free from dirt, oil, grease, and moisture.
The cleaning and priming of the surfaces shall conform to one of the methods of Federal Specification TT-C-490, at the manufacturer's option.
5.4.1. Enamel: The finish coat shall be enamel, applied and baked in accordance with the enamel manufacturer's recommendations. the enamel shall be a true baking enamel. air drying enamels, whose drying time is shortened by the application of heat or infrared rays will not be acceptable. The finish shall produce a smooth, uniform exposed surface without runs, wrinkles, grits, areas of thin film or no film, and separation of color. (See Paragraph 9.1.).
5.4.2. Color: When so specified in the Invitation for Bids, the color of finish shall be one of the following:
|Color Name
|Color Code Number
|Texas Gray
|Texas Green
|Texas Tan
|Texas Sage
|Texas Putty
|Texas Bamboo
|Texas Charcoal
|Texas Blue
The above colors shall match those shown in the Texas Color Charts for Steel Furniture.
Note: When so specified in the Invitation for Bids, the manufacturer's full range or standard colors shall be acceptable. The bidders shall provide a cross reference chart identifying the color name and number with the Texas Color Chart. Colors equivalent to other major manufacturer's shall also be noted on a cross reference sheet.
5.4.3. Gloss: all finished colors for steel vertical filing cabinets shall have a minimum specular gloss rating of forty (40) at a sixty degree (60 �) angle when tested in accordance with ASTM D-523.
5.5. Cabinet: The cabinet case shall be manufactured of not less than twenty-two (22) gauge steel, be rigidly formed, braced, reinforced and welded to withstand heavy use without warping, twisting or distortion which impairs operation.
5.5.1. Top cap shall fit flush with sides of cabinet. Side panels shall be flush at top and bottom.
5.5.2. The top shall extend no more than one-fourth inch (1/4") beyond the front at the case.
5.5.3. The bottom and interior of the cabinet shall be adequately protected against rust.
5.6. Drawers: Each drawer shall contact rubber or polyplastic bumpers or a neoprene claw when fully closed, and shall be equipped with a durable, easy operating follower block (compressor), heavy duty holders, and band holes in the back. All drawers shall accept hanging folder frames (except six inch (6") drawers).
5.6.1. Drawer Suspensions: Drawer shall be of the heavy duty progressive sidearm type, or progressive cradle type, and be fully extendible. Free rollers, solid rolling rollers, balls or fixed journal rollers of the ball bering or floating type shall be used to support the suspensions and the drawers. All moving parts shall be permanently lubricated.
5.6.2. Lock: When so specified in the Invitation for Bids, each filing cabinet shall be furnished with a built-in lock. The locks shall be the paracentric key type or equivalent. Two (2) keys shall be furnished.
5.6.3. Pulls: The drawer pulls shall be securely affixed and shall be the replaceable type.
5.6.4. Card Tray: When so specified in the Invitation for Bids, two (2) compartment card drawers may be substituted for one letter drawer. The agency shall specify the tray size:
184.108.40.206. Five inches by three inches (5" x 3");
220.127.116.11. Six inches by four inches (6" x 4");
184.108.40.206. Eight inches by five inches (8" x 5"); or
22.214.171.124. Special Size.
5.7. Dimensions: all file cabinets shall be a nominal twenty-eight inches (28") deep with the height and width being the manufacturer's standard for the type and size ordered.
5.8. Options: Options shall be as specified in Paragraphs 5.4.2., 5.6.2. and 5.6.4. (color, locks, and card drawers).
5.9. Vendor Requirements: Bidder shall be responsible for completion of bid response (See Paragraph 14.1.), test certification (See Paragraphs 6 and 14.2.) and color reference sheets, if applicable (See Paragraph 5.4.2.).
6. TESTING: Testing shall be done by, or at the direction of, the Texas Procurement and Support Services and/or the receiving State agency. Tests shall be performed on products from shipments to ordering agencies. In the event products tested fail to meet or exceed all conditions and requirements of this specification, the cost of the samples used and the cost of the testing shall be borne by the supplier.
6.1. Tests: The products furnished under this specification shall be tested by the following methods or approved equally applicable procedures: (Certification is required.)
6.1.2. Table One (1).
6.2. Certification: The vendor shall submit certified laboratory test results to the Commission with the bid. (See Attachment No. One.)
|Test Method
|Specular Gloss
|ASTM D-523, glossmeter geometry of 60 �
|40-60 (high gloss)
|Colorfastness to Light
|ASTM G-23, Method 3, carbon-arc lamp 120 hours exposure
|Maximum 20 AATCC units fading. No chalking, significant yellowing, etc.
|ASTM D-3363, Use Eagle Turquoise T2375 or Eberherd Faber Microtomic pencil leads.
|"H" hardness, minimum.
|ASTM D-3359, Method B.
|4B: 5% maximum adhesion loss.
|ASTM D-4060, Taber Abraser CS-10, 1000 gram load.
|Maximum 40 mg/50 cycles weight loss.
|ASTM D-2794, Indirect
|30 in-lbs., minimum at impact failure end point.
|Elongation of Coatings
|ASTM D-522, conical Mandrel Test.
|No severe cracking.
|Water Resistance
|ASTM D-2247, 100% relative humidity.
|200 hours exposure with no evidence of water related failure of the coating.
|ASTM B-117, salt spray.
|72 hours exposure. No corrosion.
7. SAMPLES: Unless otherwise specified in the Invitation for Bids, no prepurchase samples will be required. Testing shall be performed on samples taken from regular orders (See Paragraph 14.3.).
8. INSPECTION: Products furnished under this specification shall be inspected by, or at the discretion of the Texas Procurement and Support Services and/or the ordering State agency either at destination or place of manufacture.
9. WARRANTY: All cabinets shall carry the manufacturer's standard warranty and shall be guaranteed against defects in materials, workmanship, and performance for a minimum of one (1) year. The warranty shall begin on the date of acceptance of the unit by the ordering agency. During this warranty period, the vendor shall repair or replace defective components and/or units at no cost to the State of Texas.
9.1. Finish: For cabinets having any areas of thinness and/or separation of color (allowable only on inside of drawer heads and cabinet bottoms), the manufacturer must provide a minimum five (5) year warranty.
10.1. Service: When so specified in the Invitation for Bids, the bidder shall submit a list of companies or individuals, and their addresses, who stock repair parts and who can perform service on the equipment furnished.
10.2. Parts: A adequate supply of repair parts shall be readily available for the expected life of all products furnished under this specification.
11. INSTRUCTION MANUAL: The vendor shall furnish the ordering agency with one (1) copy of operating and maintenance instructions for each product delivered. The materials furnished shall include instructions for cleaning and protecting the exterior finish.
12. PACKING AND/OR PACKAGING: Packing shall be in accordance with recognized industry practices in a manner readily acceptable by common carriers engaged in interstate commerce. Within the shipping carton, units shall be packed in a manner designed to minimize damages during shipment due to rough or improper handling.
12.1. Delivery: When so specified in the Invitation for Bids, delivery shall be by one of the following:
12.1.1. Agency receiving dock.
12.1.2. Inside delivery, non-installed.
12.1.3. Inside delivery, installed.
13.1. Marking: Each shipping container shall be clearly marked with:
13.1.1. Name of contents.
13.1.2. Order number or contract number.
13.1.3. Name and address of ordering agency.
13.1.4. Agency requisition number.
13.1.5. Name and address of the manufacturer.
13.1.6. Quantity contained.
13.2. Labeling: Each product shall bear a securely affixed and durable label showing the following:
13.2.1. Manufacturer's name.
13.2.2. Manufacturer's trademark.
13.3. Caution Labeling: Caution labels containing operation and safety instructions may be affixed directly to lateral files at the option of the manufacturer. The manufacturer shall provide safety instructions which include, but are not limited to:
13.3.1. Cabinet leveling procedures.
13.3.2. Loading techniques.
13.3.3. Recommendation for weight distribution.
13.3.4. General safety precautions.
14. BID LITERATURE: All bids shall be accompanied by a complete and illustrated description of the products being offered.
14.1. Bid Response: Bidders shall provide a line item by line item written answer to all technical specifications of Paragraph 4. Failure to submit a line answer at time of bid opening will result in disqualification of the bid.
14.2. Certification: Bidders shall provide testing lab certification that the files meet the requirements of Paragraph 6. and ANSI/BIRMA X5.3. Failure to submit certification at time of bid opening will result in disqualification of the bid.
14.3. Bid Samples: The manufacturer and/or vendor shall provide samples within ten (10) days of request. Failure to do so will result in disqualification of the bid.
15. COMPLIANCE: In order for consideration to be given to the bid on an item under this specification, the bidder must comply with the following:
15.1. Product Identification: The make, model number, name of the manufacturer, brand or trade name, etc., as applicable, of the item which the vendor proposes to furnish must be stated as part of the bid.
15.2. Exceptions: Notwithstanding the above, any exception taken by the bidder to the requirements and conditions of this specification must be stated and described in detail as a part of the bid. If no exceptions or deviations are identified in this manner, the items must be furnished exactly as described herein.
15.3. Proof: The bidder shall bear the burden of proof of compliance with this specification.
16. REFERENCED MANUFACTURERS: The following manufacturers are listed for reference purposes only. Such references are not meant to be restrictive. Listing dose not relieve the manufacturer and/or vendor from meeting each requirement of this specification.
16.1. Manufacturers: All Steel, Burroughs, GF, Invincible, Office Specialty, Shaw Walker, Steel Case, StorWal.
17. ORDERING DATA: When ordering products conforming to this specification the requisitioning agency shall specify the following:
17.1. The number of this specification (425-40-03E).
17.2. The type of file cabinet (See Paragraph 3.1.)
17.3. The size (letter).
17.4. The color (See Paragraph 5.4.2.).
17.5. Options (See Paragraph 5.8.).
17.6. Service (See Paragraph 10.1.).
17.7. Delivery (See Paragraph 12.1.).
17.8. Quantity required of each model.
18. AVAILABILITY OF SPECIFICATIONS: Copies of this specification may be obtained by calling or writing:
Bid Services
Texas Procurement and Support Services
P.O.Box 13186
Austin, TX 78711-3047
(512) 463-3416
To: Purchaser "N"
Texas Procurement and Support Services
P. O. Box 13186
Austin, TX 78711-3047
By my signature below, I hereby certify:
1. that I an officer of my company and am authorized to make this certification;
2. that the information contained herein is true and correct and is provided in accordance with ANSI standard Z 34.2: Self Certification by Producer or Supplier;
3. that records verifying the information contained herein will be made available, upon request, to the Texas Procurement and Support Services of the State of Texas in accordance with the provisions of ANSI Standard Z34.2;
4. that this certification is for the following product manufactured by my company:
Model No: _______________ Description: _______________
5. that the product identified above meets or exceeds all requirements of the following Texas Specification No. 425-40-03E, Filing Cabinets,Steel, Vertical.
6. that the product identified above meets or exceeds all applicable requirements of the following documents as determined by our own testing program or the test results of an independent testing laboratory.
|Most Recent Test Date
|Testing Organization
Signed: __________________________________________
Title: __________________________________________
Company: __________________________________________


text:
rogerfederer.com - Roger through to semis
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Roger through to semis
Roger once again displayed great tennis today, defeating Robin Söderling 7-6(5), 6-3 and is the first player to book his spot in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Söderling tried to dominate Roger with his serve today but the sheer class of our champ showed through. The first set was pretty close with Roger taking it 7-6(5) and it is at this point that he looked like he had put his foot down on the gas. The second set saw Roger get into his stride and play some of those lovely ground strokes that we love. He broke in the eighth game with a couple of classy points and completed his 15th victory in 16 encounters with Soderling in 88 minutes. Roger's variation of play and his serve were outstanding.
He will now play the player coming second in group A on Saturday.
My, you are stubborn and since you insist on keeping this argument going, here is a video replay of the incident:
In it you will clearly see Rafa raising his hand to challenge the ball and stop play. For that reason he loses the point. His reaction to the call is what I have a big problem with. End of argument.
Congratulations to victory of 88 minutes.
Let"s go roger♪♪
Good luck.
Hope you had a super time in London. I was there last year and saw Roger :)
I also commented on Nadal's behaviour and for me it could have been any other player including Roger behaving that way and it would still have been very poor all the more that he is world no 1. I never saw anyone threaten to stop playing! Nothing against Nadal just a comment about the way he overreacted and continued to justify himself even after the match.
that aside....
good luck roger xx
Thanks for that video of Roger in his dressing room. He was sooo cute and I'm sure Annabelle would have stayed there all night given half a chance. LOL.
Best of luck against Novak today.
Loads of Love
Christine xxxxxxxxxxx
I hope you'll make it!! YOU CAN BEAT your opponent today and continue defeating the next one tomorrow! It's better for all of us, dear fans and Roger's friends, not to waste time on the other players! Personally, I love Roger and only Roger, always support him! I'm not interested in the other players. They can play well, but Roger is the best!!! For me-always the best!
I wish you all the best and good luck dearest Roger
Go, Roger, gooooooooooo!
Love, Mimi

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Smartphones have unintelligent effects on classrooms
Positive use of cellphones appears to be limited to mundane tasks such as contacting friends to check homework.
Positive use of cellphones appears to be limited to mundane tasks such as contacting friends to check homework.
Women chiefs are playing an increasingly important role in the country's development, advocating for women's and children's rights.
Blitz's artistic language speaks to young immigrants who are bridging the gap between the world they live in and the world from which they hail.
Human Rights Watch has released a shocking report alleging that unlicensed mines in Ghana are profiting heavily from child labour.
The Accra floods and the Goil Fuel Station have resulted in the loss of lives and left many Ghanaian stranded.
But a fiscal consolidation plan should ease the pressure on the country's currency in the longer term.
Tournament favourite Algeria avoided an unpleasant surprise at the African Cup of Nations on Monday, while four-time champion Ghana did not.
The village of Busua in southwest Ghana is home to almost every one of the country's surfers. Will Coldwell takes to the water with the locals.
The luxury apartment of South Africa's former high commissioner to Ghana, leased and decorated with state funds, has come under official scrutiny.
Moses Mozart Dzawu, Ekow Dontoh
Ghana's central bank will meet two weeks earlier than planned, to decide how to respond to a weaker currency and inflationary pressures.
Stephen Gray remembers slain Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor.
Ghana's Supreme Court will issue a ruling on whether to overturn President John Dramani Mahama's election win in 2012 on fraud allegations.
Michael Essien and Kevin-Prince Boateng have returned from international breaks to be named in Ghana's squad for next month's World Cup qualifier.
Thousands of Chinese nationals have been deported from Ghana in a crackdown on the plunder of the country's gold by illegal miners.
Ghana's law enforcement officials have detained 124 Chinese workers suspected of illegally mining gold in the country.
Environmental destruction and social conflict are plaguing small-scale mining mining operations in Ghana, Afua Hirsch reports.
A gold mine has collapsed in central Ghana, killing 17 people who were working illegally and had been told to leave, say police and an official.
The continent is becoming hot stuff as traditional instruments take over dance floors across the world.
Peter Turkson has responded to speculation that he could be chosen to succeed Benedict XVI, saying he'll take on the role 'if it's the will of God'.


text:
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text:
Oklahoma won the 2012 Big 12 championship – or at least a piece of it – and finished 10-3, but got its doors ripped off by that Manziel guy in the 2013 Cotton Bowl, meaning the program had lost its mojo.
Oklahoma kept Oklahoma State from winning the 2013 Big 12 championship – or at least a piece of it – and finished 11-2 after ripping through Alabama like that Manziel guy did two years in a row, and all of a sudden the program is hot stuff.
It's amazing what one great bowl game and one fantastic late drive against an archrival can do.
Oklahoma is still Oklahoma – very talented, always in the Big 12 title chase, always good enough to be in line for the biggest of big bowl games – but funny things tend to happen to the sports media world when you beat Alabama like the Sooners did in the 2014 Sugar Bowl.
Remember, Oklahoma got beaten up and blown through last season by a totally mediocre Texas team and was obliterated by Baylor. If Blake Bell didn't step in and save the day against Oklahoma State, no matter what might have happened in the Cotton Bowl – or whatever bowl a 9-3 OU would've gone to – the narrative would've been far, far different going into this season.
But Trevor Knight turned into Joe Montana for a day in New Orleans, the defensive front became the '85 Bears, and all of a sudden we're supposed to believe that the magic is back? Bob Stoops is Big Game Bob again? The team isn't going to pull an Oklahoma at least once or twice a regular season and get crushed in stunning fashion – be it a blowout against 2012 Notre Dame, a 41-13 loss to Texas Tech in 2009 or a 41-38 loss to a bad Texas Tech team in 2011?
Really, we're now supposed to buy that a team with so many questions in the defensive backfield, running back, and yeah, quarterback is ready to rock through a not-that-bad Big 12 and roll through the College Football Playoff?
There's a theory when it comes to the NCAA basketball tournament that all you can reasonably do is put a good team on the floor year in and year out and then hope everything comes together once in a while during a few weeks in March – eventually, you'll catch the right breaks. That's been Oklahoma under Stoops, fielding great team after great team as the true star of the Big 12, and while there hasn't been a national title since 2000, it's not like there's been a major lull.
Sure, there have been some missteps here and there, and there have been times when the Sooners haven't quite played up to expectations, but Stoops is averaging ten wins a year in Norman and has proven to become a legend at a place that names things after football people. And yeah, while bowl games might be self-contained, one-off exhibitions, blasting away like OU did on Nick Saban's fun bunch really was important and really was impressive. It did matter, because it seemed to remind everyone that Oklahoma football has been and still is pretty good.
Is the 2014 version a complete team? Hardly, especially compared to what Florida State is about to crank out, but there are always good OU running backs waiting to put up huge numbers, there are always more receivers to fill in the gaps, the secondary always finds all-star talent, and the program always reloads like all elite ones do. But now it'll be important to take the attitude it showed in the Sugar Bowl – the yeah, SEC, we can play football, too, mentality – and bring it each and every week. There isn't a team on the schedule that should be favored over the Sooners, and with Tennessee, Kansas State, Baylor and Oklahoma State coming to Norman, there's absolutely no excuse to not get into the playoff.
The end of the 2013 season set the bar high again for many, even though it never dropped. This time around, though, 11-2 probably won't be good enough.
What to watch for on offense: It could be shaky for a little while, but that's relative. No one's ever going to cry for Oklahoma when it loses key players, but it might take a bit before all the skill guys get into a groove. It'll look fine for Louisiana Tech and Tulsa, but it needs to be humming for Tennessee and the start of the Big 12 season. There's no problem with the No. 1 target, Sterling Shepard, but who's No. 2? Three of the top four targets are gone, and including the running backs who got involved with the passing game, seven of the top nine pass catchers from last season have to be replaced. Top running back Brennan Clay is gone, and so are Damien Williams and Roy Finch meaning former star recruit Keith Ford has to be ready to rock. And if something happens to Trevor Knight, or if he's not fantastic, look out.
What to watch for on defense: Get your backup quarterback ready, because the Sooner front seven is going to hit the starter early and often. The defense that cranked up 33 sacks last year and spent the Sugar Bowl sitting on AJ McCarron's head comes back loaded, especially up front. If this isn't the best defensive line in the country, it's a close second with Charles Tapper and Geneo Grissom on the ends, and with the return of DT Jordan Phillips from a back problem to make things happen in the middle. Throw in pass rushing terror Eric Striker from wherever he's going to play in the back seven, and a loaded linebacking corps, and it's not crazy to call this one of the best defensive fronts in the Stoops era.
The team will be far better if … the punt coverage team is stronger. The Sooners need to cut down on penalties, the passing game has to be more consistent, and the offense has to be better overall despite the loss of several key skill players, but the special teams have to do everything right, too. Punter Jed Barnett is fine, but the coverage team was a disaster at times. It was fantastic over the back half of the season, allowing just four returns for 27 yards, but Texas game was a disaster and Tulsa returned one punt for 77 yards. The difference between being very good and possibly winning a Big 12 title and going to the College Football Playoff could be a few big plays, and OU can't allow 15.6 yards per return again.
The schedule: It's an interesting non-conference slate if Louisiana Tech and Tulsa are better. If both are back to their 2012 form, they'll be more than just speed bumps before OU hosts a rejuvenated Tennessee in the first meeting since the 1968 Orange Bowl – a 26-24 Sooner win.
Facing the Vols is a tough enough test, and then OU is away from Gaylord Family for most of the next six weeks, starting the Big 12 slate at West Virginia, at TCU and against Texas in Dallas. The off-weeks are well-timed with an open date before going to TCU and before the final month. Going to Iowa State and Texas Tech isn't that bad and getting Baylor and Oklahoma State at home should help late in the year. Three of the last four games are at home, making up for the one home date between September 13th and early November 8th.
Best offensive player: Senior OT Daryl Williams. The hope is for Trevor Knight to be the star of the offense, and it's possible WR Sterling Shepard could turn into the most dynamic weapon, but the best player should be Williams, an NFL-caliber tackle with the size and toughness to start on Sundays. While he would've been a mid-round pick had he come out early, he can play his way into a top 50 selection with a big year. While he might get the Right Tackle Only tag at the next level, or be moved to guard, he'll be the anchor on this year's OU line.
Best defensive player: Junior DE Charles Tapper. There could be any one of a number of prospects for the honor of being the best defensive player. Eric Striker might be the most dynamic defender, and Jordan Phillips and Chuka Ndulue are going to be rocks on the inside, but Tapper should be the main man up front. It's a wee bit of a projection, assuming he's about to take his game to another level, but he's a great all-around player, and not just a pass rusher. He has the size, strength and quickness off the ball to do even more to get into the backfield. More than just a stat guy, he's always making defenses worry.
Key player to a successful season: Sophomore QB Trevor Knight. The coaching staff shocked everyone when Knight was named the starter at the beginning of last year, and stunned everyone again when Blake Bell was moved aside after saving the day against Oklahoma State for Knight in the Sugar Bowl. Now it's sink-or-swim side with transfers and position changes – Bell is at tight end now – making this Knight's season. The problem is that he wasn't consistent, but all anyone remembers is the brilliant Sugar Bowl performance. Can he come close to playing at that level game in and game out? He had better, and he has to stay healthy with nothing but inexperience waiting in the wings.
The season will be a success if … Oklahoma gets into the College Football Playoff. Winning the Big 12 is a nice goal, and it might be necessary to get into the final four, and going unbeaten would be great, but it's not necessary. If there aren't a slew of problems on offense with so much turnover, and if the secondary isn't an issue, there's no reason to not go 11-1 – at least – and be a part of the post-season fun.
Key game: Nov. 8 vs. Baylor. The Sooners have to be ready for a jacked up Texas, and the regular season finale against Oklahoma State will probably determine the Big 12 championship, but the most important battle might be against a team the Sooners owned for a long, long time. Baylor whacked OU 41-12 last season for the second win in three years, but with the Iowa State game before and with Texas Tech and Kansas after, November might not be all that bad if OU can get back the winning edge in the series.
2013 Fun Stats:
- Fourth Quarter Scoring: Oklahoma 126 – Opponents 61
- Time of Possession: Oklahoma 31:18 – Opponents 27:42
- Fourth Down Conversions: Oklahoma 11-of-16 (69%) – Opponents 5-of-14 (36%)


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الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين
برنامج الصور القوي GIMP 2.6.12 Stable / GIMP 2.7.5 Dev لكل الأنظمة
GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages. GIMP has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc. GIMP is expandable and extensible. It is designed to be augmented with plug-ins and extensions to do just about anything. The advanced scripting interface allows everything from the simplest task to the most complex image manipulation procedures to be easily scripted. GIMP is written and developed under X11 on UNIX platforms. But basically the same code also runs on Windows and Mac OS X.
Features and Capabilities:
• Painting
o Full suite of painting tools including Brush, Pencil, Airbrush, Clone, etc.
o Sub-pixel sampling for all paint tools for high quality anti-aliasing
o Extremely powerful gradient editor and blend tool
o Supports custom brushes and patterns
• System
o Tile based memory management so image size is limited only by available disk space
o Virtually unlimited number of images open at one time
• Advanced Manipulation
o Full alpha channel support
o Layers and channels
o Multiple Undo/Redo (limited only by diskspace)
o Editable text layers
o Transformation tools including rotate, scale, shear and flip
o Selection tools including rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, free, fuzzy
o Foreground extraction tool
o Advanced path tool doing bezier and polygonal selections.
o Transformable paths, transformable selections.
o Quickmask to paint a selection.
• Extensible
o A Procedural Database for calling internal GIMP functions from external programs as in Script-fu
o Advanced scripting capabilities (Scheme, Python, Perl)
o Plug-ins which allow for the easy addition of new file formats and new effect filters
o Over 100 plug-ins already available
• Animation
o Load and save animations in a convenient frame-as-layer format
o MNG support
o Frame Navigator (in GAP, the GIMP Animation Package)
o Onion Skin (in GAP, the GIMP Animation Package)
o Bluebox (in GAP, the GIMP Animation Package)
• File Handling
o File formats supported include bmp, gif, jpeg, mng, pcx, pdf, png, ps, psd, svg, tiff, tga, xpm, and many others
o Load, display, convert, save to many file formats
o SVG path import/export
• Much, much more!
Release Notes
Homepage – http://gimp.org
Size: 45.1 MB
Download GIMP 2.7.5 Dev for Windows 32-bit
Download GIMP 2.7.5 Dev for Windows 64-bit
Download GIMP 2.7.5 Dev for Windows 32-bit Portable
Download GIMP 2.7.5 Dev for Windows 64-bit Portable
Download GIMP 2.7.5 Dev for Linux
Download GIMP 2.6.12 for Windows
Other Downloads
Download GIMP Portable
في أمان الله !


text:
modern vice shoes
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{ entityCount: 0 }


text:
About the Author
Kelly Chen
Kelly Chen is an associate at Munck Wilson Mandala, and is a member of the firm's litigation section where she concentrates her practice in the areas of commercial and intellectual property litigation. Prior to joining the firm, she focused her practice in the areas of import/export compliance, international trade compliance, cross-border transactions and franchise and distribution law.
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Building Code Board of Appeals
Hears and rules on appeals, requests for variances, and requests for extensions of time under the Uniform Construction Code, as adopted by Newtown Township. Members and alternate members are qualified, as determined by the Board of Supervisors, by training and experience to pass on matters pertaining to building construction. The Board meets on an as needed basis at the Township Building. Its members serve a three-year term.


text:
Share Photo
FILE - In this Oct. 18, 2011 file photo a poster showing Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin under a balcony on a building in northern, Serb-dominated part of Mitrovica, Kosovo. Putin's images is plastered over walls in Serb-run, northern Kosovo and Russian flags flutter in the wind. On Tuesday Dec. 13, 2011, some 25 trucks will bring humanitarian aid from Moscow to this divided town where tens of thousands of Serbs have applied _ in vain _ for Russian citizenship in recent weeks. In adverse times, many see Russia as a salvation _ but beyond handouts and diplomatic support against Kosovo statehood at the United Nations, its interest in the Serbs of Mitrovica is at best marginal. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, file)


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|Kaedrin Weblog
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Link Dump
It's been a while since I did one of these, so here's some links recently unearthed by my chain-smoking monkey research squad:
Posted by Mark on February 29, 2012 at 07:11 PM .: link :.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Oscar Liveblogging
It's always hip to claim that the Oscars are a big horrible affair, and to be sure, it is an overlong ceremony dripping with hoary jokes and self-congratulation. Here at Kaedrin, we don't mind all that though. I find that two things really help make the experience palatable: Beer and Mockery. In all seriousness, as much as people are sick of awards season, I like this late placement - it gives you time to catch up with some of the lesser-seen films and because of the dearth of good films released this time of year, theaters will often feature Oscar nominated films that you didn't get a chance to see before (I doubt I'd have seen The Artist if it didn't get nominated). Sure, the demographics of the Academy (basically old white dudes (the horror!)) seem to get things wrong often, but the Oscars are ultimately a celebration of movies, and I think that's a good thing, even if they almost never reflect my tastes.
If you're interested, here are previous installments: [2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004] Check back for frequent updates (starting around 8:30 pm EST), and feel free to hang around and leave comments to play along (I've re-instituted anonymous commenting for the event)...
I'm going to post my picks for the major awards now (around noonish), but again, check back later for frequent updates (usually posted every 2-5 minutes or so).
Update 7:40 pm: Ok, just settling in now, making final preparations etc... Alex from Batrock has posted his guided tour of the nominees and in previous years, he's also at least posted a recap, so check it out. "I'm calling for an immediate moratorium on Bullock and all Bullock related products." Yes.
Update 7:54 pm: Every year, I tune in a little early and then immediately tune out of the inane Red Carpet pre-ceremony. This stuff is just mind-numbing and I can't take it. This will either force me to start drinking early, or... Holy shit, what the hell is going on with Zach Galifianakis' facial hair? He looks a little like Stephen Root. Not that that is a bad thing, cause Stephen Root is awesome, but Galifianakis's quasi-beard is just bizarre. (Expect updates to start in full force at 8:30)
Update 8:04 pm: Uh oh, it looks like the porno stache is going to be a trend this year. Bradley Cooper is sporting one. Makes him look like a child molester.
Update 8:06 pm: I aspire to someday be one of the people who stand by the red carpet and just scream as loud as I can whilst in the general vicinity of C list celebrities. I'm nothing if not ambitious.
Update 8:09 pm: Stella Artois commercial basically confirms that they spend all their time making really fancy glassware and no time on the crappy beer.
Update 8:17 pm: I usually feature other blogs that are liveblogging, but no one does that anymore, so I'll just feature some tweets: "Shitty joke, smug smirk, everyone laughs = George Clooney's life."
Update 8:25 pm: In anticipation of some sort of musical number at the beginning of the ceremony, I've cracked open my first beer: Firestone Walker Walker's Reserve Porter. (Natalie Portman's answer to how she felt last year when she was nominated: "I was in a daze" in other words, she was totally baked)
Update 8:29 pm: This beer is really solid, though not really in my favorite style. Lots of roasted coffee flavors, but enough other notes to make up for it, and really easy to drink. Perfect. Ok, let's get this party started.
Update 8:37 pm: So this youtube video (cause seriously, that's what it's like) they did at the beginning of the ceremony was ok, but Billy Crystal as TinTin is the creepiest thing ever.
Update 8:40 pm: Oh God, a musical number. And it's horrible. Drink.
Update 8:41 pm: Jonah Hill fat joke. I want to say that I was surprised that Crystal took the risk... but it was a really lame, unfunny joke. If you're going to insult someone, go whole hog. Anyway, musical number is over, and now I remember why Billy Crystal doesn't have a career anymore.
Update 8:44 pm: Cinematography kicks things off and goes to Hugo, and I'm 0 for 1. Nice. Hahah, even the guy who won can't believe they put Cinematography first.
Update 8:46 pm: So Hugo wins another technical award and boy these two are weird and can't talk. Is this a harbinger of things to come, or a consolation prize for Hugo?
Update 8:48 pm: James Gunn: "Martin Scorsese deserves a best actor nod for laughing at Billy Crystal's song." ALso, apparently the guy who won for Cinematography was Quentin Tarantino's "coke wizard"
Update 8:52 pm: Montage! Over/under this year is 8. This is number 1. Place your bets!
Update 8:59 pm: Costume Design goes to The Artist and I'm 1 for 2. This guy spent all morning practicing this speech. Makeup goes to The Iron Lady? I guess they think that portraying someone on the opposite end of the political spectrum takes a shitload of makeup. Nice speeches. Ok, I'm 1 for 3. Meanwhile, on twitter, everyone is noting that the Montages are like YouTube supercuts. Heh.
Update 9:01 pm: Montage #2! Kinda? Its a montage of interviews, but I like it better than the supercuts.
Update 9:07 pm: Sandra Bullock, in German/Chinese: "Death to America!" Best Foreign Language film goes to A Separation, and I'm 2 for 4. I will see this movie someday. Maybe this guy will make a political statement. And yep, here we go. War bad!
Update 9:14 pm: Jessica Chastain was in every movie last year, right? Best supporting actress goes to Octavia Spencer for The Help. I'm 3 for 5, and yes, racism bad! Ohhh, she's gonna cry! Cry, crybaby, cry! Seriously, always nice to see genuine emotion in a speech, but she's gonna get ushered offstage soon, but she didn't and she's actually asking them to wrap up because she knows she's freaking out. Awesome.
Update 9:17pm: Hmm: "What does Spielberg, Voice of All Jews, think of this Iranian gentleman? #Oscars" and this: "A SEPARATION is the best film if the year, period. Well deserved win. I hope Iran doesn't kill the director." and finally: "Someone, I hope, transcribed that speech. I'm pretty sure he said 'stay away from our enriched uranium.'"
Update 9:24pm: Bob Balaban! Hey, at least it's not a montage. Unfortunately, we've seen this a hundred times before. Tina Fey and Bradley Cooper's Mustache present editing, which goes to: The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo? Ok, I guess. I'm 3 for 6 now. And they weren't expecting this either. Heh, some of the team didn't even bother showing up, and these guys are so flustered that they're just leaving.
Update 9:29pm: Hugo picks up another technical award. Hmm. Awesome "Hugo, no you go" pun. Also, I would love to be able to call him Marty. These guys are pretty good. Wait, sound mixing and sound editing are separate awards? I smell a way to make this ceremony shorter. And Hugo wins this other award too. Martin Scorsese is apparently dating a 9 year old girl.
Update 9:31 pm: Stay tuned for a memorable performance from Circ du Solei. Can it be a "memorable performance" before it actually happens? Is that how memory works now? Damn.
Update 9:37 pm: The Muppets! Well, at least they put some sort of live performance in front of this Montage. Does that count as a montage? I'll say yes, which brings us to...3? And this is actually pretty good, though not sure how relevant it is. Jesus, look at that guy. Is he human? Or is he just going to have really bad back problems for the rest of this life?
Update 9:45 pm: Man, these Crystal jokes are reallly hoary. This Robert Downey Jr and Paltrow bit is really stupid. He should have just walked out in the Iron Man costume. Best Documentary goes to Undefeated. Holy crap, I was right, bringing my total to 4 for 7. Nice speech for a bunch of thank yous. Ohhh, did he just curse? Sound cut out. And had to believe, but these are the first people to be played off... and damn, they cut off the microphone, hehe. Chris Rock is rockin a mini-afro, reminding me of that Good Hair documentary he did...
Update 9:50 pm: Chris Rock is pretty funny, best animated movie goes to Rango and I'm 5 for 8.
Update 9:57 pm: Emma Stone and Ben Stiller, weird pairing. And I never knew she was so tall. Holy shit, she's totally trashed. Or high. Probably both. Visual Effects goes to Hugo, and shit, I'm 4 for 8, and I'm still not sure what this means for Hugo. Will it be a big sweep, or all these technical awards a consolation prize. Guy just said that winning an Oscar is really "underrated". Hehe.
Update 10:03 pm: Wow, they didn't use the breakdown scene from Warrior, good on the Oscars. Best supporting actor goes to Christopher Plummer and I'm 5 for 9. Oldest actor ever to win an Oscar? Huh. Totally had his speech prepared, and now, heh, he admits to rehearsing his whole life for this, classy move acknowledging the other nominees, nice.
Update 10:05 pm: Heh: "Drop and give us ten pushups, Christopher!"
Update 10:10 pm: Actually laughed at a Billy Crystal joke here. Twice. Tyler Perry joke and Nick Nolte joke... and oh shit, the President of the Academy! Run! Go! Get to the Choppa! Save yourself!
Update 10:15 pm: Crystal's crack about the President of the Academy riling up the audience got a giggle from me. Best Original Score goes to the Artist, and I'm 6 for 10. Accents are funny. Anyone else bothered by the weird, tinny audio feedback thing that's going on with the sound? What the fuck is this guy going on about? He sounds French.
Update 10:19 pm: Will Ferrell is always a highlight, and Zach's weird facial hair is a fine addition. It's funny, this is the first time in years when I wouldn't mind seeing a live performance of the songs (especially since there's only two, and one of them is from the Muppets, which would be awesome). And yeah, best song goes to The Muppets, duh. I'm 7 for 11, and this dude was in Flight of the Concords? Heh. Nice speech.
Update 10:21 pm: Beer numero dos: homebrewed Simcoe IPA. Just bottled it last week, and it's still a little light on the carbonation, though there's enough here to make it drinkable. Another week or two and it will be perfect. Huge citrus hop character here, really nice, but will benefit from some additional time.
Update 10:24 pm: Heh: I'm behind on Oscars but I'd be remiss if I didn't express my happiness about hearing the Meet Joe Black theme in this first montage.
Update 10:28 pm: God, the sound at the Oscars is horrible. Also, I like how this is the one night out of the year that Hollywood pretends that writers are important. Best Adapted Screenplay goes to The Descendents, and I'm 8 for 12. Holy shit, is that Dean Pelton? Posing? Nice!
Update 10:31 pm: And best original screenplay goes to Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris... and he's not there? WTF? I'm 9 for 13. Nice interview montage. Again. Herzog, Overboard, well done. Oh great, the short film awards are next.
Update 10:42 pm: And so we enter the portion of the show that no one cares about: technical awards and short films. Brutal. But the Bridesmaids penis talk is livening things up a bit. And the Oscar goes to... a short film no one has heard of or cares about! Funny drinking on stage. Marty is as confused as I am. And the other Oscar goes to... another short film (documentary) no one has heard of or cares about!
Update 10:45 pm: Morgan Freeman isn't clapping. He hates Pakistanis. Or is drunk. And best animated short goes to... another short film no one has heard of or cares about! Yeah!
Update 10:47 pm: Who is this guy kidding with that hat? Let's get back to some real awards.
Update 10:54 pm: Ohh, best director award. But we haven't done the best actor/actress yet? Huh. I wonder how they really determine what order to do these awards in. Anyway, the oscar goes to haha, Michael Douglas can't pronounce his name either, for The Artist. He forgot his speech, and he's just thanking everyone he can think of. I'm 10 for 14. He just thanked the dog from the movie. Before the financer.
Update 10:59 pm: What the hell are the Governor's Awards? Are these like the Lifetime Achievement Awards? Honorary Oscars, apparently. Yeah, so as much as I like guys who do makeup and James Earl Jones and even Oprah, this is totally unnecessary.
Update 11:02 pm: Beer #3, my homebrewed stout. I wasn't really planning on drinking these tonight, but it seems all the beer in my fridge is high ABV and I'd like to, you know, work tomorrow.
Update 11:03 pm: Yay dead people!
Update 11:04 pm: I think that, instead of What a Wonderful World, the song for the dead people montage should be Queen's Who Wants to Live Forever. You know, like Highlander does it.
Update 11:07 pm: Oh, and that afro is amazingly awesome.
Update 11:10 pm: I should have counted these interview montages as actual montages, but whatever. In other news: "It would be cool in the In Memoriam segment if they could tell us which people were in Hell."
Update 11:20 pm: Natalie Portman arrives, and finally we get to some more big awards. It would seem so appropriate for Natalie Portman to present best actor to Gary Oldman, but it's probably not to be... Best Actor goes to Jean Dujardin. I'm 10 for 15. Jean speaks pretty good English, but he still has a funny accent. He seems very excited and good for him.
Update 11:32 pm: Mama mia! Colin Firth is pretty likeable, love his anecdote about Michele Williams... And Best Actress goes to Meryl Streep! I'm 10 for 16, and it's hard to argue with her win, but, you know, racism. Or not, whatever. And in fairness, it's been like 30 years. Nice speech though, acknowledging the "her, again?" side, then completely dismissing it, as she should.
Update 11:35 pm: Hahah: "And, of course, Rooney Mara. She showed bush." Also: Horse is shitting himself waiting for Best Horse.
Update 11:38 pm: And Best Picture goes to The Artist, and I'm 11 for 17. No surprise here, holy crap, look at all those people on stage. Who are all these people? What is this guy talking about? Who is he? Ah, he's the producer, and he, too, does not know how to pronounce Hazanavicius.
Update 11:42 pm: Well, 11 for 17 works out to 65% or so, which is actually pretty low for me. Yet the show was still not all that exciting. Whatevs. It's been real folks, I'm going to bed. Maybe one more update tomorrow when I realize that I counted wrong.
Posted by Mark on February 26, 2012 at 11:26 AM .: link :.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Adventures in Brewing - Beer #7: Bottling
After two weeks in the fermenter, I bottled the single-hopped Simcoe IPA this past weekend. Fermentation started quickly and lasted most of the first week, despite the small batch. About a week into the process, when fermentation had slowed considerably, I cracked the lid and dropped in another ounce of Simcoe hops. I've never done dry hopping before, but it's supposed to impart additional aromas to the beer...
And judging from the smell in my kitchen during bottling day, I'd say that extra step was worth the stretch! Amazing citrus aromas (grapefruit!), not quite as much in the way of pine, but still a great smell.
Final Gravity was 1.012, which is a little lower than expected, but it could also be that low because the Original Gravity wasn't as high as I estimated. That being said, I'd say I'm in for something around 7-7.3% ABV, right at the high end of a single IPA (or the low end of the Double IPA). I gave it a taste, and hoo boy, that citrus is huge. Very nice bitterness in the finish too, though I'm guessing that will mellow out as the beer conditions in the bottle. I'm so very looking forward to this beer! There's nothing quite like a super-fresh IPA, and this is probably as fresh as I'll ever get to taste...
Up next is what I'm calling an Earl Grey beer. The base beer will be a sessionable English Bitter (which is a style that has always confused me, since they're not actually that bitter), and I'll be adding some Bergamot oil towards the end of the boil (and maybe even some Earl Grey tea). Should be interesting! After that, I'm going to start working on my Belgian Dubbel for this summer...
(Cross Posted on Kaedrin Beer Blog)
Posted by Mark on February 22, 2012 at 08:31 PM .: link :.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Favorite Films of 2011
Once again, I find myself attempting to sum up a rather unusual year for movies. Here we have a year of movies that managed to transcend mediocrity, but none which achieved true greatness. There were a ton of good movies released this year, ranging from a good way to spend a few hours to... a very good way to spend a few hours? Again, nothing seemed to really hit on all cylinders this year.
The theme of 2010 was a questioning of reality. I don't see a theme in 2011, but I do see some patterns. The one that sticks out to me is that there seemed to be a preponderance of art house genre pictures. These movies tend to be low budget schlock-fests, even when they're good. But this year, several talented directors took on unusual genres, and instead of schlock, we got deliberate pacing punctuated by visually spectacular moments of beauty. From cosmic existentialism (The Tree of Life, Melancholia, Certified Copy) to straightforward action (Drive) to westerns (Meek's Cutoff), we got a ton of unusual takes on standard genres this year. There are even more examples that will be listed below. Does this really qualify as a Theme (capital T) for 2011? Probably not, but it's the pattern I'm most struck by... it seems that all the interesting movies this year were playing with form and genre...
As of this moment, I've seen 75 movies that would be considered 2011 releases. Add in the 19 movies I saw at Fantastic Fest, and that brings the grand total up to 94 movies. This is a record for me, though probably much less than a lot of critics would see in a year.
The standard disclaimer goes double for this year: creating a list like this is an inherently subjective process, and I seemed to have struggled with the list more than expected, to the point where I'm having trouble orienting films on a pure 1-10 scale. For the past several years, I've always had a pretty easy time with the top 5 movies of the year. I would have a little more trouble with the 6-8 picks, and the final two were always impossible to pick. This year? I feel like I've got 10 movies I want to cram in those 9 and 10 slots, with maybe a few in the 6-8 realm... As such, I'm breaking from tradition this year and listing out my top 10 in alphabetical order. A bit of a cop out, sure, but what are you going to do? Sue me?
I used to put this list together by trying to figure out the best films of the year, but in the past few years, I've been gravitating more towards my favorite films. There were films I really respected this year that never quite connected with me the way they did with critics, so I have a feeling my list will be more personal and unusual than most top 10s... Indeed, this is probably the least commercial list I've ever put together (there are normally at least a few big budget Hollywood type films on the list, but not so much this year...) My hope is that this will make for a more interesting list to read, but enough babbling, let's get this show started:
Top 10 Movies of 2011
* In alphabetical order
* Also in alphabetical order
But still worthwhile, in their own way. Presented without comment and in no particular order:
These are films that are almost universally recognized in critics' circles, but which didn't really connect with me. Again presented without comment and in no particular order:
Despite the record number of movies I saw this year, there were still a few that got away. This could be because of limited distribution, or because I just didn't find the movie that compelling until after it was out of theaters or something like that... Again presented without comment and in no particular order:
Anyways, stay tuned next week for the annual Kaedrin Oscars Liveblogging event! It should be a real corker.
Posted by Mark on February 19, 2012 at 07:17 PM .: link :.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Last week, I looked at commonplace books and various implementation solutions. Ideally, I wanted something open and flexible that would also provide some degree of analysis in addition to the simple data aggregation most tools provide. I wanted something that would take into account a wide variety of sources in addition to my own writing (on this blog, for instance). Most tools provide a search capability of some kind, but I was hoping for something more advanced. Something that would make connections between data, or find similarities with something I'm currently writing.
At a first glance, Zemanta seemed like a promising candidate. It's a "content suggestion engine" specifically built for blogging and it comes pre-installed on a lot of blogging software (including Movable Type). I just had to activate it, which was pretty simple. Theoretically, it continually scans a post in progress (like this one) and provides content recommendations, ranging from simple text links defining key concepts (i.e. links to Wikipedia, IMDB, Amazon, etc...), to imagery (much of which seems to be integrated with Flickr and Wikipedia), to recommended blog posts from other folks' blogs. One of the things I thought was really neat was that I could input my own blogs, which would then give me more personalized recommendations.
Unfortunately, results so far have been mixed. There are some things I really like about Zemanta, but it's pretty clearly not the solution I'm looking for. Some assorted thoughts:
I will probably continue to play with Zemanta, but I suspect it will be something that doesn't last much longer. It provides some value, but it's ultimately not as convenient as I'd like, and it's analysis and recommendation functions don't seem as useful as I'd like.
I've also been playing around with Evernote more and more, and I feel like that could be a useful tool, despite the fact that it doesn't really offer any sort of analysis (though it does have a simple search function). There's at least one third party, though, that seems to be positioning itself as an analysis tool that will integrate with Evernote. That tool is called Topicmarks. Unfortunately, I seem to be having some issues integrating my Evernote data with that service. At this rate, I don't know that I'll find a great tool for what I want, but it's an interesting subject, and I'm guessing it will be something that will become more and more important as time goes on. We're living in the Information Age, it seems only fair that our aggregation and analysis tools get more sophisticated.
Posted by Mark on February 15, 2012 at 06:08 PM .: link :.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Taxonomy Platforms
The human brain is basically a giant correlation machine. Well, ok, that's a drastic simplification, but I've often written about how correlation and induction play an important role in life. This is a large subject, but today I want to focus on one result of our predilection towards correlation: our tendency to develop complex taxonomies. For books and movies, we've got genres. For beer, we've got style. Retail stores have departments. You name it, chances are that there's a complex taxonomy describing variations (you'll notice that this post tends to consist of examples from my obsessions with movies, beer and technology, but this would all be relevant to a wide variety of subjects).
This tendency invariably leads to nerdy arguments about specific examples and where they fall within the taxonomy. Is Inglourious Basterds Science Fiction? Are comic book movies science fiction? Should we make a distinction between science fiction and science fantasy? What exactly constitutes a West Coast IPA? What do we call Black IPAs? What are the defining characteristics of a Weblog? What are some examples of the Hillbilly Horror genre? Take a trip down TV Tropes lane, and you're guaranteed to find a comprehensive list of genres, sub-genres, and myriad conventions or cliches.
Why go to all this trouble to categorize everything? What is it about the internet that seems to magnify these discussions?
Well, the most obvious reason for such excessive categorization is that it will communicate something about the particular instance being discussed. Categorizing movies into various genres helps us determine what we're in for when we sit down to watch a movie. Style guidelines communicate what kinds of characteristics to expect from a beer. Genres and styles provide a common ground for both creators and critics, and the reduce the pool of possibilities to a more manageable number.
Those are good things1, but they're really only scratching the surface of why we taxonomize. Most people get frustrated by taxonomies. It seems that every genre, every style, is inadequate, especially when their favorite instance is pigeonholed into a particular category. Hence, we get the aforementioned nerdy debates on the nature of science fiction or west coast IPAs. Genres and styles are blurry along the edges, and there's a great deal of overlap. Individual works often fit into many categories. If one were so inclined, they could make each category excessively inclusive or moderately narrow, but worrying about the blurry edges of taxonomy is kinda missing the point. In the parlance of hackers, the blurry edges of taxonomy are a feature, not a bug.
I've been reading Steven Johnson's book Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation, and he makes a fascinating observation that genres are the stacked platforms of the creative world:
For understandable reasons, we like to talk about artistic innovations in terms of the way that they break the rules, open up new doors in the adjacent possible that lesser minds never even see. But genius requires genres. Flaubert and Joyce needed the genre of the bildungsroman to contort and undermine in Sentimental Education and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Dylan needed the conventions of acoustic folk to electrify the world with Highway 61 Revisited. Genres supply a set of implicit rules that have enough coherence that traditionalists can safely play inside them, and more adventurous artists can confound our expectations by playing with them. Genres are the platforms and paradigms of the creative world. They are almost never willed into existence by a single pioneering work. Instead, they fade into view, through a complicated set of shared signals passed between artists, each contributing different elements to the mix.
I love the description of genres fading into view, perhaps because you could say that genres never really come into full clarity. That may frustrate some, but that inherent blurriness is where taxonomies derive power and it's what allows geniuses to create their most amazing works. And this does not just apply to art. In Brew Like a Monk, Stan Hieronymus relates an anecdote from Michael Jackson (the beer critic, not the pop star):
As Hieronymus later notes, if we didn't make "rules," we wouldn't know when to break them.
That is the power of taxonomy. It gives us a place to start. It gives us the basic rules and techniques. Defining such conventions may seem limiting, but it's actually freeing. You have to understand those conventions before you can break them or combine them properly, which can sometimes result in something inspirational and brilliant. Ironically, this seems to happen with such regularity that I'm sure many "innovations" we see today are repeats of previous revolutions. As Johnson notes, genres and style are part of a stacked platform. They're built on top of even more basic building blocks, notably technology. Technology often recontextualizes existing taxonomies, opening them up to subtly different interpretations. The same innovative idea can be magnified and mutated into something different by technology. It's very rare that something completely new emerges from history. It's more likely something that has existed for a long time, but slightly tweaked to match the times. Taxonomies are platforms. They are not limiting. You build things on top of platforms, and that's why we go to the trouble of categorizing everything we can.
1 - Nerdy fury on the internets is one thing, but for the most part this isn't really controversial stuff. However, once you start placing taxonomies on human beings, things get a little more complicated. If one were so inclined, an interesting discussion on the nature of prejudice as it relates to the human penchant for correlation could yield interesting insights. Unfortunately, this is not a post for that more weighty (and controversial) subject.
Posted by Mark on February 12, 2012 at 09:21 AM .: link :.
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
During the Enlightenment, most intellectuals kept what's called a Commonplace Book. Basically, folks like John Locke or Mark Twain would curate transcriptions of interesting quotes from their readings. It was a personalized record of interesting ideas that the author encountered. When I first heard about the concept, I immediately started thinking of how I could implement one... which is when I realized that I've actually been keeping one, more or less, for the past decade or so on this blog. It's not very organized, though, and it's something that's been banging around in my head for the better part of the last year or so.
Locke was a big fan of Commonplace Books, and he spent years developing an intricate system for indexing his books' content. It was, of course, a ridiculous and painstaking process, but it worked. Fortunately for us, this is exactly the sort of thing that computer systems excel at, right? The reason I'm writing this post is a small confluence of events that has lead me to consider creating a more formal Commonplace Book. Despite my earlier musing on the subject, this blog doesn't really count. It's not really organized correctly, and I don't publish all the interesting quotes that I find. Even if I did, it's not really in a format that would do me much good. So I'd need to devise another plan.
Why do I need a plan at all? What's the benefit of a commonplace book? Well, I've been reading Steven Johnson's book Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation and he mentions how he uses a computerized version of the commonplace book:
For more than a decade now, I have been curating a private digital archive of quotes that I've found intriguing, my twenty-first century version of the commonplace book. ... I keep all these quotes in a database using a program called DEVONthink, where I also store my own writing: chapters, essays, blog posts, notes. By combining my own words with passages from other sources, the collection becomes something more than just a file storage system. It becomes a digital extension of my imperfect memory, an archive of all my old ideas, and the ideas that have influenced me.This DEVONthink software certainly sounds useful. It's apparently got this fancy AI that will generate semantic connections between quotes and what you're writing. It's advanced enough that many of those connections seem to be subtle and "lyrical", finding connections you didn't know you were looking for. It sounds perfect except for the fact that it only runs on Mac OSX. Drats. It's worth keeping in mind in case I ever do make the transition from PC to Mac, but it seems like lunacy to do so just to use this application (which, for all I know, will be useless to me).
As sheer happenstance, I've also been playing around with Pinterest lately, and it occurs to me that it's a sort of commonplace book, albeit one with more of a narrow focus on images and video (and recipes?) than quotes. There are actually quite a few sites like that. I've been curating a large selection of links on Delicious for years now (1600+ links on my account). Steven Johnson himself has recently contributed to a new web startup called Findings, which is primarily concerned with book quotes. All of this seems rather limiting, and quite frankly, I don't want to be using 7 completely different tools to do the same thing, but for different types of media.
I also took a look at Tumblr again, this time evaluating it from a commonplacing perspective. There are some really nice things about the interface and the ease with which you can curate your collection of media. The problem, though, is that their archiving system is even more useless than most blog software. It's not quite the hell that is Twitter archives, but that's a pretty low bar. Also, as near as I can tell, the data is locked up on their server, which means that even if I could find some sort of indexing and analysis tool to run through my data, I won't really be able to do so (Update: apparently Tumblr does have a backup tool, but only for use with OSX. Again!? What is it with you people? This is the internet, right? How hard is it to make this stuff open?)
Evernote shows a lot of promise and probably warrants further examination. It seems to be the go-to alternative for lots of researchers and writers. It's got a nice cloud implementation with a robust desktop client and the ability to export data as I see fit. I'm not sure if its search will be as sophisticated as what I ultimately want, but it could be an interesting tool.
Ultimately, I'm not sure the tool I'm looking for exists. DEVONthink sounds pretty close, but it's hard to tell how it will work without actually using the damn thing. The ideal would be a system where you can easily maintain a whole slew of data and metadata, to the point where I could be writing something (say a blog post or a requirements document for my job) and the tool would suggest relevant quotes/posts based on what I'm writing. This would probably be difficult to accmomplish in real-time, but a "Find related content" feature would still be pretty awesome. Anyone know of any alternatives?
Update: Zemanta! I completely forgot about this. It comes installed by default with my blogging software, but I had turned it off a while ago because it took forever to load and was never really that useful. It's basically a content recommendation engine, pulling content from lots of internet sources (notably Wikipedia, Amazon, Flickr and IMDB). It's also grown considerably in the time since I'd last used it, and it now features a truckload of customization options, including the ability to separate general content recommendations from your own, personally curated sources. So far, I've only connected my two blogs to the software, but it would be interesting if I could integrate Zemanta with Evernote, Delicious, etc... I have no idea how great the recommendations will be (or how far back it will look on my blogs), but this could be exactly what I was looking for. Even if integration with other services isn't working, I could probably create myself another blog just for quotes, and then use that blog with Zemanta. I'll have to play around with this some more, but I'm intrigued by the possibilities
Posted by Mark on February 08, 2012 at 05:31 PM .: link :.
Sunday, February 05, 2012
Adventures in Brewing - Beer #7: Simcoe Single-Hopped IPA
After some post-holiday procrastination, I finally settled down to make myself a small batch of a Simcoe single-hopped IPA. Hops are one of the 4 key ingredients in beer, and there exists an amazing variety of hops. Most of the bitterness in beer comes from hops, but they also provide flavor and aroma characteristics. Some hop varieties are good for bittering, but not for flavor or aroma. Some are great for flavor or aroma, but not really for bittering. And then there are the utility players - hops that do everything. Simcoe is one such hop. Simcoe is actually a relatively new variety of hop, often referred to as Cascade on steroids (Cascade hops were the most revolutionary of American hops - most notably featured in Sierra Nevada's classic Pale Ale). They're a high alpha acid hop (around 12-13%), which makes them great for bittering, but they also impart a huge, distinctive citrus and pine flavor/aroma.
I patterned my recipe on Weyerbacher's Double Simcoe IPA, though I have no idea how accurate the recipe I used matches that beer (I do know that my recipe wouldn't be as strong as 9% ABV though). The guy at the homebrew shop mentioned that my grains, at least, were similar to Bell's Two Hearted (which is another fantastic IPA), but that beer uses Centennial hops instead of Simcoe. Anywho, this is what I settled on (note: this is a small, 2.5 gallon batch, so there's much less malt than you might expect):
Beer #7: Simcoe Single-Hopped IPA
February 4, 2012
.25 lb. Crystal 20 (specialty grain)
.5 lb. CaraPils (specialty grain)
.5 lb. Vienna Malt (specialty grain)
3.3 lb. Briess Pilsen Light LME
1 lb. Golden DME
0.5 lb. Turbinado Sugar
1 oz. Simcoe (bittering @12.2 AA)
1 oz. Simcoe (flavor, 2 additions)
1 oz. Simcoe (aroma)
1 oz. Simcoe (dry hop)
1 tsp. Irish Moss
Wyeast 1056 - American Ale Yeast
Nothing too fancy here (although damn, Simcoe hops are expensive!) I suppose the Turbinado sugar isn't a typical ingredient, but simple sugars like that help dry out the beer (which would otherwise have been pretty heavy). Steeped the specialty grains in 2-2.5 gallons of 150° F - 160° F water for around 20 minutes, drained, sparged with another half gallon of water, threw in the can of Light LME, and put the lid on to bring the wort to a boil. During the wait, I scooped out a small sample of wort and made myself a Hot Scotchie. It's a strange beast, this hot scotchie. I've heard many homebrewers talk about it, but details on exactly how to make one are a bit scarce. Near as I can tell, you take a sample of unhopped wort before it reaches boiling, then add a shot of Scotch to it. Jeff Alworth has a decent description:
Brewers would draw off a small amount of the mash as it issued from the grain bed, fresh and warm. To this they added a dollop of Scotch. What happens is nothing short of mystical. Mash runnings are very sweet and flabby--there's no definition to the flavors. The addition of Scotch somehow reverses all this. Like an electric current, the Scotch animates the grains so that you can taste them in HD. The Scotch is likewise a very clear note, but not sharp or aggressive. It has all the flavor of a straight shot, but it's floating amid Mom's comforting malted. Insanely beguiling.So I took a sample of wort, and threw a shot of Ardmore (it's a cheap Scotch, but it's got a nice, distinctive peat smoke character to it that's not overpowering) in there.
Anywho, once the boil begins, I add in 1 ounce of Simcoe hops and start the timer. 30 minutes into the boil, I add the Golden DME and Turbinado sugar. When I do this, the temperature of the pot seems to drop (makes sense because I'm adding room temp ingredients), so I pot the lid back on the pot and bring it back to a boil (I'm not counting these 5 minutes time as part of the boil). Once it's back boiling, I add a half ounce of hops (the first flavor hop addition). 10 minutes after that, I add another half ounce of Simcoe (second flavor hop addition) and the teaspoon of irish moss. Finally, with 5 minutes left to go, I add the aroma hops (actually sprinkling some throughout the last 5 minutes).
Moved the pot to the ice bath to cool it off, brought it down to about 80° F, strained the wort (removing the hops) into the fermenter, and topped off with about 1/4 to 1/2 gallon of cold water, bringing the final temperature down below 70°.
Original Gravity: 1.068. Definitely lower than I was shooting for (my target was in the 1.070s), but assuming a 75% attenuation, this should work out to around 6.7% ABV, which will be a solid IPA. Add in that citrusy, piney goodness from the Simcoe, and I'll be a happy camper.
I did notice a lot of sediment in the wort, even after I strained it into the fermenter, which has me a bit worried, but what else can I do? I guess we'll find out in a few weeks.
I'm going to try something new with this batch - dry hopping! I talked to the guy at the homebrew shop and he said I could do it in primary, so I figure I'll wait a week or so (i.e. until fermentation ends), chuck in the last ounce of hops, give it another week, then rack to the bottling bucket and bottle the suckers. Exciting!
Not sure what my next batch will be. I've been toying with the idea of a Earl Grey beer - start with a british beer base (perhaps an ESB), then use some sort of bergamot oil for extra flavor. I have no idea if it will work, but I want to see how it turns out. It'll probably be another small batch, so even if it's bad, it won't be a big deal. After that, I've been thinking about a Belgian dubbel for a while now, and I think it'll be time...
Posted by Mark on February 05, 2012 at 12:14 PM .: link :.
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Link Dump
As I compile my top 10 list and design my next homebrew, my chain-smoking monkey research squad has found some things that might interest you:
Posted by Mark on February 01, 2012 at 07:50 PM .: link :.
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text:
Intertemporal Substitution and Equity Premium: A Perspective with Habit in Epstein-Zin Preferences
Wei Yang
Indiana University - Kelley School of Business - Department of Finance
June 29, 2009
This paper presents a consumption based model that reveals intertemporal substitution as a distinctive and important channel, separate from risk aversion, in generating equity premium, return volatility, and their cyclical variations. Two main ingredients, Epstein-Zin preferences and external habit, allow the model to distinguish the separate effects of intertemporal substitution and risk aversion. The results indicate an effective elasticity of intertemporal substitution that is much lower than the parameter value and varies procyclically. On the other hand, the effective risk aversion is counter-cyclical and much higher than the parameter value. To match the empirical statistics of the post-war U.S. stock market, the model critically requires a small elasticity parameter below 1. This points to an interesting contrast between the habit formation and the long-run consumption risk models.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 42
Keywords: Habit formation, Epstein-Zin utility, equity premuim puzzle
JEL Classification: G12
Date posted: March 21, 2008 ; Last revised: May 14, 2014
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Master all the features of Excel Pivot Tables, including little-known options and settings, layouts, calculated fields, multi-level subtotals, Pivot Charts, Timelines, and Slicers.
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If the accused is acquitted the property seized shall be returned. If the accused is convicted and pays the fine, costs and other penalties, the property shall be returned, but if the accused fails to pay the fine and costs, the property shall be sold at public auction in such manner as the director may prescribe. The proceeds of the sale shall be applied toward the payment of the fine and costs. The remainder, if any, shall be paid to the owner of the seized property.
Whenever a person is convicted of a violation of this chapter a second time, the property seized at the time of arrest shall in any case be declared forfeited to the state and shall be sold in the manner provided by this section.
Property seized, the use of which is forbidden by this chapter, or which is unfit or unsafe for further use, shall be declared forfeited to the state and shall be disposed of by the director.
Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2015 Regular Session
The WV Code Online is an unofficial copy of the annotated WV Code, provided as a convenience. It has NOT been edited for publication, and is not in any way official or authoritative.


text:
Cassi Van Den Dungen apologises to France
Van Den Dungen voiced her frustration over the issue on her Facebook page. She wrote: "I'm coming home tomorrow, all these people are f----- in the head, the agency is trying to run me, not the other way round."he added: "Ohhhh and the Frasians (French Asians) are idiots."
Also, her boyfriend Brad Saul added: "And they can't drive." However, she has now apologized for her mistake. "I was having a really bad day and I shouldn't have taken that out on Facebook, I regret that," the Herald Sun quoted her as saying.
She added: "Before I left I thanked IMG for everything they did and I really appreciated everything they did. I really shouldn't have said what I said."


text:
Bannockburn: The Scottish War and the British Isles, 1307-1323
Edinburgh University Press, 2008 - History - 206 pages
The battle of Bannockburn, fought on the fields south of Stirling at midsummer 1314, is the best known event in the history of Medieval Scotland. It was a unique event. The clash of two armies, each led by a king, followed a clear challenge to a battle to determine the status of Scotland and its survival as a separate realm. As a key point in the Anglo-Scottish wars of the fourteenth century, the battle has been extensively discussed, but Bannockburn was also a pivotal event in the history of the British Isles. This book analyses the road to Bannockburn, the campaign of 1314 and the aftermath of the fight. It demonstrates that in both its context and legacy the battle had a central significance in the shaping of nations and identities in the late Medieval British Isles.
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The Most Victorious Battle of Bannockburn
1 The Battle and its Story
2 The Bannockburn War 130713
A Kingdom Divided
4 The Scottish War and the Plantagenet Dominions 13071314
5 The Campaign October 1313Midsummer 1314
6 The Battle 234 June 1314
7 The Aftermath July 1314May 1323
8 The Legacy
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adherents Alexander Abernethy allegiance army Atholl attack Aymer Valence Balliol Bannockburn Barbour barons battle Battle of Bannockburn Berwick Buchan Burgh campaign capture cavalry Chron Chronicle Clare Clifford Comyn conflict David Brechin Declaration of Arbroath defeat defence Despenser different difficult Dublin Duncan earldom early Edinburgh Edward Bruce Edward II's effect efforts enemy England English king field fight fighting figure first Foedera force Galloway garrisons Gaveston Gilbert Hereford host influence Ireland Irish Isles James Douglas John John Comyn June King Edward King Robert king's kingship knights lands Lanercost late leaders leading lords lordship Lordship of Ireland Lothian Maddicott magnates March marcher McNamee Medieval Menteith military nobles northern numbers off offered officials Piers Gaveston Plantagenet political Prestwich probably realm recognised Robert Bruce royal Scalachronica Scotichronicon Scotland Scots Scottish Scottish wars siege significance Stirling Castle suffered Thomas of Lancaster Thomas Randolph truce Umfraville victory Vita Edwardi Secundi Wales warfare Welsh


text:
I have finally found some drivers for an Iqon laptop on the Mitec site but these are in asp format. What is it and how can I extract the drivers
.cca What programs use this extention
Can someone tell me what programs use the extention .cca I have a large number of this extention (50mb) i would like to get rid of but i can't until i know what they are. Any help is better than where i am now. Thank you in advance Kirby


text:
A Q&A with Rancho Bernardo golfer Alex Grieb
Alex Grieb
Age: 18
School: Rancho Bernardo High
Sport: Golf
Year: Senior
Favorite subject: Math
College: Pacific
Athletic accomplishments: First-team All-Palomar League as a freshman; second-team All-Palomar League, second-team All-North County and second-team All-CIF as a sophomore; first-team All-North County, first-team All-CIF and first-team All-Palomar League as a junior.
Favorite holiday: NFL draft day
Biggest influence in life: My dad
Favorite cartoon: "South Park"
Best vacation spot: Santorini, Greece
Favorite sports movie: "BASEketball"
Favorite non-sports movie: "There's Something about Mary"
Best golf course you've ever played: The Crosby in Rancho Santa Fe
One course you've never played, but have always wanted to: Pebble Beach
Favorite club in the bag? My lob wedge
Q: How important is it to play in the summer tournaments for junior golf players?
A: It is real important for underclassmen. It helps you get your name out there for all the college coaches to see you. I don't play in too many national ones, because it is kind of expensive, and I just try and stay local. Also, it is not as important for me since I already verbaled (verbally committed) to Pacific. I will play in a few more because it is also good experience before I get into college and it will help prepare me for that.
Q: Tournament golf is very individualistic, whereas high school golf is not. Which do you like better?
A: I like the team aspect a lot better, because you are playing with a partner and you can help each other out. Plus, you can joke around with each other. Playing in the tournaments, you could be paired with an individual and you may not know the other person, and that makes it a bit more uptight and serious. Golf is already hard enough; it gets worse when you are uptight and you hit a bad shot.
Q: What is the best shot you hit on the golf course?
A: It was this last summer at the Junior World Championships at Torrey Pines South on the 16th hole. I made a hole-in-one with my 4-iron in front of my future golf coach at Pacific. I had no idea where I was going to school before that.
Q: Do you think the hole-in-one helped you land your scholarship to Pacific?
A: It might have added a couple bucks to the scholarship. I don't know what he was thinking, but it was pretty cool to do in front of a couple of coaches.
Q: What match do you remember the most from your high school career?
A: It was my freshman year, and we were playing in my first 18-hole match against La Costa Canyon. We shot a school-record 371 and I shot a 71 and medaled, and that was a big jump start for me.
Q: Is that when you realized this was what you wanted to do in college and possibly after?
A: It helped my decision. It got me more serious, I guess you can say that. In middle school, I knew I wanted to do it. Then I got to high school and saw how serious high school golf was, and I was kind of disinterested. And then I played a couple of matches and got more involved, and then that match came and it kind of jump-started it.
Q: Would you say you are a sports nut?
A: Yeah. That is what people know me as. That is my downfall. I watch too much "SportsCenter." I'll watch football, baseball, golf or basketball. My dad is the same way, and he got me involved since he is a big Denver Broncos fan.
Q: What is the best part of your game?
A: Well, I am kind of struggling right now, but I would have to say it is usually my short game.
Q: Worst part of your game?
A: Probably my long irons. Even though I got a hole-in-one with one of them, I am usually not that good with them.
Q: Including yourself, what is your dream foursome?
A: John Elway, because he is a big golfer and I'd like to see what it would be like. Phil Mickelson would be pretty cool, and Mike Shanahan, too.
Q: You committed early to Pacific. Why?
A: I think it was in respect to the coaches, because they have so many players to go after and if they know who they got early, they can get that out of the way.
Q: Can you relax out on the course now that you already know where you are going next year?
A: I still have to prepare and get ready for college, and it seems like I am working harder than before, because college is so much more on a bigger level than high school.
Q: In the last four years, how has high school golf changed in San Diego?
A: I can see it has got a lot more popular. There is definitely a lot more competition, maybe because the conditions out here are nice and we can go out and practice whenever we want -- a lot of kids practicing year-round, and that helps them a lot and they are getting more serious about it.
Q: Your mom is from Athens, Greece, and you have visited there several times. What was that like?
A: For me, it is an opportunity to meet my extended family and see them every once in a while. Everything about it is pretty cool, but the flight sucks -- it is something like 14 hours. The islands are pretty awesome, though.