text:
Top Definition
Referering to a person whom is quite far from the definition of cool. Praising one's awesomeness in a mocking/sarcastic way. Refering to the jaguar (being the coolest of all cool cats)
Man, Ray is so jagadocious!!!
Beküldő: Gabriel R 2007. szeptember 17.
Trending Now
Can you define these popular missing words?


text:
Contents - Previous - Next
Subject departments: summary of a debate
Tibor Horvath
This article, penned at the end of the Seventies, was prompted by a debate among librarians. It is now published by the Editorial Board, seeing that the subject has caught the attention of a wider public. The author, while still holding the views expressed, asks the reader, however, not to look upon this paper as a treatise, but rather as a contribution to the on-going professional debate, made with a view to stimulating further discussion among his colleagues.
Problematic Aspects of Subject Departmentalisation
It is a natural concomitant of our libraries' development that every 15 to 20 years the principles governing future progress should need redefining. Society changes, people's expectations vary, institutions become modified, professional knowledge accumulates, and. our perceptions alter. So, once again, our large public libraries face a crucial juncture: we must elaborate the concept of the library of the future so that its basic principles might be incorporated. even in present-day library projects
In choosing a favoured direction for the future, many people have gone for "subject departmentalisation", or, to be exact, the subject departmentalisation of the larger public libraries. By that they do not mean the setting up of independent units of organisation within a library, say, to look after documents requiring special treatment, or to discharge duties beyond the librarian's normal call, but envisage the establishment in each library of four to six new organisational structures, each representing a wide sector of knowledge, and influencing the library's total development. We are, therefore, talking of an organisational concept determining the life of the library as a whole. Within the library, subject departments would. enjoy a fair measure of autonomy: they would coordinate their holdings, would., in the extreme view, adopt their own catalogues (although a "common" system of cataloguing would be permitted), they would be allowed - because of overlapping in their departmental subject matter - to hold. duplicates, and possess other characteristic features of their own. These envisaged subject departments would. be kept together by a rather ill-defined "general" department, in addition to their having a common directorate, administration, etc. m e advocates of the scheme cite examples from abroad where subject departments have been in existence now for several decades. Let one thing be clear however: subject departmentalisation is not synonymous with putting subject specialists in charge of collections, and generally, has very little to do with the, incidentally, crucial question of how the expertise required by the specialised collections is to be integrated in the library. Now, whereas this question of the integration of expertise is of fundamental import, that of the subject departments themselves remains an organisational matter, irrespective of whether such expertise is present or not.
According to Istvan Papp, subject departmentalisation might well provide the means for the establishment of the "omni-functional" library, first elaborated in the Sixties. The professional consensus is - and that is indisputable - that this would constitute a more advance version of the open-shelf library. Here the discussion can become both awkward and. heated because the advocates of subject departmentalisation argue from hard-won, politically and professionally unobjectionable premisses. Who wouldn't subscribe to the ideal of a more skilful and competent library, of an all-purpose public institution capable of satisfying even the most exacting demands of scholarship? The introduction and spread of the open-shelf system, though originally an innovation of the American public library system, marked the demise of our reactionary library traditions and the triumph of a democratic library policy. The real question, however, remains: does subject departmentalisation genuinely represent the embodiment of the above. jealously guarded principles of librarianship, or wouldn't a different concept do better ? What is more, the question even arises as to whether departmentalisation might not work in the opposite way, i.e. whether it might not actually curtail and impede the ability of libraries to respond to a variety of exacting demands ? The question might well be unanswerable; however, in trying to clarify the tasks, our discussion might just isolate the principles that will sharpen our perceptions of the problem.
None of the various pronouncements on the subject here at home has still made it any clearer why departmentalisation is really necessary. Is it that because of larger holdings our libraries have outgrown their physical limits ? Or is it because they wish to devote more attention to providing specialised scientific information ? Or both ? Are there perhaps other factors involved ? It is really hard. to accept a concept for which no case has been made out, at least not in a proper analytical manner, and which confines itself simply to prescribing a new organisational solution. Organisation should always be the hand-maiden of problems, tasks, and activities. To start out with an organisational framework and try and fill it with content inevitably conjures up the spectre of formalism. What needs to be considered first and foremost is the welter of tasks the public libraries of the future will confront. Only thereafter can organisational solutions be addressed.
The weakest point in subject departmentalisation is the premise that individual public libraries must carry out their information tasks all on their own. Autonomy - is that the idea? When subject departments first emerged abroad, that was indeed the prevailing practice. In consequence, and amid a quite different set of circumstances, subject departmentalisation represented a proper solution to a specific problem. By now the number of such autonomous libraries has shrunk and in future they will cease to exist altogether. Libraries feeling utterly abandoned to their own devices still exist over here, with genuine inter-library co-operation so far remaining a pipe-dream chiefly because of our technologically underdeveloped state. But the technological shortcomings of today must not be extrapolated into the future and tomorrow's relations between libraries must not be taken to be necessarily on the present level. The development of the autonomous library led to subject departmentalisation Even the work that goes into the question of subject departmentalisation in Hungary most thoroughly - Gábor Mándy's compilation Some Problems of Departmentalisation: Principles, Lessons, Alternatives - notwithstanding all its thoroughness, is flawed by the assumption that the features characterising present-day libraries - and not just those relating to information transmission, data processing and interlibrary relations - will all stay unchanged in the future, the sole exception being the subject departmental set-up. Inevitably, and without the author admitting it, there emerges a picture of the libraries as restricted entities devoid of outside contacts. By way of illustration, let us examine some specific issues:
As regards the actual data carriers, library holdings of the future will substantially differ from those of today. Special documentation, steadily gaining in importance already, will attain parity with periodicals and books. Microforms will become indispensable. Many publications have already become accessible only in this mode. Audio recordings will not stay confined to music. Film, video recording and other visual documentation will be commonplace. User equipment for these technologies will somehow have to be accommodated on library premises. How can microfilm and cassettes be filed on open shelves? If libraries want to keep in touch with scientific and cultural life, they, too, will have to follow the prevailing trends in information techniques. The contents of documents can equally be expected to undergo modification: the over-quoted interdisciplinary publications are just one instance. Human knowledge is being restructured. in the light of the new sciences that have sprung up in the last 20 to 30 years. m e attitude underlying the proposals for subject departmentalisation being essentially rooted in the crude notions of 19th century scientific methodology, is calculated to create an anachronism in the libraries. Is there not a likelihood of ever-growing tension developing between the complex demands of library users on the one hand., and. the philosophy at the bottom of the subject department idea and. thus the future of the library system, on the other ?
When it comes to information retrieval, one's misgivings multiply. One suspects that whenever the proposals talk about the subject departments' catalogues, they refer to catalogues in the accepted present-day sense. now, the current cataloguing systems - and with the matter having now been long and noisily debated, this has become a commonplace in the profession are just about capable of rendering a minimum service where information retrieval is concerned. Present cataloguing methods are simply miles removed from an optimised retrieval system, created by metriculous research and development. How can the various functions of the library be expected to be perfected unless we include more effective processing methods in our plans ? Isn't it there that, before our very eyes, the greatest changes are taking place ? Nowadays effective information retrieval is universally seen as being a matter of international co-operation via technologically advanced data transmission networks whose organisational framework already exists. Why should a large public library wish to exclude itself from the benefits and services - even to its own holding - of an efficient processing system, when it can easily obtain them, as it were, ready-made ? Effective processing methods will mean the retrieval of documentation deeply buried in individual sources of information. Why is it necessary to cast information back into the bowels of thematically divided. disciplines ? A library, linked to information networks by up-to-date visual display units and computer terminals, will have at its disposal bibliographic research facilities which the proposed departmental set-up would. only slow down to walking pace. Besides, it is problematical whether retrieval equipment using modern procedures can be properly married to a subject department's open-shelf holding. Particularly when it comes to documentation of a non-traditional kind.. In this respect it would be no use adding and adding to the insertions in the reference catalogues if they cannot provide individual source data. Masses of cross-references cannot be a satisfactory solution. Moreover, it must be borne in mind that the more discerning the library user, the more unlikely will he be to resort for information to a catalogue. Much rather will he seek the wanted literature in bibliographies, indexes, periodicals, individual reference works, and official publications, thereafter looking for specific titles in his library, which will either have it in stock or will get it for him. Generally speaking, the problem boils down to this: what connection should there be between library research equipment and. the subject department's collection. In markedly polarised professional discussions, such a situation was dubbed as one where information has been torn from the documentary base. Even Gesner no longer treated of "a collection" but of "literature", from which he arrived at the concept of bibliography. Just as from a point of view of library policy one is bound to disapprove of some people's proposal, made on the strength of such arguments, to organise information without documentation, so one must equally deplore the opposite idea, i.e. of a set-up where the connection between library holdings and information equipment has been unduly loosened. through poor stock control and imprecise classification of documents. A good library will be capable of producing both information and source material, it being quite immaterial to the user whether it manages to do so purely from its own resources or by drawing on somebody else's.
The need to rehearse these arguments does not stem from the general tasks of the public libraries, but from the subject departments' hightened interest in specialised professional information. In essence, it was considerations like these that led M.V. Rovelstadt - author of one of the best studies on the subject - to consider this type of library procedure, though satisfactory for the general reader and undergraduate student, to be inadequate for a higher level of readership. Of course, the arguments advanced must be correctly interpreted.: they do not mean that subject departments as such are unnecessary, only that they do not help to meet professional and scholarly requirements, and are in some respects even a hindrance to them.
Similarly, it could be shown that the postulates of subject departments envisage the library services essentially to remain on a present level, i.e. confined. to lending and. local use. How narrow a vision! It needs no elaborate explanation to perceive that even this matter cannot be properly planned with today's means, partly because the use of special documentation requires different treatment - just remember our experiences with audio collections' - and partly because photo copying and facsimile transmission techniques are creating a new situation. This again is something to be considered not so much in the context of the public library's general tasks - lending and reading room will always be important functions - as in that of subject departmentalisation.
The provision of specialised professional information is not among the primary concerns of public libraries, this problem being tackled on another level. However, the network of institutions supplying users with such professional and specialist information also includes the public libraries, the large public libraries in fact representing important constituents thereof. This information system, planned with new technologies in mind, processing technical literature with novel techniques, also places interlibrary co-operation on a new footing, one that embraces modern information and data transmission equipment, facsimile facilities, etc. m e national network maintains many links with its opposite numbers abroad. In the national network every library takes on the character of a transmission agency. This is the proper context in which public libraries must be seen to operate, and which imposes the conditions whence the libraries' tasks and organisation derive. To advocate, in isolation from all this, a new, sterile organisation seems at this juncture to be mistaken, to say the least. The outlines of the emergent professional information systems are probably still too vague to permit the planning of the public libraries of the future. Yet completely to ignore them must cast grave doubts upon the seriousness of any proposals.
In the developed. countries, the large Public Libraries rank as equal partners in the community of libraries and. information agencies, maintaining close, multilateral contacts with each other - closer relations, in fact, than those envisaged over here between subject departments in one and the same library. These contacts are not just notions, but a physical reality made up of cable lines, computer terminals, visual display units, etc. If a public library must function within such a system, it will be a matter of relatively minor importance what its internal organisation is and whether or not it has any subject departments. However, this internal structure is bound. to be influenced by the library's membership of the larger unit. It is, therefore, not a matter of whether subject departments are really necessary, but one of which internal set-up is the most appropriate to a public library, given the circumstances described. Possibly, subject departmentalisation will indeed turn out to be the most suitable - though this seems unlikely - but this must first be properly justified by genuine function analysis. The whole point of a library system based on co-operation is that the individual libraries' autonomy becomes absorbed in the whole, that every library becomes equally engaged in the retrieval and transmission of information, and in directing and regulating its flow. Like the little demon in Maxwell's noted analogy in physics, regulating the flow of molecules between gas-filled flasks by opening and shutting tiny imaginary gates, so each library becomes a gatekeeper, controlling the stream of information.
It might seem that the discussion of the problematic aspects of subject departmentalisation is focusing far too much on the libraries' organisation technologies and. techniques of the distant future. True, but then the proposed wholesale introduction of subject departments is equally remote in time.
Finally, I wish to emphasise that airing the problems does not imply rejection of subject departmentalisation as such. It merely serves to clarify two schools of thought: The first cannot conceive of a library development proceeding simultaneously along two, independent and totally unconnected paths. It takes full account not only of developments in the library and information system, but also includes in its calculations the library scene as a whole, not forgetting progress in the level of services, technology, procedures, and relations between institutions. The second view represents a development of an internal, inward-looking library organisation which is characterised by departmentalisation a disregard of the other side, of its own environment and connections, and a refusal to accept modern practices.
It is imperative that subject departmentalisation should not turn into a kind of dogma, one deriving its principles from library set-ups the operating under the totally different social conditions of the last turn of the century, and liable - decades later and. in vastly different domestic circumstances to stifle development, seeing how easily what was once "progress" can become a hothouse of conservatism.
Maybe subject departmentalisation will become the chosen way forward. for our large public libraries. But if it does, it will be on the strength of an entirely different set of arguments.
Subject departments in public libraries: a proposal
[In the following issues of the journal there appeared several further articles about subject organization of libraries, and a vigorous debate took place on the advantages and disadvantages of this pattern. In this reader we do not have space to include all the material that was written on this subject, but we give below the summary of the opinions of one of the more prolific contributors to the debate, Gábor Mándy].
In the public library, for an organizational unit to be considered as a subject department, it must have the following characteristics:
Depending on how many of these features are present, we can label the subject department either "initial" or "advanced". Sometimes the staff may be full subject specialists, responsible for both the collections and the reference services, or they may be responsible only for organizing materials on the shelves, handling reservations, etc.
The elements cited above could also exist independently. So one could imagine a system of "departmental services", where a specialized subject department provided specialized information to people in all parts of the country. Such specialists could be contacted by telephone, and would perhaps have direct access to international bibliographic databases.
These specialists could also provide information about collection development to other librarians. They could compile lists of core material in the subject, lists of obsolete material to be withdrawn, lists of out-of-print material available on microfiche and so on.
The holdings in a particular subject field can be rationalized between large and medium-size public libraries (type "A" and type "B" in Hungarian terminology), and books, periodicals, and other media, both circulating and reference, can be brought together. As far as money allows, literature on the borders of two subjects, and handbooks covering several subjects should be purchased in duplicate. (Though at first, a policy of no duplication would still be acceptable, as it would not be any worse than the traditional arrangements).
Depending again on the amount of -money available, the library with subject specialists departments should seek to employ sufficient numbers of specialist staff, or failing that, of general librarians who are deeply interested in the given subject. In the large libraries specialist staff should certainly be employed: in the medium-sized libraries the staff would be in charge of the specialist collections but may not have expert knowledge.
A national and more or less uniform system should be developed for the main subject fields: social sciences, natural sciences and applications, literature and language, music and arts and local history. Each library would also have its "popular department", with a general reference service. A uniform system would make it easier to train the subject specialists, and professional direction and supervision would be simpler. Local interests could be met by the establishment of sub-departments in fields such as education, management, politics, agriculture, do-it-yourself activities, etc. Neither the main subject departments nor the sub-departments need to be of a uniform size; they would differ according to the needs of their users. They would be professionally supervised by their respective national specialist library. They would also establish links with special libraries in their field, with information agencies, with other agencies and even with private experts.
The full development of subject departmental services would take time. However the Hungarian National Council of Libraries could organize plans to put this system into effect. Such plans would influence the design of new, purpose-built library buildings, the adapting of old buildings, the rearrangement of the collections, the modernization of library routines, and the development of central services.
The training of subject specialists should be continuous. By the year 2000, from eight to twelve large public libraries could operate according to the subject-departmental structure described above, and an additional ten to fifteen would have some elements of the system. By that date almost half the library-using population could enjoy the benefits of subject departmental services, and almost all of them would feel the secondary effects: improved collections, subject experts available by "direct dialling" and so on. A key technical condition for developing subject-departmental services is an improvement in the communication facilities available to public libraries: telephones, telex, telefacsimile, computer terminals.
Gábor MÁNDY
Returning to Some Doubtful Propositions
In the wake of my article - and unintentionally on my part - subject departmentalisation became the centre of a major controversy. Before anything else, I must critically assess my own role in this matter. My language was indeed blunt, maybe fortunately so, because that might have caused my colleagues to be equally frank and outspoken in their rejoinders. In my own defence I can only plead that my original dispute was with but one specific paper, Gábor Mándy's. Subsequently, however, arguments emerged in the debate, and needed answering, which went beyond the confines of the original dialogue. My genuine misgivings were perhaps best expressed by Jenó Kiss, his level-headed study contributing most to clarifying my own ideas. In my present reply I do not intend to cross swords with every contributor to the debate lest I lose myself in detail. I shall rather concentrate on some general issues.
The discussion is complicated by what Miklós Takács called a terminological muddle. This variation in usage, changing from author to author, manifested itself also in the various contributions to the debate. I feel obliged to make it clears, therefore, that subject departmentalisation is not synonymous with'
Though some correspondents may have disputed it, a subject-departmentalised library represents an organisational model for a library as a whole. It arranges its stock thematically, some fervent advocates of the idea even saying not just its stock but also all the facilities for handling and processing it. In the extreme view it means the division into subject departments of all library activities ( such as stock it ion, introduction of information facilities, etc.), in other words, fundamentally the breaking-up of a large library into a number of smaller ones.
Fortunately, the latter view was no longer present in the debate. In this sense then, subject departmentalisation of A-type libraries emerged as a genuine matter of organisation And to me that no longer holds any attraction. Organisation should always follow function: the task comes first, the organisation flows from it. That, to my mind, is where the weakness of the argument lies: we sought a new organisation that would provide the solution, instead of focusing on the analysis of the changes in the tasks from which the solution would then be derived. (István Papp is perhaps least guilty of this charge.) If function analysts-' is excluded from the debate, subject departmentalisation cannot be pronounced to be either a good thing or a bad one - all you can say is that no discussion of it is possible.
Every contribution to the debate states - or implies - that the reason for introducing subject departments is the numerical increase in the stocks of the large public libraries. With these libraries bursting at their seams, it appears that new models for both their functional and organisational framework must be sought. Now, with subject departmentalisation however, the whole point is not the library's size, but the size of the document base upon which the individual subject department can be erected. The stock of a subject department must be representative; it is no use calling any given part of a collection a "subject department" if its stock (and reference resources) is inadequate in size - it simply isn't a subject department. Standard works, essential periodicals, certain facilities cannot be dispensed with. In this respect Ferenc Szita's precise data and the examples of Tatabánya and Miskolc are utterly unconvincing. It would seem that these establishments have not yet attained the dimensions required for a subject department. Of course, it is again a matter of definition - or at least partly one - as to what standards of quality we chose to attach to subject departments. In connection with this attribution of standards to subject departments, I have two points to make:
Since the document and reference base is often slender, many people hold that the subject departments' thematic boundaries ought to be more widely drawn. So it came about that we find among the examples given "sociology', " natural sciences", or even more comprehensive departments. But can there really be, from a library service point of view, a single "subject" such as " sociology" requiring a stock of tens of thousands of volumes? Such a stock would have to comprise masses of things, just as if it were not a "subject department" at all. In truth, Hindu folklore is as far removed. from constitutional law as it is from sulphuric acid production; optics are as remote from shipbuilding as they are from Finno-Ugrian phonetics. But looked at in the way suggested, Hindu folklore would be as much entitled to be included with sulphuric acid in a common "subject department" as would constitutional law, and optics could. lay a claim to be bracketed with phonetics with as much justification as it could do with shipbuilding. Which merely goes to show that in such cases there is no sense in just tying some label to a subject departments instead of "sociology" or "natural sciences", we might as well name it "Abracadabra Department"! There are exceptions, of course. The examples cited by Jenó Kiss could indeed. be tackled thematically. However, in my opinion, if this were to happen in A-type libraries, the subject departments would be characterised by row upon row of empty shelves for lack of suitable literature - a depressing sight.
The second quality condition might be summed up in the question - put by a number of people - as to what the level of the expected services would be. Who would be the users? The prevailing view seems to suggest that public libraries would forever have to satisfy professional and research demands in some makeshift manner. Behind. this question lie decades of controversy, due to the divergent interpretations of the role public libraries are meant to play. Our most distinguished. forbears always opposed make-do standards - in vain, it would. seem. To avoid tendentious misrepresentation, let me make it clears makeshift expedients have their proper place, nor should their value be underrated. The trouble only arises when such standards are taken as being the ultimate attainable and accepted as such for evermore. In essence this is not a professional issue but a political one. In a democratic society, e-quality of the citizens' rights also extends to an equal entitlement to library services, be the user an academician or a milkmaid, a bishop or woodworker, Cabinet minister or hallporter, town-dweller or countryman, old. person or young. That is how the "everyman's library" - the Public Libraries came into being, i.e. libraries safeguarding equality of treatment and giving access to knowledge and an opportunity for education to all, libraries that did not promote the education of ordinary men and women by offering inferior, depleted stocks, but by aiming for the highest standards of service and ensuring availability of any document and every source of information. In time they came to rival the largest collections, not only in size but also in the range and depth of their stocks and services.(Just think of the great public libraries of Liverpool, Glasgow or Manchester.) And anybody holding the view that ordinary men and women only merit collections that are limited to the "spread of information" is treating ordinary people as inferior citizens.
So much for the political aspect. Whether such an exacting level of services is attainable in actual practice is a professional problem. Fifty years ago the idea of a general-purpose library capable of providing a representative selection of all the major works in the arts and sciences might still have been feasible; today, because of the sheer size of stock involved, this would be a daydream. No such library is possible. How, then, can exacting demands still be met? The answer is' not by the individual library's shouldering the task on its own, but by the entire library system taking on the responsibility, with every member-library becoming an entry point and giving access to the system as a whole. Any public library's subject department would also represent such a point of entry. It is by thinking about these inter-connections and pursuing the idea to its logical conclusion that we shall arrive at the proper concept of an up-to-date public library system.
At present we are still some way off such an approach. This is partly the librarians' own fault, because, considering our circumstances, we could indeed be much farther ahead by now. It happens in many cases that we are unwilling to take certain steps and prefer sticking to the present state of affairs; we then blame "conservatism" (of our own creation) when, in reality, we simply do not want to know about progressive development.
In this case the situation - our own doing - is being made the basis of our excuse. Of course, evidence of some development or other has eventually got to be produced - that is something both paymasters and society expect so eager refuge is taken in some second-rate problems, thus enabling the required tick to be placed in the appropriate "development" column. In my estimation, subject departmentalisation has not yet become a topical issue in Hungarian libraries, though it might do at a later date; if and when it does, I believe it will form only a small portion of a far wider concept. Until that time, let us continue to base our ideas about the foremost institutions of public education on our traditions of progressive librarianship and our best present-day knowledge. It would be tragic if we had already forgotten what these ideas are.
Contents - Previous - Next

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Read all about our latest projects, find useful digital guides and the occasional rant about industry-related issues.
Monday, 13 April 2015
Your website is the gateway to your business, and in many instances is a customers first impression of your company. An old, out of date website can be detrimental to your business... See More
Wednesday, 01 April 2015
It's that time of year again. The one day of the year you have to take everything that is said to you with a pinch of salt, and you question the motives of anyone who is nice to yo... See More
Friday, 27 March 2015
Real time marketing is an integral part of every social media managers life, as companies scramble to react to breaking news with wit and charm. The question is however, does this ... See More
From Online Marketing
Monday, 16 March 2015
No matter where you look, everyone will tell you that content is the big thing for online marketing in 2015. We consume more information than ever before, and its doesn't look like... See More
Monday, 02 March 2015
There have already been several attempts on its life - but is it actually possible to #breaktheinternet? And why would we want to? The internet is our modern day lifeline.... See More
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
The challenge? Come up with 100 blog ideas in 30 minutes. So I'm holding my hands up straight away and admitting defeat - I only came up with 91, but still that isn't half bad. ... See More
Thursday, 05 February 2015
Wearable technology is all set to be the next big thing, with around 10% of adults currently using wearables, such as fitness trackers, on a daily basis. Despite Google's hiatus ... See More
Monday, 02 February 2015
Social Media is tricky business, but it can be extremely fruitful if you get it right. This is a quick checklist of Zeta's five top social media tips for business, to help keep you... See More
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
There are hundreds of articles and blog posts poised and ready to tell you why you should join different social media platforms, and how to decide which social media is right for y... See More
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Questions to ask yourself: 1) Do I need an app? What can the app achieve that a website doesn't? Don't be fooled into thinking that an app is the right tool for you just becaus... See More
Tuesday, 06 January 2015
Predicting the year ahead is always a tricky thing, but we can't resist the temptation! Here are our predicted content marketing trends 2015. Quality Over Quantity - With a mass ... See More
Tuesday, 16 December 2014
This year we seem to have been inundated with more Christmas adverts than ever! Everything from the heart-warming tearjerkers, to satirical shoppers, to the utterly strange. We h... See More


text:
The Color Purple: Hit Broadway Musical Comes to Boston
* Additional fees apply. No coupon or promo codes necessary to enjoy the displayed discount price.
The last date listed for The Color Purple was Saturday February 8, 2014 / 4:00pm.
Venue Details
Reviews & Ratings
Featured review from Goldstar memberRed Velvet
view more less of this review
Fantastic production!! A truly moving and beautiful evening in the theatre. This cast knocked it out of the park! Gorgeous singing, fabulous acting, awesome dancing...and above all an incredible story that will bring you to tears and at the end bring you to your feet because you will want to jump up and cheer!!
star this review starred report as inappropriate
I have seen this musical many times before. I went because I love the music. The reviews rave about this production but I feel the production fell short of the reviews big time. The women were good and much better singers than the men in the cast...continued
star this review starred report as inappropriate
It was a wonderful, spirited performance, nicely-staged. The singing was fabulous! The only problem we had sitting upstairs was being able to understand the words of the songs. Don't know if it was the distance, the orchestral volume, or what.
star this review starred report as inappropriate
Our Goldstar seats (5 of us) were in the last row of the mezzanine. It is a small theater so we could see fine but we could not hear very well. I don't know if it was the fault of the sound system or the actors but we missed out on a lot of the...continued
This show contains adult themes and brief nudity.


text:
This book, dealing with physical growth and psychological development, is written to help the physician caring for children during the first six years of life. The author has a wide fund of knowledge, and undoubtedly he uses it well in his own professional activities. He attempts to present theoretical material and his clinical experience in a simple and concise form.
The table of contents indicates the encyclopedic intent, listing various topics under the major subheadings : The Child, His Growth and Development ; Parents and Their Development ; Basic Methods and Techniques of Child Care ; Feeding, Nutrition and Growth ; Elimination ; Sleep Behavior; Social and Emotional Adjustment; Developmental Problems.
Unfortunately, there is in many sections inadequate development of the subject matter. Many readers will find the discussion superficial and will need to turn to the references for further elaboration.
To discuss in a book of less than 300
Thank you for submitting a comment on this article. It will be reviewed by JAMA Pediatrics editors. You will be notified when your comment has been published. Comments should not exceed 500 words of text and 10 references.
Do not submit personal medical questions or information that could identify a specific patient, questions about a particular case, or general inquiries to an author. Only content that has not been published, posted, or submitted elsewhere should be submitted. By submitting this Comment, you and any coauthors transfer copyright to the journal if your Comment is posted.
* = Required Field
Disclosure of Any Conflicts of Interest*
Indicate all relevant conflicts of interest of each author below, including all relevant financial interests, activities, and relationships within the past 3 years including, but not limited to, employment, affiliation, grants or funding, consultancies, honoraria or payment, speakers' bureaus, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, royalties, donation of medical equipment, or patents planned, pending, or issued. If all authors have none, check "No potential conflicts or relevant financial interests" in the box below. Please also indicate any funding received in support of this work. The information will be posted with your response.
Some tools below are only available to our subscribers or users with an online account.
Download citation file:
Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.
More Listings atJAMACareerCenter.com >
Enter your username and email address. We'll send you a link to reset your password.
Enter your username and email address. We'll send instructions on how to reset your password to the email address we have on record.
Need assistance?
Athens and Shibboleth are access management services that provide single sign-on to protected resources. They replace the multiple user names and passwords necessary to access subscription-based content with a single user name and password that can be entered once per session. It operates independently of a user's location or IP address. If your institution uses Athens or Shibboleth authentication, please contact your site administrator to receive your user name and password.


text:
Staff reporter
Expressing dissatisfaction over the delaying process, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industries Min-istry asked the Hazaribagh tannery owners on Wednesday to relocate their tanneries to Savar by March, 2015.
The committee expressed dissatisfaction saying that the tanneries could not yet be relocated though all sorts of facilities, including a 205-acre leather estate at Savar, has been allocated for tanneries.
The parliamentary watchdog came up with the suggestion at its 2nd meeting held at the Parliament Secretariat with its chairman Omar Faruk Chowhdury in the chair.
Amid the growing environmental concern, the government took up the Tannery Estate project in 2003 for im-plementing it by 2005, but the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) under the Indus-tries Ministry could not yet fully implement it though over a decade has passed by.
The Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) and Dumping Yard at the Tannery Estate are now under construction, while the construction of CETP is scheduled to be completed by March 2015.
A total of 205 industrial plots were allocated to 155 tanneries to be relocated from Dhaka's Hazaribagh to the Tannery Estate at Savar.
At the meeting, the activities of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) and recent media report on alleged corruption in the corporation came up for discussion, said a source at the committee.
The parliamentary body suggested the BCIC authorities to take necessary steps to curb irregularities by CBA leaders.
Committee members Dr Abdur Razzak, Habibur Rahman Mollah, MA Maleque, Rahim Ullah and Fatema Tuz-zahura attended the meeting.
The Industries Secretary, the BCIC Chairman and other high officials from the ministry and the Parliament Secretariat were present at the meeting.
JS body for relocating tanneries to Savar by Mar
Staff reporter


text:
Otters Weekly: Excitement about trade building for Genovese
The latest news and notes from the Erie Otters and around the OHL:
The shock of last week's trade has worn off for new Erie Otters defenseman Cory Genovese. Now he looks forward to what lies ahead.
"It's tough when your life turns 180 (degrees) in a day," said Genovese, who was acquired in a deal that sent veterans Connor Crisp and Jimmy McDowell to Sudbury. "But once I talked to the coaches, I was excited to come to Erie. It wasn't something I expected, but I'm happy to be here now."
Genovese needed a day to process the deal in his mind and prepare for the move to Erie after changing OHL teams for the second time in less than a year.
So he spent the day after the trade at home with his family in Hespeler, Ontario.
"There's a lot of things you have to go over when you're moving from Canada to the United States," he said. "My parents were worried about that stuff. I had to go home and get some stuff sorted out. It was nice to be able to do that."
- Working mind and body: Veteran winger Nick Betz enjoyed assistant coach Vince Laise's workout Tuesday at Best Fitness enough to tweet about it.
He wrote, "Unreal workout this morning with @VinceLaise. The boys were going #NewEra #OttersHockey."
That's been a common theme among players in the preseason. Laise has witnessed a positive frame of mind among players towards off-ice workouts.
"When you're working out, it's a challenge. It's like climbing a mountain," Laise said. "When you get on top of that mountain, it's rewarding. It's builds confidence (for games). I know a lot of other teams and what they're doing, and we're putting in more work."
- Coming back to Erie: Left wing Stephen Harper returned to the team Tuesday after attending NHL rookie camp with the Philadelphia Flyers. Fellow forward Dane Fox was expected to rejoin the team Tuesday after playing for the St. Louis Blues at the NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich., but he didn't arrive in time for the start of practice. Defenseman Adam Pelech was scheduled to skate with the team after attending the New York Islanders' rookie camp.
"Anytime you get the opportunity to be around that professional environment, you're going to learn a lot," Harper said.
- Heading to camp: Right wing Connor Brown joins former Otters David Broll and Greg McKegg at the Toronto Maple Leafs' training camp, which begins today in Etobicoke, Ontario. Brown joins goaltender Oscar Dansk (Columbus Blue Jackets) and left wing Andre Burakovsky (Washington Capitals) in heading to main camps. All five participated in rookie camps the past week.
- Game tickets on sale: The club begins selling individual game tickets on Saturday at 10 a.m., headlined by a meet-and-greet with players such as Travis Dermott, Jake Evans and Justin Felker as well as free refreshments during a celebration that will continue until 2 p.m. at Erie Insurance Arena's new box office at 809 French Street.
Fans will receive a voucher for a free ticket to a game in October or November, excluding the Oct. 5 home opener against North Bay, and a chance to win a team-autographed stick and other prizes.
-- Victor Fernandes


text:
Hello everyone,
I've bought one dell E521 and which use intel 965G chipset and ICH8
south-bridge chip, when I try to install Red Hat AS3, I found the H.D not be
recognized, even the cdrom driver(SATA port). Later I tried Centos 4.4, I
get the same trouble. How should I resolve it? which os may work well on it?
Have a good day!


text:
Brookfield in fiscal emergency
Schools operating more than $1 million in deficit
May 15, 2013
BROOKFIELD — The Brookfield Local School District is in a state of fiscal emergency, according to a report released Tuesday by Auditor of State Dave Yost....
Brookfield taxpayers and parents should give Governor Kasich a big pointed boot in his arse because he caused this to happen with his state budget cuts.
1 Agrees | 7 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
If they can't live within their means, merge them with another district, eliminate duplicated administrators and programs, and get back to basic education with "pay to play" for all sports and extra-curricular. Any time the State has to come in and take over financial control of a school district or local government, the State should have the power to dissolve any existing collective bargaining agreement and replace it with one that is manageable under the finances available. If you like that idea, keep voting no on levies. If not, don't complain when it happens.
4 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Yep, you can't blame these local school officials. Only a rocket scientist or an accountant with an advanced degree can understand the concept that YOU DON'T SPEND MONEY YOU DON'T HAVE.
What part of misfeasance don't they understand?
4 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
The whole country is in fiscal emergency. Don't worry though we still have enough money to protect the opium fields in Afghanistan, send billions in foreign aid to mid east and arm al qeada terrorists in Syria to overthrow a country who has resisted the will of the Central bankers like Gadhaffi. Wouldn't it be nice if our govt was actually for the people of this country instead of attacking our rights and bankrupting our kids with deficit spending.
3 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Agree w/all comments (don't spend what you don't have/foreign wars and foreign aid/) - agree, that is, with the obvious exception of one poster.
3 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Heres a suggestion, how about lets learn to live and operate on your budget and do as the rest of us have to do, dont spend more then you make. Pay raises could simply freeze as the kids test much lower in the state yet the teachers pay is at the top of the tier in the state.
3 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Actually escaped, I'm 99% sure Brookfield is not only "pay to play," they are also pay to be on student council, pay to be involved in any club, pay to be in the school play, etc. I may be wrong, but a couple years ago, I was told this by one of the school employees, and she said that was why so many students were transferring from Brookfield to Badger. Again, I may be wrong, but was told this by a school employee.
0 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Incidentally, the school employee referenced was laid off when they closed the old schools and moved into the new building. I was told that she will be called back when someone retires, but until then is out of work (she is not a teacher).
0 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Showing 8 of 8 comments


text:
- Text Size:
- ASmall Text
- AMedium Text
- ALarge Text
On Wednesday morning, Dauphin County commissioners will announce which projects will receive a portion of $6.75 million in local share gaming taxes.
The views expressed are not those of this site, this station or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use.


text:
MCS's Beginning
Miller Construction
Services was started by Curtis Miller in 2003 to combine the design and
construction services to bridge the typical gap between architect and
contractor, believing that we could build a better
world by rethinking the very nature construction. We could create places where
people feel more of a connection to each other. MCS could create places where
enduring value is more important than conspicuous consumption.


text:
Find single Joplin men seeking women at Date.com's the No1 trusted dating site for local Joplin singles. Join our free dating service and start dating in Joplin, Missouri. Whether you are looking for available local Joplin singles, single girls, serious relationships, Soulmate, friendship, girlfriend, boyfriend, lover or even pen pals, Joplin Date.com has it all. Create a FREE Joplin singles ad and start dating online, it's easy!
JoplinJoin Now Free!
Joplin Girls | Joplin Men | Joplin Gay | Joplin Lesbians
More Joplin Links:
Dating | Personals | Chat | Speed Dating | Love
Joplin Catholic Dating | Joplin Christian Dating | Joplin Muslim Dating
Joplin Black Dating | Joplin Asian Dating
Date.com is a FREE online dating site for Joplin singles. We have the hottest attractive and available Joplin single women and men seeking women in Joplin on the Internet from sexy single girls, hot blondes to Joplin female models, Joplin single brunettes to sexy redheads. If you are looking for a wife or husband for a happy marriage, mature ladies, older men create a free Joplin dating profile today. Browse our Joplin singles photo ads, chat online and start a relationship with your perfect match today.


text:
Listen Live
Get Our App!
Request a Song
Music News
Recently Played
Join the EZ Club
Update Your Profile
Shows And Schedules
On-Air Schedule
Wayne & Jayne
Amy Gilbert
Chris Kuchar
Mark Jeffries
Photo Gallery
Concerts and Events
Concerts & Shows
Promote Your Event
Lifestyle & Entertainment
Community Announcements
Garage Sales
Local News
Pet Patrol
News Archives
Trail - 95.7FM
Castlegar - 90.3FM
Grand Forks - 103.3FM
Creston - AM 1340
Nelson - 106.9FM
Crawford Bay - 101FM
New Denver - 93.5FM
Kaslo - 95.3FM
Nakusp - 103.1FM
Search for
Big Black
Share This
While punk rock was always supposed to be about pushing the envelope, few post-punk bands seemed willing to go quite so far to creatively confront their audience as
Big Black
. The group's guitars alternately sliced like a machete and ground like a dentist's drill, creating a groundbreaking and monolithic dissonance in the process. Their use of a drum machine, cranked up to ten and sounding a tattoo that pummeled the audience into submission, was a crucial precursor to the coming industrial music scene while creating a sound which was far more challenging and organic than what groups such as
Nine Inch Nails
would achieve with similar ingredients.
Big Black
's songs, which openly dealt with such topics as mutilation, murder, rape, child molestation, arson, immolation, racism, and misogyny, established them as a group that acknowledged no taboos; and while they didn't seem to be advocating the anti-social or criminal behavior they sang about, there was also a level of familiarity with their subject matter which made more than a few listeners blanch.
Big Black
was a band that went where few bands dared to go (and where many felt bands shouldn't go), and for good or ill their pervasive influence had a seismic impact on indie rock. At the same time,
Big Black
was a group who maintained firmly held ideals when it came to doing business; they paid for their own recordings, booked their own shows, handled their own management and publicity, and remained stubbornly independent at a time when many independent bands were eagerly reaching out for the major-label brass ring.
Big Black
was the brainchild of
Steve Albini
, who spent much of his youth in Missoula, MT. A skinny and unimposing kid with glasses and an intense demeanor,
was something of loner in his high school days. After reading about the then-burgeoning punk rock scene in the music press,
began hunting down records and developed a taste for
the Ramones
. In his senior year of high school, he began teaching himself to play guitar and bass to keep himself occupied after injuring his leg in a motorcycle accident. In 1980, after graduating from high school,
moved to Evanston, IL, not far from Chicago, to study journalism and art at Northwestern University. Not unexpectedly,
soon immersed himself in the Chicago punk scene, and became a passionate fan of
Naked Raygun
. Before long, he became interested in starting a band of his own, and briefly played with a new wave outfit called Stations; the band's most lingering influence was that
bought a Roland TR-606 drum machine to handle the band's percussion chores. In 1982, frustrated by his inability to get a group off the ground,
decided to start a band all by his lonesome; borrowing a four-track tape machine in exchange for a case of beer, he spent his spring break in his room, recording a six-song EP on which he played all the guitar and bass parts, handled all the vocals, and let "Roland" take care of the drumming. Called
credited the material to the group name
Big Black
, and a local Chicago label, Ruthless Records, released the record near the end of 1982.
also began writing for several fanzines, most notably Matter, and his cantankerous screeds on a variety of topics (but mostly relating to the low ethical and musical standards of those in the music community) coupled with his lyrical obsessions gained him a reputation as the angriest man in rock & roll.
While response to
was mixed,
at least had a calling card for his new "group," and he was eager to put together a version of
Big Black
that could play live. In early 1983,
Jeff Pezzati
, from his beloved
Naked Raygun
, to join the new group, and during a practice session in the basement of
's home,
Santiago Durango
, who also lived in the building and was a guitarist with
Naked Raygun
, came down and offered to jam with the group. The son of a doctor from Colombia who came to America to study at the University of Illinois,
was, like
, an intelligent social misfit who found solace in the abrasive sound of punk rock, joining a band called Silver Abuse in 1979, and the two quickly hit it off.
became a permanent member of
Big Black
, and his muscular guitar sound was the ideal match of
's jagged, metallic tone. The band's next record, 1983's
EP, was recorded with the band's new lineup, and this time around
had access to a 24-track recording studio and a sympathetic engineer and producer,
Iain Burgess
. The result was a quantum leap over
, and the first real recorded manifestation of
Big Black
's trademark bruising, sinister sound. Initially packaged in a specially fabricated steel sleeve,
received significantly greater attention in the independent music press than
, and the band's third EP, 1984's
, coupled with increased touring and better distribution thanks to a licensing deal with Homestead Records, began to break their following outside the Midwest.
In late 1984,
Jeff Pezzati
, bowing to the demands of his day job and
Naked Raygun
's increasingly busy schedule, amicably parted ways with
Big Black
Santiago Durango
, meanwhile, opted to leave
Naked Raygun
and make
Big Black
his first musical commitment.
Dave Riley
, a bassist who had done studio work in Detroit before relocating to Chicago and joining the band
Savage Beliefs
, was tapped as
Big Black
's new bass player. Not long after
signed on,
Big Black
began work on their first full-length album, and both musically and lyrically, 1985's
upped the ante on the musical and lyrical ferocity of
Big Black
's previous body of work, an unrelenting assault of guitar sounds and imagined violence of all sorts.
Big Black
the new
cause célèbre
of the indie rock scene; it was a polarizing work that people either loved or hated, but no one seemed neutral about, and enough listeners were taken with the record's sonic assault that it became a significant underground success. (The album also gave
the opportunity to launch the first of many salvos against digital recording technology when
was released on compact disc, along with several tracks from singles and EPs, as a collection called
The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape
.) However, the group didn't see as much of
's profits as they believed was their fair share, and following the release of
Big Black
's "El Duce" single, they parted ties with Homestead and entered into a new distribution agreement with Touch & Go Records, whose owner,
Corey Rusk
, was a trusted friend of
and the band. (Years later, Touch & Go would reissue the entire
Big Black
back catalog.)
Big Black
's first release for Touch & Go was 1987's infamous
EP; an early limited-edition release of the record featured an appalling photo of the victim of an auto accident whose head had been split in two (an opaque black-plastic outer bag protected the sensibilities of those shopping for, say, a
import). The music, however, was something of a letdown after
, and the band seemed to know it; the later mass-market release featured a sticker reading "Not as good as
, so don't get your hopes up, cheese!" There were also tensions within the band;
reportedly found
difficult to work with, and all three had trouble fitting
Big Black
's increasingly demanding schedule in along side their personal commitments.
Santiago Durango
decided to return to law school in the fall of 1987, and the group decided this was a sign to call it quits.
Big Black
announced their breakup as far in advance as possible, and recorded a final album (half recorded in London, half recorded at
's new home studio) and mounted well-received farewell tours of Europe and the United States in the summer of 1987; shortly after the band performed their final show in Seattle on August 11 (where they destroyed their gear at the finale), Touch & Go released
Songs About Fucking
, a scabrous masterpiece that went on to become the group's most successful album. In 1992, after the band's catalog reverted to Touch & Go,
, a live album and video recorded at the London date of the farewell tour, was released.
Big Black
's breakup,
went on to a celebrated career as a producer and engineer, recording sessions for
the Breeders
the Pixies
, Bush, and
Jimmy Page & Robert Plant
, along with (by his own word) 1,000 bands no one has ever heard of, and opening his own recording studio in Chicago, Electrical Audio. He also performed in the acerbic and short-lived
as well as the more experimental and long-running
Dave Riley
was briefly a member of the group
; in 1995, he was incapacitated with a stroke which (due to an early misdiagnosis) was incorrectly reported in some quarters to be a suicide attempt. And
Santiago Durango
for a time worked with the group
and recorded with
Boss Hog
, but his career in music has taken a back seat to his practice as a lawyer; his clients include Touch & Go Records and celebrated groupie and artist
Cynthia Plaster Caster
Mark Deming, Rovi
► View More
▲ View Less
More Big Black
Songs About Fucking
The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape
He's a Whore
The Hammer Party
Il Duce
You may also like...
Butthole Surfers
Pussy Galore
Scratch Acid
Band of Susans
The Cows
My Dad Is Dead
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Contest Rules
More EZ Rock Stations


text:
The earliest images of medicine and surgery in Western art are from the late Middle Ages. Although often attractive, at that time they were illustrative and mirrored the text on how to diagnose or treat a specific condition. These drawings in medieval manuscripts represent management of abscesses, perianal infection and fistulas, amputation, and wound dressings. With the Renaissance, art in all its forms flourished, and surgeons were represented at work draining carbuncles, infected bursae, and mastoiditis; managing ulcers, scrofula, and skin infections; and performing amputations. Specific diagnosis can be made, such as streptococcal infection in the discarded leg of the miraculous transplantation performed by Saints Cosmas and Damian and in the works of Rembrandt van Rijn and Frederic Bazille. Evocations of cytokine activity are evident in works by Albrecht Dürer, Edvard Munch, and James Tissot. The iconography of society's view of a surgeon is apparent and often not complimentary. The surgeon's art is a visual art. Astute observation leads to early diagnosis and better results in surgical infection and the septic state. Learning to see what we look at enhances our appreciation of the world around us but, quite specifically, makes us better clinicians. Arch Surg. 1996;131:1289-1295
Thank you for submitting a comment on this article. It will be reviewed by JAMA Surgery editors. You will be notified when your comment has been published. Comments should not exceed 500 words of text and 10 references.
Do not submit personal medical questions or information that could identify a specific patient, questions about a particular case, or general inquiries to an author. Only content that has not been published, posted, or submitted elsewhere should be submitted. By submitting this Comment, you and any coauthors transfer copyright to the journal if your Comment is posted.
* = Required Field
Disclosure of Any Conflicts of Interest*
Indicate all relevant conflicts of interest of each author below, including all relevant financial interests, activities, and relationships within the past 3 years including, but not limited to, employment, affiliation, grants or funding, consultancies, honoraria or payment, speakers' bureaus, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, royalties, donation of medical equipment, or patents planned, pending, or issued. If all authors have none, check "No potential conflicts or relevant financial interests" in the box below. Please also indicate any funding received in support of this work. The information will be posted with your response.
Some tools below are only available to our subscribers or users with an online account.
Download citation file:
Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.
More Listings atJAMACareerCenter.com >
Enter your username and email address. We'll send you a link to reset your password.
Enter your username and email address. We'll send instructions on how to reset your password to the email address we have on record.
Need assistance?
Athens and Shibboleth are access management services that provide single sign-on to protected resources. They replace the multiple user names and passwords necessary to access subscription-based content with a single user name and password that can be entered once per session. It operates independently of a user's location or IP address. If your institution uses Athens or Shibboleth authentication, please contact your site administrator to receive your user name and password.


text:
Created in this Craftsy class
Build a sweet and solid cake decorating foundation with acclaimed cake designer Elisa Strauss in this free beginner fondant mini-class.
Other projects made as part of this class:
Offer some kudos...
Join the conversation...
Ask a question...
Add your comment...
|Here are some details about my project:
|Cake Decorating
|3 or more Tiers
|Fondant, Gum Paste, Modeling Chocolate
|Colorful, Whimsical, Innovative, Elegant
Share a little about the materials, processes and techniques used to create this cake: This is a three tiered cake. I used a fondant made of gelatin and heavy cream. It came out so good! Easy to work with. I highly recommend this fondant. The bow is of modeling chocolate. The top tier is Addisyn's smash cake. It is a strawberry flavor. The #1 is made of fondant. I made it two days prior so that it would dry. I have a stick centered in the middle for support. Little candies are centered down the number for decoration. I also made a flower to set it off at the base of the number to give it that extra flair. The hot pink is offset with black polka dots. The center cake is chocolate the bottom is vanilla. Her initial's offset the bottom layer. Happy Birthday Addisyn.


text:
The structure of Chinese names
I am Nan, the community manager at MyHeritage for the Chinese speaking countries. I would like to share with you the story of how Chinese people create their names - I hope you'll find it interesting.
Every single character in Chinese has explicit meanings; in general a character refers either to a physical object like a tree or a flower, or a concept such as beauty or strength. Finding out a Chinese name is like writing a poem, as you need to express meanings in just 2 or 3 letters. Unlike English names, Chinese people write their family name (normally a single letter) first and then their given name (one or two letters).
There are over 700 Chinese surnames, but only about 100 are commonly used. A list of Chinese surnames can be found here.
Traditionally, Chinese given names are structured by a two-character pattern. The first part is the generation name that is shared by all members of a generation, and the last character is given to the individual person. The reason Chinese people write their surname first is to show respect to the ancestors. Actually, Chinese given names are all custom-made instead of choosing one from a list of created names like Dave, Alex or Victoria. Nowadays many young Chinese have only a one-character given name, due to the fact that many families have only one child.
My name is Ma Nan, Ma is my surname and Nan is my given name. Ma is ranked as the 14th most common surname in Mainland China; 'ma' literally means 'horse'. Nan is a kind of wood - hard with a rich fragrance, it is quite precious. My parents gave me the name of Nan as this has the meanings of healthy and strong. Many Chinese are named after the aspirations that parents have for their children's future such as the literal translation of luck, wealth and so on.
Search for your ancestors:
- I wanted to know more about the Structure and information related to chinese names. Anyway thanks a tonnnn..
- Thank you. So now i know this. My father is a chinese, but he's really not like the fact that he is a chinese, maybe due to a harsh past in our socio-culture (Indonesian Chinese were deeply considered and treated as a 2nd class citizen during the New Order 1969-1998). Based on that fact during the time he grows up, he seems dont want to be part of Chinese anymore. And just yesterday i ask what my Chinese name is, and you can guess the rest. So thanks for the info, you really open my mind.
- Hi! My name is kind of a funny story. In the 1970's, they were showing a series named Kung Fu, and there was a female character by the name Nan Chi. My father liked it so much that he said that the he would name his next daughter Nan Chi :) Thing is, I have no idea what it means! I have been looking and looking but I cant find a meaning. Do you know what it might mean?
Leave a comment
No trackbacks yet.


text:
did you see the last episode of Lost?, i think the girl playing young Danielle is right up your alley.
- Login to post comments
- Email this page
Is this her?
Submitted by Rajah on Mon, 02/09/2009 - 11:52.
Melissa Farman
- Login to post comments
Submitted by Critico on Mon, 02/09/2009 - 17:17.
but i think she looked better in Lost.
- Login to post comments
Rajah likes those pure untouched, unadulterated beauties...
Submitted by TMoonunit (not verified) on Tue, 02/10/2009 - 02:17.
...like dido, and the orbit gum girl, and zooey up until recently.
- Login to post comments


text:
Thank you to donors to holiday food drive
The employees of Douglas Disposal would like to send a big, warm thank you to all of our customers who donated to our recent holiday food drive. During the week of Dec. 9, our employees collected 8,600 pounds of food, plus $60 in cash which were then delivered to the Carson Valley Community Food Closet. Dozens of bags were left in all our neighborhoods or delivered to the business office. Thank you to our employees for their efforts. Also, thank you to Park Ranch and Storage for the use of their scale and warehouse.
The generous hearts of the Carson Valley are part of what makes this such a special place to live. Many thanks go out to everyone for their generous contributions. Happy New Year to all.
Douglas Disposal


text:
Saturday, March 9, 2013
North Augusta Optimist Club recently sponsored its annual Fox Creek High School Teacher of the Year Banquet at the North Augusta Community Center.
The awards banquet has expanded this year to include the Teacher of the Year, Professional of the Year, Student of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
The 2013 Teacher of the Year is two-time winner Bill Warnken. Warnken was also the 2009 Fox Creek Teacher of the Year. He has been with the school as a social studies teacher for seven years and teaches History 101 and 102 in the school's college level Silver Fox Academy.
Warnken was presented with "The Red Jacket." The Red Jacket is presented to the teacher of the year each year by the former teacher of the year in a tradition started by the school several years ago.The 2013 Professional of the Year is Holly Sanders. Sanders has been Fox Creek's office manager for three years. Before coming to Fox Creek, she worked for Edgefield County School District in its district office.
Sanders is a graduate of North Augusta High School.
The 2013 Student of the Year is Haley Bryant. Haley is a senior and is a member of the National Honor Society and Beta Club. She is also a member of the school's volleyball and basketball teams.
The 2013 Volunteer of the Year is Joy Bryant. Bryant is the vice-president of Fox Creek's Parent-Teacher-Community Association. The PTCA annually raises approximately $10,000 for Fox Creek academic projects.
© 2016 Aiken Standard an Evening Post Industries company. All Rights Reserved.
Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Parental Consent Form.


text:
PhD Handbook
A comprehensive guide to all aspects of the PhD process at the University of Otago.
Regulations and Policies
Policies relevant to PhD study at the University of Otago.
- Regulations for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Presentation of Theses Regulations
- Policy regarding resources for graduate research candidates
- Policy for Intellectual Property Rights of Graduate Research Students
- Guidelines for PhD candidates working with experimental animals (in PDF format)
- Proof-reading of Theses Guidelines
- Student IT policy
- Email policy
- Ethical Practices in Research and Teaching Involving Human Participants guidelines
- Dishonest Practice procedures
Changes During the PhD
If you need to make any of the following changes during your PhD, you can do so in your eVision portal:
- deferrals
- requests for overseas study
- changes to supervision, department or topic
- changes in enrolment status (eg: from full-time to part-time, or from part-time to full-time)
Resources relating to supervision, including a range of tools for helping students and supervisors reach a shared understanding of roles and responsibilities in the supervisor process.
- Who can supervise a PhD?
- Student Supervisor Agreement (in MS Word format)
- Student Supervisor Agreement (in PDF format)
- Student perceptions of quality supervision (in PDF format)
- Checklist for PhD Candidates and Their Primary Supervisors (in MS Word format)
- Supervision Expectations Questionnaire (in MS Word format)
- Supervisor perceptions of quality postgraduate research candidates (in PDF format)
- fIRST - for Improving Research Supervision and Training
- Selecting high quality PhD candidates (in PDF format)
- Guidelines for appointing external supervisors (for staff)
- Appointment form for external supervisors (for staff)
- Doctoral Education in International Context
Thesis Information
Information from the University of Otago Library on thesis organisation, copyright obligations, and depositing an electronic thesis.


text:
V1 has been shortlisted in the Document Management category of the Software Satisfaction Awards for the fourth consecutive year. The winner will be announced on 7th November via a multi-media announcement.
In this year's awards more than 5,000 software users rated 12,000 products in an online survey across nine business software categories.
The Software Satisfaction Awards are run by AccountingWEB in collaboration with specialist survey consultancy Smith & Henderson. The awards recognise high standards from software application providers serving UK businesses and are based on the views of genuine end-users.
Janette Martin, Head of Sales & Services at V1, said: "Having already won in the SSA award four times, and to be nominated for our software for the fourth year running is a great achievement.
"This latest nomination is a testament to our on-going commitment to software development and customer service, which remains core to the business."
V1 (formally Version One) rebranded earlier this year and expanded its business automation product suite to include professional services automation, project accounting, facilities management, and training & learning management software.
It continues to provide customers with end-to-end document management and imaging solutions, which improve efficiencies, cut costs, frees-up storage space, and delivers a swift return-on-investment.
About V1 Ltd
V1 Ltd ("V1") is a global provider of business automation software that enables both public and private sector organisations to streamline their business processes.
V1's award-winning document management solution integrates into all major accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, enabling the automated delivery, storage, management and processing of documents.
Thousands of organisations worldwide are using V1's document management software to automate their business processes, cut costs, free-up administration time and reduce paper consumption while enjoying a typical payback of just six months.
V1's recently expanded product suite includes: document management, professional services automation, project accounting, facilities management, and training & learning management software.
V1 prides itself on its innovative solutions, personal and straightforward approach and dependable service.
V1 Ltd is an Advanced Computer Software Group plc company.
Press contacts:
Angela Mycock and Robert Downes, V1
Further Information
Advanced Computer Software
Alex Hudaly
PR Executive
Tel: 01625 856 505
Email: [javascript protected email address]


text:
Next Video Playing In ×
Parsha 5775/2015
Video 16 of 51
In this week's Parsha we have a basic theological conundrum. We all know that Pharaoh gets hit with a plague and then he agrees to let the Jews go and then he retracts his agreement. And when he retracts his agreement, he hardens his heart and yet the Torah begins in the first few plagues with Pharaoh changing his mind, but then transitions to a place where it seems that God changes Pharaoh's mind for him. And of course the theological conundrum is: What happens to Pharaoh's free will? I thought it's a fundamental principle of Jewish thought of that God doesn't deprive humans of free will. I want to highlight an approach taken by the Sforno and elaborate the implications of that approach with you.
The Sforno argues that, in fact, God never deprived Pharaoh of free will. If anything, he enhanced Pharaoh's free will. Now how could that be? How could God harden Pharaoh's heart as a way of enhancing his free will? Let's try to figure it out.
It turns out that the Torah uses two different words to describe the changing of Pharaoh's mind. "Kibud ha-lev," and "chizuk ha-lev." How do you translate those? What two different processes are happening here? What do the words mean? "Kabed" means to harden, to become heavy, the hard heart. Chazak, of course, means strong, so "chizuk ha-lev" would mean to strengthen, strengthen the heart. You'll notice immediately that one has a positive connotation and one has a negative connotation. Nobody wants to have a hard heart or a heavy heart, but everyone would want to have a strong heart. So if we would translate the meaning of these words you might say that 'kibud ha-lev,' hardness of heart, actually means to be stubborn, whereas 'chizuk ha-lev,' strength of heart, is something we might describe as courage. So one of the things you need to look at as you through the plagues is: which word is being used in any given plague? When Pharaoh changed his mind, is he exhibiting a kind of 'chizuk ha-lev,' a kind of courage, or is he exhibiting a kind of 'kibud ha-lev,' a kind of stubbornness.
Now of course, in any given plague, not only do you get the differences between the word 'kibud ha-lev' and 'chizuk ha-lev,' you also get the difference between who is doing the changing of mind. Is Pharaoh changing his own mind or is God changing Pharaoh's mind? So you can set this up kind of as a matrix. In any given plague, there is one of four possibilities.
On your Y axis, you might list the actors. Is God the one doing this or is Pharaoh the one doing i? And on the X axis, going across, you might ask: what is being done? Are we talking about 'kibud ha-lev' on the one hand, or are we talking about 'chizuk ha-lev,' on the other hand? And just put a check box in the quadrant that applies for each plague.
So, I encourage you to take some time and actually go through the Parsha for each plague and try to check off which of these four quadrants you think is applicable. If it is "vayachbed Par'oh et-libo," so it means that Pharaoh is the actor, it means what he is doing is making himself stubborn, so you check off that one of the four boxes and you can do this for each of the plagues and the conclusions I think you'll find are intriguing indeed. If you would like to see my conclusions about all this, I encourage you to check out the course on AlephBeta entitled: The Exodus from Egypt: What Does it Means to be Chosen? You can find it in our holiday section and I go through each of these plagues in detail and try to show exactly what I think is happening in each.
In the meantime, let me just get to the essence of the Sforno's idea. If you take the Sforno's idea that Pharaoh's free will is actually being enhanced, the way that we actually get there is that God never actually makes Pharaoh stubborn. The only thing God would ever do is lend Pharaoh more courage to continue the fight. If I give you courage to pursue your vision, I am enhancing your free will. If you actually look carefully throughout our entire Parsha, you will never, ever find God "machbid" Pharaoh's heart; God will never harden Pharaoh's heart. The only thing he will do is that he will "machzik" Pharaoh's heart. What that seems to mean is that there is a moment where Pharaoh's courage would fail him, but God gives him the courage to be able to continue to pursue his vision.
What is that vision? Ironically, that vision is defiance of God. Think of this, God gives the courage to be able to defy him. Had God not lent Pharaoh courage at that moment, Pharaoh would have given in, not because he would have relinquished his vision of wanting to defy God, not because he would have changed his theological mindset but simply because he failed, he had a lack of courage, he wasn't strong enough to continue.'
God says "no, no, I am going to give you the strength to continue. I don't want you to give in to me out of lack of strength, I want you to give into to me because you change your vision. I don't want you to be beaten into submission; I want you to change your agenda." The ten plagues were a kind of education. An education of what it means for there to be a One God in this world. The One God is not looking to beat even his enemies into submission.
The hope of the ten plagues is that it's a kind of education process, first for Egypt, but through Egypt for the entire world. You ever wonder why there needed to be ten plagues? Why bother with ten plagues? You couldn't have gotten the Jews to go free a lot easier than that? All the power of the Universe at your disposal, and it's going to take you ten plagues to get the Jews free? I mean just freeze the Egyptians in place, load the Jews onto a Magic Carpet and take them to the land of Israel
No. There is another agenda of the ten plagues—an educational agenda. Control over all aspects of nature, who would have that?
In a polytheistic world, a world governed by many, many different gods, no one god holds the key to all of these forces. That only exists if there is a Creator God, one force in charge of it all. Gradually, the ten plagues revealed this to be true. Pharaoh and Egypt need to see that. But what if they give in for the wrong reasons? What if the plagues are simply too powerful to withstand first? I'll encourage you until you realize the truth. This God that you are battling is not just a powerful polytheistic god. He is the One God, He is the Creator. When you realize that—when you change your vision—the battle is over.
It turns out that there is a point where Pharaoh actually gets that truth, understands it and, strangely, it's not after the tenth plague; it's after the seventh one. It's after barad. In barad, there is perhaps the greatest display of God's oneness that could possibly exist. Hail rains down on Egypt. But the hail is a very special kind of hail. It's fire and ice together. It's fire encapsulated within the ice. If it was regular hail, you could say the ice god doesn't like Egypt. If fire was raining down from heaven, you could say the sun god, the fire god, doesn't like Egypt. An alliance between the fire god and the ice god? They don't get along. Only the Creator can make peace between fire and ice. And in the wake of the plague of hail, Pharaoh's response? "HaShem ha-tzadik v'ani v'ammi ha-reshaim," God is the righteous one, me and my people have been wicked.
Until now, Pharaoh has never talked about the conflict between him and God in those terms. There's no sense that you are in the right and I am in the wrong. Morality only comes into the picture when you are defying your Creator. It's not right to defy your Creator. Pharaoh gets it in the seventh plague. The plague leading right up to that, Pharaoh had also given in, he had been crushed, by the plague of Shchen.
His astrologers, who he had counted on for advice, they couldn't even stand the plague of boils, it afflicted them so greatly. That last plague, "vayechazek HaShem et-lev Par'oh," God gave Pharaoh the strength to continue, the strength to pursue his vision so that he could yet fight on. The interesting thing is that that's not the end of the plagues, the plagues continue. Why isn't it over then? It should be over then! It's done! Pharaoh recognized the truth! Let the Jews go! Why are there three more plagues? We will talk about that when we come back next week.
1. Bereishit: Thank You, God...For Not Making Me A Woman?
2. Noach: Why Aren't Dinosaurs In the Torah?
3. Lech Lecha: The Battle For Abraham's Legacy
4. Vayeira: Abram, Sarai, Hagar, Ishmael and...Exodus?
5. Vayeira: Epilogue
6. Chayei Sarah: Eliezer and Samuel's Surprising Connection
7. Toldot: What Is Isaac's Legacy?
8. Vayeitzei: Understanding Rachel's World
9. Vayishlach: From Jacob to Israel
10. Vayeishev: Does God Speak To Us Today?
11. Miketz: Reversing the Sale of Joseph
12. Vayigash: Understanding Pharaoh's Dream
13. Vayechi: A Tap On The Shoulder
14. Shmot: Does God Really "Love" Us?
15. Re'eh: Why Do We Need Both Oral and Written Law?
16. Va'era: Did God Take Away Pharaoh's Free Will?
17. Bo: God's Justice In Action
18. Beshalach: Fruit Trees In the Sea?
19. Beshalach: Epilogue
20. Yitro: Seeing Ten Commandments in the Burning Bush
21. Mishpatim: Does Our History Become Laws?
22. Mishpatim: Epilogue
23. Terumah: Angels In the Tabernacle? Part I/2
24. Tetzaveh: Angels In the Tabernacle?- Part 2/2
25. Ki Tisa: A Closer Look At Kiddush
26. Vayikra: How Can We Relate To Sacrifices Today?
27. Pekudei: A Giant Chiasm In Sefer Shmot
28. Tzav: A Deeper Look At The Priestly Role
29. Tzav: Epilogue
30. Shemini: What Does Aaron Teach Us About Loss?
31. Tazria-Metzora: Rejoining the Community
32. Acharei Mot-Kedoshim: Social Justice...and Sacrifices?
33. Acharei Mot: The (Surprising) Purpose of Yom Kippur
34. Emor: An Epic View of Jewish Holidays
35. Behar-Bechukotai: Walking With God
36. Bamidbar: Why We Count
37. Beha'alotecha: Where It All Went Wrong
38. Shelach: How Can We Relate To Such a Vengeful God?
39. Korach: Why Did Korach Rebel?
40. Chukat: Why Did Moses Hit The Rock?
41. Balak: What Is Israel's Purpose In The World?
42. Pinchas: What Is True Leadership?
43. Matot-Masei: The Art of Negotiation
44. Devarim: What Did Moses Do Wrong?- Part 1/2
45. Va'etchanan: What Did Moses Do Wrong?- Part 2/2
46. Eikev: Why Does The Nation Of Israel Merit The Land?
47. Shoftim: The Significance of Saving Private Ryan
48. Ki Teitzei: How To Merit Long Life
49. Vayeilech: Moses' Farewell To Israel, Part 1/3
50. Ha'azinu: Moses' Farewell To Israel, Part 2/3
51. V'Zot Habracha: Moses' Farewell To Israel, Part 3/3
Are you a day school teacher?
We have an exciting scholarship account option for you!
Please fix the following input errors:


text:
Download citation file:
Requests for Reprints: David M. Eddy, MD, PhD, 2435 California Street, NW, Washington, DC 20008.
Copyright ©2004 by the American College of Physicians
In this issue, a well-constructed cost-effectiveness analysis of screening mammography in women younger than 50 years of age [1] shows that screening in this age group is expensive, costing approximately $150 000 for a year of life saved. Those who do not like this result will no doubt challenge some details of the analysis, but they will not be able to shake its basic conclusion, which is determined by the low incidence of the disease, the relatively small beneficial effect of screening, and the long delay before any benefit appears. Unless the cost of mammography decreases dramatically, screening in younger women will always be expensive compared with the benefit it provides.
Please read the other comments before posting. Contributors must reveal any conflict
of interest.
Comments are moderated and will appear on the site at the discretion of The American
College of Physicians editorial staff. Please be sure your email address is
updated in your account, otherwise the American College of Physicians will not be
able to contact you about your comment.
Anyone can submit a comment any time after publication, but only those submitted within 4 weeks of an article's publication will be considered for print publication. One month after publication, editors review all posted comments and select some for publication in the Letters section of the print version of Annals. (Not peer reviewed)
Authors: No more than 5
Text: Word Limit 400 (excludes references), 5 references, no figures or tables
* = Required Field
Disclosure of Any Conflicts of Interest*
(applies to the past 5 years and foreseeable future) Indicate any potential conflicts
of interest of each author below, including specific financial interests and relationships
and affiliations relevant to the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript
(eg, employment/affiliation, grants or funding, consultancies, honoraria, speakers
bureau, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, royalties, donation of medical
equipment, or patents filed, received, or pending). If all authors have none, check
"No potential conflicts or relevant financial interests" in the box below. Please
also indicate any funding received in support of this work. The information will
be posted with your response.
Terms of Use
The In the Clinic® slide sets are owned and copyrighted by the American College
of Physicians (ACP). All text, graphics, trademarks, and other intellectual property
incorporated into the slide sets remain the sole and exclusive property of the ACP.
The slide sets may be used only by the person who downloads or purchases them and
only for the purpose of presenting them during not-for-profit educational activities.
Users may incorporate the entire slide set or selected individual slides into their
own teaching presentations but may not alter the content of the slides in any way
or remove the ACP copyright notice. Users may make print copies for use as hand-outs
for the audience the user is personally addressing but may not otherwise reproduce
or distribute the slides by any means or media, including but not limited to sending
them as e-mail attachments, posting them on Internet or Intranet sites, publishing
them in meeting proceedings, or making them available for sale or distribution in
any unauthorized form, without the express written permission of the ACP. Unauthorized
use of the In the Clinic slide sets will constitute copyright infringement.
to gain full access to the content and tools.
Learn more about subscription options


text:
Please note, this journal will contain spoilers for various games.
No, this is not going to be a foaming-mouthed rant about violence in games, although I will inevitably have to touch on the subject, more a bemused appraisal of a commercial medium that more than any other seems stuck in a complete creative rut.
To me, the only way in which modern videogames are evolving in any truly appreciable fashion is in terms of graphics, visuals. Gameplay and mechanics haven't evolved much at all; in fact, in some instances, you could argue they've devolved. Certainly there seems to be a very limited selection of game types, and mechanics within those types, as well as an equally limited range of character archetypes and plotlines used. Games just don't have much variety now, and very little character, invention or fun. A comparison will help clarify this, hopefully.
Right now I'm engaged in my umpteenth playthrough of Duke Nukem 3D. This is a game from 1995, 18 years ago, yet to me it offers much more than a modern equivalent, like a Call of Duty or a Gears of War or even a Halo. Duke himself is a great protagonist, a tongue-in-cheek pastiche of action hero cliches, and the game has just as much character, fully aware of how daft and overblown it is and having lots of fun with that. Yes, it's a violent game, but the violence isn't dwelt upon, and a has a cartoony, almost Itchy and Scratchy vibe that means it never really registers. It's also a game of secrets - secret panels, secret tunnels, secret rooms, secret messages, secret levels, secret pastiches and homages ("That's one Doomed Space Marine.") - the seeking out of which gives it some variety, some contrast, some fun not involving guns.
Compare that to modern shooters, the aforementioned CoD, Gears, Halo, et al. Visually amazing, yes, but gameplay-wise? Not so much. They're basically all spins on the same thing, even down to having similar gravel-voiced, muscular, all-American leads. The weapon sets are the same, the mechanics are the same, the cannon fodder are minor variations on a theme in different clothes. Any attempts at added value are cursory at best - collect COG tags, or computer logs, or skulls, and well, that's it - and they're all so po-faced and serious, yet rarely manage any genuine emotional or thematic weight or punch. When Dom dies in Gears 3 I barely cared, as I barely knew him. He was a cipher, not a character, in a game filled with so much throwaway death his hardly registered.
Goldeneye is a great example of the problem. The original is still one of the finest shooters ever made, for my money, crammed with a huge variety of enemies, terrains and gameplay styles, as well as easter eggs and a vibe so 007 it might as well come packaged in a dinner jacket. The remake, however, does away with all of that in favour of a painfuly generic and repetitive cover shooter approach, so you just repeat the same handful of actions over and over in a variety of scenic backdrops. The one was lavished with love, imagination and care, the other very likely made by suits consulting demographic charts and sales figures.
That seems to be the default approach to making games, now. That's why there are so many identikit shooters, so many identikit action RPGs, people just spinning mild variations on the same old stuff over and over and over again, as they know it'll sell. That's why there's so much violence - gore sells. The fact that as a result, if you're not into gun or blade toting action, with a gallon or two of blood on the side, or a fan of spending all your time in an open world fighting off absolutely everyone and everything else there as it all wants to kill you and not exploring it, you're left with equally iterative racing games, sports games or gimmick games of the type the Wii consoles are drowning in doesn't matter one jot. Originality doesn't sell. Different doesn't sell. So they don't even try.
The cynicism of it is amazing at times, not least in the recent trend for dressing your games up with a token gesture toward depth, or meaning, or choices. Dishonored was very keen to boast that you could play through the game without killing a single person...except your targets, since you're, you know, a ruthless assassin and all (another painfully overplayed character archetype). Skyrim made great play of it's richness of gameplay choices, when in fact it has markedly less than its predecessor, Oblivion, which at least gave you a decent break from the killing once in a while; Skyrim can't be at all bothered with that, preferring to make you spend 90% of your time battling samey foes in samey dungeons, and the other 10% doing job-type stuff so simplistic and dull even Fable would baulk at it. Then there's the Tomb Raider reboot, which purports to recast Lara in a more realistic, down to earth and gritty vein. In reality, I'm pretty sure the thought process of Crystal Dynamics amounted to "Lara's not selling any more; we need to make her sell again; violence sells; everyone likes kill counts and kill cameras and guns and knives and blood and stuff; let's make Lara a killer, and forget all that boring tomb raiding rubbish; how do we justify that?; I know, strand her on an island brimming over with crass, generic thugs out to get her; perfect!"
You could apply that to many games, actually. Come up with another minor spin on the shooter or slasher mechanic, then come up with something to justify it. How else do you explain all the zombie infestations, post-apocalyptic wastelands and alien invasions? They're not settings, they're excuses. Why make any real creative effort when you can just dress up the same old lowest common denominator rubbish in a snazzy new suit?
Of course, for all that, you can't ignore other factors. That the great gaming public still buy these things in vast numbers doesn't help, it just encourages the developers to keep doing what they're doing, and stagnate as a result. There are other outside factors, too, like the self-appointed moral guardians that stir up controversy over some things but not others (gore is fine, but woe betide any game with even a hint of sex or bare skin) with nary a thought for common sense or logic. If I mod my PC game to make the player character nude it's because I want them to reflect my naturist leanings, and my love of the human form, not because I'm a slavering, rabid pervert. Actually, as an aside, I have a sneaking suspicion more people using nude mods are doing so for non-sexual reasons than are, but that's another discussion. The gaming press have to take some blame, too.
I very recently read of a major gaming website firing one of their writers after he stated his dislike for Kane & Lynch, a game they'd given a glowing review, the intimation being he was ditched for not toeing the party line of praise the game you've just been paid handsomely to promote all over the site. That kind of behaviour doesn't seem isolated, either. Witness the curious coincidence of a just released game that's being very heavily advertised on a site getting top marks in their review(s) of it. Journalistic instincts and objectivity about a game often just seem to evaporate right before it hits the shelves. Look at Tomb Raider - several sites had concerns about its tone and approach, yet when it was released it got unquestioning raves, amidst pretty much blanket advertising. Funny, that. How can you trust gaming sites when they appear so willing to forego any principles for money? Saying that, there could be an element of Catch-22, in that they need advertising to survive, and the games companies take advantage of that, so the sites don't have much of a choice.
The worst of it is, I'm not sure how the situation could change. People will keep buying the same old stuff in huge quantities, so the gaming giants will keep making it, and nobody will ever try anything different. The three parties capable of effecting change - gamers, gaming press, games companies - aren't at all interested, it seems, in changing. They're happy just as they are, even as the medium grows steadily more stale and lifeless. I crave an open world game I can explore and interact with without having to carry a gun or a sword, without being constantly attacked by every other living thing around me, without the developer constantly going for the cheap and easy conflict. I just want one developer to get bored of violence, and shooters, and fighting, and think, "I wonder if there's another way to build a game, to fill a world, to create an experience. WHAT IF..."
What if...?