text:
Theory and Practice
Ralf Nuhn, London, UK
From UNCAGED to Cyber-Spatialism
UNCAGED, mixed reality, media art, Fontana, Cyber-Spatialism
The starting point for this paper is my recent project UNCAGED, which is a series of six 'telesymbiotic' 1 installations exploring interrelationships and transitions between screen-based digital environments and their immediate physical surroundings. The underlying motivation behind my approach was to 'uncage' screen-based realities from the confines of their digital existence and to bring the remote computer world closer to our human experience. In particular, my approach opposed the notion of immersive Virtual Reality, where the physical world is more or less excluded from the participants, and instead attempted to situate the virtual domain within the physical world.
In the first instance I regarded this project as being an expression of artistic vision led by aesthetic and formal considerations and situated within a broader physico-philosophical context. For instance, I could sense a certain relationship between my approach to the quantum physical notion of non-locality, as proposed by the physicist Niels Bohr, and its implications for the existence of an invisible reality that supports our world – or to put it in different terms, the implication that an action in one part of the world could cause an instantaneous effect in another part of the world without there being a perceivable connection. 2 For me traversing the distance between the physical and the screen-based world of computers is an assertion of this idea, even though in my approach the link between the two worlds is of course only a make-believe situation.
The Theoretical Framework Behind UNCAGED
The methodological approach of my project could be best described as experimentation with and reconfiguration of existing technologies, which result in new creative inventions and designs. This 'blue-sky research' was led primarily by my artistic taste, personal intuition and experience. However this does not mean that I worked without any guidelines. In the following section I will attempt to outline the theoretical framework behind my approach, ranging from formal and aesthetic considerations, incorporating aspects of computer science and interaction design, to social implications.
Aesthetic and Formal Considerations
Based on some initial practical studies, I conceived a set of aesthetic and formal parameters which would underpin the further development of my work. To give a brief summary, I presumed that the work would consist of screen-based animations as well as (digitally-processed) video material and images, linked to different computer-controlled electronic devices and automated sculptures positioned around the screen. The off-screen devices would be triggered by different events happening in the virtual domain and vice versa. Thus, relationships between what happens on-screen and what happens off-screen would be established. The linkage would be based primarily on isomorphic visual and audio-visual relationships between both domains.
Further, I decided that the work should allow for audience participation through various tangible user interfaces. Even though, artistically, I was mainly interested in the perceptual interaction between on-screen and off-screen artefacts, I believed that the introduction of user interaction would increase the engagement with the exhibits and enhance the linkage between the virtual and the physical world.
From a perceptual point of view, the overall vision of my approach may be well illustrated by a certain special effect, sometimes used in films or television advertisements. I am referring to the fictional situation where someone is watching television, and all of a sudden humans, animals or objects start to come out of the television and invade the physical space of the viewer. I envisioned that my approach would to some degree 'materialise' the essence of this captivating special effect by creating 'magical' relationships between what happens on screen and what happens around the screen.
My confidence in the success of this approach was based on my belief that people have a strong liking for make-believe situations; maybe because these defy the rationality of the scientific age we are living in. I hope it will become clear from the project description, that much of what defines my approach relies on people's fascination with irrational situations, and their willingness to use their own imagination.
Gaby Wood, when exploring the public's fascination with Kempelen's Chess Player automaton in the late eighteenth century, points out that the Chess Player 'fulfilled what the historian Richard Altick has called "the public's desire to be baffled". It didn't matter how many times the inventor insisted the automaton was merely an "illusion"; it was constructed during the Age of Reason, yet many found reason less appealing than enchantment.' 3 Although Wood's socio-psychological viewpoint is concerned with a situation of more than 200 years ago, I am inclined to argue that it is still (or maybe better, again) applicable to our ultra-technological society.
I conceived that the nature of the screen-based visuals as well as the automated sculptures and electronic devices should be fairly crude. In particular, I did not aspire to any form of high-definition realism. This choice was not only based on aesthetic considerations and personal taste, but was also an expression of my belief that the extent of engagement and immersion with a 'system' does not depend on the degree to which it imitates the 'real world'. What is important, in my view, is how much it stimulates the participants' imaginations and invites them to (playfully) engage.
There seems to be a general agreement on this point between two theoreticians who, on the whole, have rather different standpoints regarding modern technologies: the media theorist Marshall McLuhan, who regarded modern technologies as 'extensions of men'; 4 and the postmodern sociologist Jean Baudrillard, who claims that we should see modern technologies rather as 'expulsions of men'. 5
Baudrillard, when discussing the 'cinematic development from silents to talkies and now to 3D and the current range of special effects', argues that the 'cinematographic illusion faded as the technical prowess increased […] The more we move towards the perfect definition, that useless perfection, the more the power of the illusion is lost.' 6 Baudrillard illustrates his position with the following example:
To appreciate this [Baudrillard's point made above], one only has to think of the Peking Opera and how, with the mere movement of their bodies, the old man and the girl brought to life on the stage the sheer size of the river and how, in the duel scene, the two bodies, skimming each other with their weapons yet not touching, made the darkness in which the duel took place tangible. That was total illusion – an ecstasy more physical and material than aesthetic or theatrical, precisely because all realist presence of the night or the river had been excised. Today, they would pipe tons of water into the studio, and the duel would be shot in the darkness with infra-red cameras. 7
McLuhan expresses a similar view on the issue of high definition in his concept of 'hot' and 'cool' media. According to him,
a hot medium is one that extends one single sense in 'high definition'. High definition is the state of being well filled with data. A photograph is, visually 'high definition'. A cartoon is 'low definition', simply because very little visual information is provided […] hot media do not leave so much to be filled in or completed by the audience. Hot media are therefore, low in participation or completion by the audience.' 8
It should be obvious from the above outline that my approach would best fit within the category of 'cool' media, and following McLuhan, is therefore 'high' in terms of 'participation or completion by the audience'.
As mentioned above, the linkage between the virtual and the physical domain would be based on visual and audio-visual relationships between both domains. With regard to the audio-visual aspect, I am particularly interested in the notion of 'synchresis' that was coined by the French composer-filmmaker-critic Michel Chion and which refers to the cerebral process of 'forging an immediate and necessary relationship between something one sees and something one hears at the same time.' 9
For me, the most interesting aspect of synchresis is that it 'can even work out of thin air – that is, with images and sounds that strictly speaking have nothing to do with each other, forming monstrous yet inevitable and irresistible agglomerations in our perception.' 10
This phenomenon is highly relevant for my work, because the sounds are created by computer-controlled electromechanical devices in the physical domain and are linked to visual events happening on the screen. Hence, the sounds and the on-screen visuals have no inherent relationship, but the linkage is solely constructed in the mind of the viewer. For instance, in a preliminary experiment which would later be developed into the installation Square Pusher (see below), I linked the movements of a bouncing on-screen square with the sound of an electromechanical hammer hitting a wooden board placed underneath the monitor screen. In this example, the user 'throws' an animated square on a touch-screen. Each time the square bounces off the bottom of the screen the hammer hits the wooden board. Although the bouncing movements of the square and the sounds created by the hammer have obviously no 'real' cause and effect relationship, I believe that a more or less inevitable linkage between the two is formed in the mind of the participant. With regard to the aim of UNCAGED to bridge the gap between the virtual and the physical world, one could argue that the vibrations and 'live' sounds (in contrast to recorded or synthesised sounds) synchronised to the square's movement imply a materialisation of the virtual image and create the illusion of the square being a heavy physical object.
Human Computer Interaction
Although my interest in the notion of mixed reality was primarily inspired by the development of playful, perceptually-intriguing art installations rather than the desire to develop new technologies to be used in a scientific or commercial context, I could sense the potential relevance of my approach to issues concerning computer sciences, e.g. in the area of HCI (Human Computer Interaction). In particular, I anticipated that the practical work might be able to address some of our difficulties in engaging with computers in a meaningful and satisfying way. UNCAGED may also be viewed as a response to my research at the University of Sheffield, conducted between June 2001 and June 2002. My investigations for the University of Sheffield were based on a qualitative analysis of electro-acoustic composers 'at work' and demonstrated that many composers who work with computer-based systems 'suffer' from the distance between the physical reality and virtual computer data. For instance, my study revealed 'a need for more direct, tactile means of seeking and manipulating sounds in composition and performance [which] was expressed by the desire for malleable interfaces that would allow for a sculptural shaping of sounds.' 11
Regarding the design of appropriate physical input interfaces for UNCAGED, I was very much stimulated by the approach taken by the Tangible Media Group at the MIT Media Laboratory. They advocate the use of everyday objects as a basis for input devices with the rationale of looking 'towards the bounty of richly-afforded physical devices of the last few millennia and inventing ways to reapply these elements of tangible media augmented by digital technology.' 12
One of the works by the Tangible Media Group comprises a bottle interface – a glass bottle with a cork. 13 The bottle is connected to a computer via wireless sensing technology. By means of small electromagnetic resonator tags placed around the opening of the bottle it is possible to detect when the cork is in place or removed from the bottle. The bottle interface is used in the sound installation 'musicBottles', this comprises three glass bottles, each stoppered with corks. Removing a cork triggers a particular soundtrack to start and replacing a cork stops the music. Conceptually, it was important for the group to maintain the coherence between the new digital meaning of the interface and its everyday functionality as a physical object. The basic 'affordance' 14 of a bottle is of course to store content and in the installation this content is represented by musical sound. According to the Tangible Media Group participants quickly understood the bottle metaphor and despite its simplicity most people enjoyed the interaction and often reacted emotionally to it.
For me, the approach taken by the Tangible Media Group was an assertion of my belief that user interaction with computer-based systems should be an organic extension of our interaction with the physical world, rather than a showcase for new technological possibilities that bear no resemblance to our normal interaction with the world.
Even though the final exhibits do not involve everyday objects as such, they are designed to be evocative of familiar forms of interaction and are often reminiscent of familiar games or childhood themes. For example the exhibit Blow Life (see below) includes a 'hand interface', which is similar to the interface of a fortune telling machine of the type often found at fun fairs. The exhibit Glitchy & Scratchy (see below) features two virtual records on a touch screen. I assumed that many people would have the urge to spin the records on the screen as a DJ might do, and certainly would have some preconceived idea of how to do so.
Further, I thought that, where appropriate, a simple push-button interface allowing participants to activate or play with an exhibit would be preferable to a more complex interface such as that of a motion capture device.
I would therefore suggest that to a great extent the user interfaces of UNCAGED aim to involve the participant(s) in a very straightforward way by appropriating well-established forms (of interaction) from the 'physical' world. What is new in UNCAGED is how the participants' engagement affects the interaction between the physical and the screen-based world of the exhibits.
Social Interaction
In a public (art) exhibition context, my work also seemed to address issues regarding social interaction and was motivated in particular by recent studies by the Work, Interaction and Technology group (WIT) at King's College London which suggest that most conventional screen-based exhibits in galleries and museums 'not only undermine co-participation and collaboration at the exhibit itself, but remove the possibility of others seeing and making relevant sense of what people are doing elsewhere within the scene'. Their research suggests that 'whilst interactive exhibits, in particular those relying on computing and information technologies, can often enhance an individual's experience, they inadvertently impoverish the social interaction which can arise with and around exhibits in museums and galleries.' 15 I was curious to find out if my 'screen-based' approach could evade the problem of inhibiting social interaction amongst gallery audiences because of its extension into the physical domain, and if it would make possible shared experiences amongst participants.
Description of the UNCAGED Series
To view photographs and videos of UNCAGED, please visit the project website <http://www.telesymbiosis.com> (active 5 April 2007)
UNCAGED comprises six interactive installations which are linked by a common theme: to explore interrelationships and transitions between screen-based digital environments and their immediate physical surroundings.
UNCAGED incorporates electromechanical devices and automated sculptures which interact, visually and acoustically, with computer-generated animations and video images. Most of the exhibits are reminiscent of familiar games or feature modified toys, and participants can engage playfully with the installations via touch-screens and tangible custom-made interfaces.
Blow Life is reminiscent of the fortune-telling machines often found at funfairs. Participants cover a hand image in front of a computer screen with their own hand. This activates an electric fan, mounted next to the screen, blowing an on-screen barcode like 'grass in the wind'. After a few seconds the fan stops and participants receive their own 'lucky number' encrypted into a new, randomly generated barcode.
Direct video link:<http://www.telesymbiosis.com/movies/blowlife_hi.mov> (active 5 April 2007)
Bubblelabub is a screen display featuring a person blowing air into a tube. The tube is extended from the virtual image to a real glass bottle filled with water. Depending on the amount of pressure applied to a squeezable interface at the front of the exhibit, the cheeks of the on-screen person will inflate or deflate, and the amount of bubbles generated in the water bottle will vary accordingly. Contrary to the exhibit Blow Life, where the airflow of a fan triggers movements on the screen, Bubblelabub creates the illusion that air generated within the virtual domain can transfuse into the physical world.
Direct video link: <http://www.telesymbiosis.com/movies/bubblelabub_hi.mov> (active 5 April 2007)
Glitchy & Scratchy allows the user to spin two records on a touch-screen, backwards and forwards. The turntables (with vinyl record) on either side of the screen follow the spin direction and (variable) speed of the respective virtual record. Pressing the left or right button at the front of the screen repeats the most recent scratching pattern of the respective record.
Direct video link: <http://www.telesymbiosis.com/movies/glitchyandscratchy_hi.mov> (active 5 April 2007)
Square Pusher is similar to the traditional fun fair game known as Ring-the-Bell or Easy Striker. Like the traditional game, it features a bell mounted high above the ground. Participants 'throw' a bouncy square on a touch screen. If they hit the top centre of the screen the bell will ring, and they will earn a '100 point bonus'. When the square bounces off the bottom of the screen it triggers a banging sound and vibrations, which are caused by an electromechanical hammer hidden underneath the screen.
Direct video link: <http://www.telesymbiosis.com/movies/squarepusher_hi.mov> (active 5 April 2007)
PONG (telesymbiotic version) is a modified version of the renowned video game Pong. Two solenoid 'bats' are mounted at the edge of a computer screen, one on the left and one on the right. Using a push-button interface, player(s) trigger the bats at to keep a moving on-screen ball in play. If the ball is missed, it will disappear from the screen.
Direct video link: <http://www.telesymbiosis.com/movies/blowlife_hi.mov> (active 5 April 2007)
Not Only Jingle Bells for Two Spuikars and Other Players is an orchestra of automated acoustic instruments, most of which are based on toys, that provide 'live' soundtracks to various on-screen animations. On the initial screen display participants can select from four buttons. When the bottom button is selected the display will change into an interface of 39 'idle musicians'. Each musician is linked to a different sound in the orchestra of acoustic instruments. The musicians are animated by the touch of a finger, triggering their respective sound. With the top three buttons of the initial display, participants can select from three different ready-made clips.
Direct video link: <http://www.telesymbiosis.com/movies/jinglebells_hi.mov> (active 5 April 2007)
After UNCAGED
Throughout the early stages of the research and development phase of UNCAGED, but in particular after the work had been completed, I questioned my initial motivation, that is to 'uncage' computer-based realities from the confines of their digital existence and to bring the remote computer world closer to our human experience. I believe that my reservations about this rather positivistic motivation arose from two coinciding, arguably interrelated, notions.
First, my critical engagement with the work itself nourished the impression that despite the perceptual fusion between the digital and the physical world, UNCAGED actually seems to highlight the distance between the two domains. In my view, all six exhibits have an underlying absurdity which arises from the very fusion of their physical and digital components. For me, this absurdity ultimately hints at the fallacy of the initial motivation behind UNCAGED and in a wider context, questions the idea of seeking a place for meaningful human exchange and experiences in virtual worlds.
Second, temporally coinciding with, but not necessarily causally linked to, the creation of UNCAGED, my former enthusiasm for the computer as a working tool was clouded by a growing frustration with, and to put it bluntly, dislike of spending a good deal of my life (isolated) in front of the computer screen. Admittedly, in the light of my original motivation, one could argue that the very objective of UNCAGED was precisely about improving our relationship with digital technology, and that therefore UNCAGED could be regarded as a step towards overcoming my own frustration with the computer. I do believe that UNCAGED is successful in bridging the gap between the digital world and the physical world on a perceptual basis, and I feel the six installations certainly incorporate digital technology in a rather enjoyable and stimulating way. However, for me the fusion between the digital and the physical world in UNCAGED only works within the context of installation art or games. Ultimately, when applied to 'real life', it does not offer much hope toward making the digital world a more satisfying space to engage with.
Not surprisingly my new 'attitude' towards UNCAGED had a strong impact on the direction of my artistic practice. Initially, I intended to create a subsequent (to UNCAGED) body work, where the transition between the physical and the virtual world as well as the user interaction would be more seamless. I assume that it is obvious from my concerns, described above, that a development of UNCAGED in this (positivistic) direction would have been extremely pretentious. Instead my new artistic direction is not concerned with perfecting the perceptual and interactive level of UNCAGED, i.e. through technological advancement, but with exploring further the socio-philosophical issues implied in UNCAGED. In this context I am particularly interested in the writings of French theorist Jean Baudrillard. Despite the dangers of over-simplifying, even misunderstanding, his often ambiguous messages, I feel that UNCAGED, in particular in the light of my revised interpretation of the work, addresses some of the issues raised in Baudrillard's texts.
For instance, Baudrillard differentiates between the 'real' as the world we perceive rationally and try to explain scientifically, and the notion of a 'true real' which hides behind the 'real' through illusion – defined as 'the radical impossibility of a real presence of things or beings, their definite absence from themselves.' 16 According to Baudrillard, 'it is not, then, the real which is the opposite of simulation [virtuality] – the real is merely a particular case of that simulation – but illusion.' 17
For Baudrillard, this illusion is vital to keep alive such notions as singularity, alterity, secret and seduction, which provide a necessary counterbalance to our, in his view, over-rationalised and (technologically) fully-realised world. 'Against this artificial paradise of technicity and virtuality, against the attempt to build a world completely positive, rational, and true, we must save the traces of the illusory world's definite opacity and mystery.' 18
In Baudrilllard's view, we are now faced with a fundamental extermination of this illusion, because through the omnipresence of virtual technologies we are moving towards a 'hyperrealist world where any direct experiences [of the world] are replaced by televised [computerised] images.' 19
As a very direct response to my reservations and my increasingly critical view on digital technology, I have created a series of apparently computer-controllable, networked toasters (Figs. 1 – 3). Essentially, the work aims to ridicule our obsession with computerising and automating an increasingly large part of our environment.
Finally, my most recent project, Cyber-Spatialism, is a series of canvases in which computer connectors are inserted (Figs. 4 - 5). The work refers to Luigi Fontana's (1899 – 1968) series of slashed canvases (Attese) and his concept of Spatialism (Concetto Spaziale), which is usually regarded as an attempt to overcome the illusionistic representation of space in painting by introducing physical space.
By substituting Fontana's slashes with computer connectors, Cyber-Spatialism implies an extension of the canvas into cyberspace, and thus attempts to address the notion, that in today's world physical space is increasingly being replaced by virtual space.
With regard to colour, pattern and relative dimensions, Cyber-Spatialism is closely based on Fontana's 'originals' in order to make the relation between the two series more perceptible (Fig. 4 – 6).
1. The term telesymbiosis is used in biological research and literally means 'symbiosis at a distance'. It has been adopted to describe the quasi-symbiotic relationships – between the physical world and the distant computer world – in UNCAGED. Admittedly, the term might be misleading as it is also used (synonymously with the term telepresence) in the context of Virtual Reality, where it refers to a person's feeling of being present in a virtual or remote environment.
2. cf. McEvoy, J.P. & Zarate, O., (1999), [1996], Introducing Quantum Theory, Duxford: Icon Books Ltd.
3. Wood, G., (2002), Living Dolls, London: Faber and Faber.
4. McLuhan, M., (1994), [1964], Understanding Media, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
5. Baudrillard, J., (1996), [1995], The Perfect Crime, London: Verso.
6. Baudrillard, J., (1996), [1995], The Perfect Crime, London: Verso.
7. Baudrillard, J., (1996), [1995], The Perfect Crime, London: Verso.
8. McLuhan, M., (1994), [1964], Understanding Media, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
9. Chion, M., (1994), Audio-Vision, New York: Columbia University Press.
10. Chion, M., (1994), Audio-Vision, New York: Columbia University Press.
11. Nuhn, R., Eaglestone, B.M., Ford, N., Moore, A., Brown, G., (2002), 'A Qualitative Analysis of Composers at Work', Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, 2002, Göteborg.
12. Ishii, H. and Ullmer, B., (1997), 'Tangible Bits: Towards Seamless Interfaces between People, Bits and Atoms', Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1997, Atlanta, Georgia.
13. Cf. Ishii, H., Mazalek, A., Lee, J., (2001), 'Bottles as a Minimal Interface to Access Digital Information', Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2001, Seattle, Washington.
14. Affordance is a property of an object that determines or indicates how that object can be used. Affordances may be actual physical properties, or perceived properties. The term was first introduced by psychologist James J. Gibson in 1966.
15. Heath, C. and Lehm, D., (2003), 'Misconstruing Interaction', Conference Proceedings: Interactive Learning in Museums of Art and Design, 2002, London.
16. Baudrillard, J., (2000), The Vital Illusion, New York: Columbia University Press.
17. Baudrillard, J., (1996), [1995], The Perfect Crime, London: Verso.
18. Baudrillard, J., (2000), The Vital Illusion, New York: Columbia University Press.
19. Baudrillard, J., (1993), [1990], The Transparency of Evil London: Verso.
Back to contents


text:
Ladies' (2)
Men's (1)
Bracelet (2)
Ring (1)
Diamond (2)
No Stone (1)
Gold (2)
Stainless Steel (1)
Learn more about:
Receive a $50 Offer When You Sign Up for Email*
No Thank You
*Valid for new registrations only.
A welcome email will be sent with your offer information.
Privacy Policy

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The search for a missing baseball fan who attended Monday's rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants was called off Tuesday, according to a San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman.
A 27-year old hispanic man, wearing a blue Dodgers jacket, may have fallen off San Francisco's Piers 30-32 into the bay nearby AT&T Park, police said.
A massive rescue attempt by San Francisco police, fire boats and a Coast Guard helicopter searched the water near the pier until Tuesday afternoon.
A friend told police he was in the car texting when the man stepped out of the car and walked towards the pier. When he looked up, the man was gone and he believed he fell into the water.
"He did not witness the fall," said Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge. "It was dark and I don't know if he could swim. If you are wearing clothes, you can get waterlogged pretty quickly.
"The tide was moving pretty quickly," she said. "He could have gotten dragged out a ways (into the Bay (or got caught on something (under water)."
Talmadge said there was no sign of foul play.
Daily Pitch is a baseball fan's destination for breaking news, emerging trends and enlightening banter. With a veteran group of reporters positioned in three time zones, we provide a balanced, comprehensive glimpse at our national pastime, with a nod to both the passion and complexities that make the sport irresistible to many. More about our reporters


text:
10 Things We Love About Chubs
As much as we appreciate the obvious benefits and abilities of a rock hard cock, there's something about a chub — a soft, malleable, half-erect penis — that makes it our second favorite penis form. Is it the shape? The texture? The fact that it hasn't committed to anything yet? The appeal of being able to decide if you want to have sex with it or play a game with it? Or maybe it's how open and accepting it is, like a baby animal innocently exploring the world for the first time? All of the above, really. One thing's for sure: in the grand hierarchy of penile potential, we don't think chubs get nearly enough credit. It's time to change that. Oh chubs, how do we love thee? Let us count the ways…
1. It's the perfect texture for naked jumping jacks. It's not so hard that it slaps his stomach, not so flaccid that it flops around like a garden hose.
2. It resembles one of those wiggly water toys that's so fun to squeeze. Or perhaps a whack-a-mole crawling out of a man's pudenda? Bottom line: it's ridiculously cute and so fun to play with.
3. You can stretch it out like a little skin accordion. This allows you to play the penis polka, which happens to be our favorite form of genital music.
4. You can have soft sex with it. Soft sex gets a bad rap, but every once in awhile, we think it's a fun alternative to, you know, regular-rock-hard-penis sex. It's gentle, silly, probably won't result in an orgasm, but hey, who doesn't love a stuff 'n snuggle?
5. You can put it in your mouth and wait for it to get hard. It's a weirdly sexy way of starting giving a blowjob.
6. It refuses to be condomed. In all of its ambiguity, this is one thing that's certain about the chub: it will kick off its condom the way a fussy baby kicks off its socks.
7. It's unpredictable. A chub is at the mid-point of penile hardness, and you never know which way it's going to go. It might get harder, or it might just fizzle into flaccidity. Either way, it gives you a nice transition between "I'm not interested in sex" and "I've got a boner, time to fuck!"
8. It's an ego boost. A chub is the penis's way of tipping its hat at your inherent sexiness. It just couldn't help itself.
9. It requires attention, but not too much attention. While a full-on boner begs to be satisfied, a chubs just wants to talk, hang out, it's cool with whatever.
10. It's harmless. Unlike its boner brethren, a chub is not gonna prod you in the back impatiently to wake you up, it's not gonna poke your cervix or get overexcited during sex and accidentally ram you in the asshole. It's just … there. Cute as a squishy, half-erect button.


text:
excels is a valid word in this word list. For a definition, see the external dictionary links below.
The word "excels" uses 6 letters: C E E L S X.
No direct anagrams for excels found in this word list.
Words formed by adding one letter before or after excels (in bold), or to ceelsx in any order:
u - culexes
Shorter words found within excels:
cee cees cel cels eel eels el els else es ex excel exec execs exes lee lees lex lexes sec see seel sel sex
List shorter words within excels, sorted by length
Words formed from any letters in excels, plus an optional blank or existing letter
Try a search for excels in these online resources (some words may not be found):
Wiktionary - OneLook Dictionaries - Merriam-Webster - Google Search
Each search will normally open in a new window.
List all words starting with excels, words containing excels or words ending with excels
All words formed from excels by changing one letter
Other words with the same letter pairs: ex xc ce el ls
Browse words starting with excels by next letter
Previous word in list: excelling
Next word in list: excelsior
Some random words: eel tho osmatic buhr vug hijack oaf
This is not a dictionary, it's a word game wordfinder.
- Help and FAQ - Examples - Home
Privacy and Cookies Policy - Share - © Copyright 2004-2017 Morewords.com - 16.955mS


text:
Trend Micro Incorporated, the global cloud security leader, is the major player leading the fast-growing Global Cloud Security Software market, according to TechNavio's Global Cloud Security Software Market report. [2]
The current overall TechNavio estimate for the global cloud security software market was valued at US$241 million in 2010 and is expected to reach US$963.4 million in 2014, growing at a CAGR of 41.4 percent. Of the four major players in the global security software market, Trend Micro leads with the greatest estimated market share. The TechNavio report points out that Trend Micro is able to dominate the market because of its diversified geographic reach, established customer base, and brand reputation. The company's partnerships with cloud and virtualization service provider, VMware, and partnerships with companies such as HP, Cisco, Dell, Microsoft Corp., Oracle, and Wipro, also were cited.
According to the TechNavio report: "The main drivers for the Global Cloud Security Software market are the growing use of cloud services for critical data storage and the sudden increase in cloud-specific attacks. Driven by multiple factors such as flexibility, cost saving, and availability, an increasing number of companies are transferring their data to the cloud."
"Trend Micro's dominance in the cloud security market is the product of the focus and dedication our company has poured into cloud security innovation, which has enabled us to extend the reach of the global cloud infrastructure while maximizing security, reducing complexity, and providing a better user experience," said Steve Quane, Chief Product Officer.
This recognition follows on the heels of Trend Micro being positioned as the leader in corporate endpoint server security and the leader in worldwide virtualization security management market by IDC's "Worldwide Endpoint Security 2011-2015 Forecast and 2010 Vendor Shares" and TechNavio's "Global Virtualization Security Management Solutions 2010-2012" reports positioning Trend Micro as the leader in corporate endpoint server security and the leader in worldwide virtualization security management market.
Within the virtualization and cloud space, Trend Micro offers two flagship products: Trend Micro SecureCloud and Trend Micro Deep Security.
Trend Micro SecureCloud provides data protection for public and private clouds and VMware vSphere virtual environments, using encryption with policy-based key management and unique server validation. This protection safely and easily secures sensitive data stored with leading cloud service providers keeping data private and helping companies meet regulatory compliance requirements.
Trend Micro Deep Security is designed to provide system and application security [3] across physical [4], virtual [5], and cloud environments [6]. Deep Security meets the challenging operational security and compliance needs of today's dynamic data center. It combines intrusion detection and prevention, web application protection, firewall, integrity monitoring, log inspection and anti-malware capabilities in a single, centrally managed enterprise software solution. Deep Security also provides the industry's first and only agentless security suite for VMware environments, enabling enterprises to attain even higher consolidation rates, faster performance, better manageability and stronger security.
TechNavio defines cloud security software as software that provides security to cloud-based services or cloud computing architectures. Cloud security software can be a standalone solution or a suite of products. It focuses on the security of key parameters such as compliance, governance, data protection, architecture, and identity and access. A typical cloud security solution offers features such as encryption, identity and access management (IAM), endpoint monitoring, vulnerability scanning, intrusion detection, and application and messaging security.
[1] https://www.albawaba.com/en/node/355857?nid=423213
[2] http://www.trendmicro.com/cloud-content/us/pdfs/business/reports/rpt_technavio-global-security-software-market.pdf
[3] http://us.trendmicro.com/us/products/enterprise/datacenter-security/deep-security/protection-modules/index.html
[4] http://us.trendmicro.com/us/solutions/enterprise/security-solutions/cloud-journey/physical/
[5] http://us.trendmicro.com/us/solutions/enterprise/security-solutions/cloud-journey/virtual/
[6] http://us.trendmicro.com/us/solutions/enterprise/security-solutions/cloud-journey/cloud/
[7] https://www.albawaba.com/wallis-marketing-consultants
[8] http://www.albawaba.com


text:
F1, Formula 1, NASCAR, IndyCar, MotoGP, ALMS, And More!
News Feeds
Le Mans
Sports Cars
Archives - New & Rumors
Photo Gallery
Photo Gallery
Photo Archive (Pre-2012)
Opportunities (Coming Soon!)
Aug 05, 2014 - 04:03 PM
Top News!
Rumors Edition!
Upcoming Racing! (Updated)
Top Stories
2014 Mid-Ohio: IndyCar Race Results - Dixon, Ganassi Win!
(Aug 3, 2014)
2014 Pocono II: NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Results - Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet Win!
(Aug 3, 2014)
2014 Mid-Ohio: IndyCar Starting Line-up & Race Preview
(Aug 3, 2014)
2014 Pocono II: NASCAR Sprint Cup Starting Line-up & Race Preview
(Aug 3, 2014)
2014 Iowa: NASCAR Nationwide Race Results - Keselowski, Ford Win!
(Aug 3, 2014)
Previous Top Stories!
Hot Rumors!
F1: No F1 'popularity' crisis meeting for now ?
(Aug 5, 2014)
F1: Indycar driver linked with Honda F1 test ?
(Aug 4, 2014)
F1: Ecclestone to keep F1 job after $100m court deal ?
(Aug 2, 2014)
F1: Lotus owner's losses, debts continue to worsen ?
(Aug 1, 2014)
F1: Mexico to be 'double points' finale in 2015 ?
(Jul 30, 2014)
More Rumors!
2014 Watkins Glen: Brennan Newberry NASCAR Nationwide Race Preview
Posted by: newsla on Aug 05, 2014 - 03:59 PM
2014 Watkins Glen: Brennan Newberry NASCAR Nationwide Race Preview
Events Summary:
Series: NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
Race:13 of 16 - Friday, August 8th, 2014 - 6:15 ET
Driver: Brennan Newberry
Team: NTS Motorsports
Car: No.24 Qore-24 Chevrolet Impala
Driver's Point Standings: 15th (-155)
Track: Watkins Glen (New York) International
Event: Bully Hill Vineyards 125
Distance: 51 Laps - 124.95 Miles
Series: NASCAR Nationwide Series
Race: 21 of 33 - Saturday, August 9th, 2014 - 2:15 ET
Driver: Brennan Newberry
Team: SS-Green Light Racing
Car: No.55 Qore-24 Chevrolet Camaro
Owner's Point Standings: 26th (-487)
Track: Watkins Glen (New York) International
Event: Zippo 200
Distance: 82 Laps - 200.9 Miles
⢠For the 12th race of the 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) season, Brennan Newberry will make his first career start at Watkins Glen (New York) International for the season's first "Road Course" event. In addition, Brennan will be performing double duty at The Glen, making his 2nd ever NASCAR Nationwide Series start after his debut earlier this season at Loudon, New Hampshire, driving for SS-Green Light Racing in the No.55 Qore-24 Chevrolet Camaro.
⢠This will be Newberry's first start in the NNS and NKNPSE on a road course. Brennan raced at Sonoma Raceway in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and also competed at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, both starts came in 2013 for NTS Motorsports.
⢠John Monsam will serve as crew chief for Brennan Newberry and the No.24 Qore-24 NTS Motorsports team. John has 3 prior starts atop the pit box at Watkins Glen in the NNS.
⢠Jason Miller will once again serve as crew chief for Brennan Newberry and the No.55 Qore-24 SS-Green Light team, Jason and Brennan worked together during their start in Loudon, New Hampshire in July of this year. This will be Jason's first time serving as Crew Chief at Watkins Glen in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
⢠On track activity for The Bully Hill Vineyards 125
⢠will begin on Friday, August 8th, with dual practice sessions at 8:00AM and 11:00AM ET. Qualifying will begin at 3:40PM with the green flag for the race scheduled for6:15PM ET. A tape-delayed broadcast of the event will air on FOX Sports 1 onSunday, August 17th, at 9:00AM ET.
⢠The NASCAR Nationwide Series will take to the track on Friday, August 8th, for practice at 12:30 PM and 2:10PM CT, both sessions will be broadcast LIVE on FOX Sports 1. On Saturday, Knockout Qualifying will begin at 9:40AM and will air on ESPN2. The Zippo 200 is scheduled to take the green flag at 2:15PM and will air LIVE on ABC.
⢠For LIVE updates from Watkins Glen International and a look behind the scenes follow @TeamNTS, @TeamNTS9_24, and @BrennanNewberry on Twitter.
Track Twitter: @WGI Event Hashtags: #Bully125 - #Zippo200
From the Driver's Seat with Brennan Newberry:
"I cannot describe how much I am looking forward to my full weekend at Watkins Glen International. If making my debut around the track in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series wasn't enough, I also have the opportunity to race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event as well. I have to thank Bobby Dotter and SS-Green Light racing for putting together a great Chevrolet Camaro for me this weekend. As always, I have to thank NTS Motorsports and my entire family for their support, hard work and dedication. I am very blessed and thankful that I have such a great sponsor in Qore-24, and I am excited that I will be able to give them double the exposure this weekend at The Glen."
From the Box with Crew Chief John Monsam (NKNPSE):
"This week all of the NTS Motorsports No.24 guys have put in extra hours to make sure we are ready to go when we unload at Watkins Glen International this weekend. As always, I am excited to get to the track with Brennan and continue working our way toward our first win together. I enjoy racing at Watkins Glen, it's definitely a challenge but I have complete confidence in my guys and their ability to get us to the front."
From the Box with Crew Chief Jason Miller (NNS):
"I am really looking forward to working with Brennan again this weekend after we had such a great showing at Loudon last month. I think the future is bright for him and his career and I am proud to be a part of that. I have to say thank you to Bobby Dotter and the entire SS-Green Light Racing for giving us a great Qore-24 Chevrolet Camaro to work with for this weekend's NASCAR Nationwide Series event."
Track Facts:
⢠Watkins Glen International
⢠11-Turn 2.45 Mile Road Course
⢠Asphalt Racing Surface
⢠Established on the streets of Watkins Glen, New York in 1948.
PaddockTalk Perspective
Also in NASCAR News:
Truex Jr. Riding a Road Course High at Watkins Glen
2014 Watkins Glen: Elliott Sadler NASCAR Nationwide Race Preview
2014 Watkins Glen: Mike Bliss NASCAR Nationwide Race Preview
2014 Watkins Glen: Carlos Contreras NASCAR Nationwide Race Preview
WGI to Offer Multiple NASCAR Autograph Sessions
After Test, Almirola and No. 43 Team Armed To Compete at Watkins Glen
Ambrose Leads the Pack at the Glen
Left, Right, Shift, and Hard Braking has Gaulding Pumped for The Glen
Defending Springfield Mile Dirt ARCA Winner Brennan Poole Right At Home
Armstrong Looks to Rally on Road Courses at Watkins Glen
Pena Scores Top-5 In Return to Iowa
17-Year-Old Lira Returns To Scene Of ARCA Debut
Ragan Warming Up to the Glen after Career Finish in 2013
Gilliland and Kerr Geared Up for Road Racing
Turner Scott Motorsports NKNPSE Preview: Watkins Glen International
Dover International Speedway Introduces Reward Our Troops Program
Ben Rhodes No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet Preview
2014 Pocono II: Dale Earnhardt Jr. NASCAR Sprint Cup Post-Race Press Conference
2014 Pocono II: Kevin Harvick NASCAR Sprint Cup Post-Race Press Conference
2014 Pocono II: Chevrolet NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Recap
Related links
NASCAR Edition
Top PaddockTalk News!
NASCAR Rumors
More about NASCAR News
Most read story in NASCAR News:
2012 Daytona 500: LIVE Weather Update - Race Postponed Until Monday
All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner.
The comments are property of their posters, all the rest (c) 2003-2014 by PaddockTalk.com.
Contact E-mail:
[email protected]


text:
Dear Friends,
Would you sell your belongings to pay for gas to drive to a job interview? Can you imagine being forced to decide between eating breakfast or taking a critical medication? For far too many people today, this is not imaginary. This is reality.
Millions of unemployed people in New Hampshire and across our country are struggling just to get by because the unemployment insurance that helps THEM make ends meet has not been extended.
This is simply unacceptable.
Especially when Republicans in Congress could relieve the pain of millions right now by passing an extension of unemployment insurance. But instead of helping, congressional Republicans are obstructing.
Please join me, Governor Hassan and the Democratic Governors Association in demanding that Republicans in Congress pass an extension of unemployment insurance.
In New Hampshire alone, 1,100 people, including moms and dads, are going without money they depend on to feed their kids, pay for medicine and keep a roof above their heads. Across America, this number could climb to 4.5 million people.
This is why we are standing together to ask for your help to get this done. Granite State families cannot afford to wait any longer.
Add your voice: demand that Republicans in Congress end their obstructionism and pass an extension of unemployment insurance.


text:
Vienna (Oct. 28)
Conflict of Two Parties Has Anti-Semitic Background (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
The fight between the Austrian Social Democrats and the Christlich Soziale, which has an anti-Semitic background, was transferred yesterday to parliament.
An anti-Semitic debate developed in parliament when the Social Democrats charged the Christlich Soziale with selling Austrian land to Czech Jews who, they asserted, are instrumental in imposing a Czech character on the border territory of lower Austria.
The speaker of the house, who belongs to the Christlich Soziale party, protested against the use by the Social Democrats of the derogatory term, "gesindel" in relation to Jewish land owners in Austria.


text:
Home > Entertainment > TV & Radio > Article
There have been 30 weeks of official audience surveys in Melbourne this year, and Channel Nine has won all of them. Nine dominates evening viewing to such an extent that in the current negotiations with the advertising industry over the prices to be paid to screen commercials in 2004, it is demanding some of the biggest rate rises in television history. For example, it is understood that companies wanting to have their products associated with next year's series of The Block will have to pay more than $2 million each.
But while Nine dominates the ratings, it does not always win. For example, the first episode of the new series of the ABC comedy Kath & Kim thrashed This Is Your Life, traditionally one of Nine's star performers, last Thursday. Nationally, Kath & Kim was the seventh most-watched program of the week, with 1,726,273 viewers, while This Is Your Life came in 38th with 1,227,016. In Melbourne Kath & Kim had 557,525 viewers, compared to 325,561 for This Is Your Life.
Nine's controlling shareholder Kerry Packer must be regretting his network's decision not to bid more aggressively for its share of the TV rights to AFL football. Channel Ten paid more than Nine and snared the rights for five years to all of the AFL finals, restricting Nine to coverage of the home-and-away season. Now Ten is reaping the rewards. Saturday night's Sydney-Brisbane preliminary final was the third most-watched program in Melbourne last week, with an average audience of 678,668 viewers and a peak audience of 837,292. Nationally it averaged 1,642,767. The Collingwood-Port Adelaide match on Saturday afternoon averaged 1,160,989 nationally and 471,963 in Melbourne.
The value of those rights to the AFL finals is highlighted by the gap between the ratings for the two preliminary finals and the National Rugby League finals, which are televised by Nine. The Sydney-Brisbane game on Ten was the ninth most popular program on Australian TV last week, the highest-rating NRL final came 88th with 811,670 viewers, only 36,667 of whom were in Melbourne.
Those headaches aside, however, Nine continues to control Melbourne viewing. Last week it had 31.1 per cent of night-time viewers, well ahead of Ten on 25.2 and Seven on 24.3. The ABC had 15.7 per cent of the audience. SBS had 3.6. Despite the success of Kath & Kim and the football, Nine had eight of Melbourne's top 10 programs, with the Sunday night news topping the chart for the 15th time this year.
One of the most interesting results came on Monday when Who Wants To Be a Millionaire averaged 663,576 viewers, thrashing Alias on Seven (390,383) and, more importantly, Ten's new Melbourne-made melodrama CrashBurn (243,868). The dwindling support for CrashBurn has forced Ten to move it to 9.30pm from next week, making way for the latest US reality fad, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, at 8.30pm.
|Print this article Email to a friend
|text | handheld (how to)
membership |
conditions |
Copyright © 2003. The Age Company Ltd
|advertise | contact us


text:
|Main Index
|ME Index
|How To Support RootsWeb
Sagadahoc County, Maine USGenWeb
Descendants of Thomas and Deborah (?) Skillings of Cumberland Co, ME - Genealogical database of all known descendants of Thomas and Deborah Skillings
Descendants of Andrew Brown, Sr, Settler of Black Point, ME - Genealogical database of all known descendants of Andrew Brown, Sr
Descendants of Claude Prunier of Malzeville, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France - Genealogical database of all known descendants of Claude Prunier
Higgins of Maine Genealogy - Higgins, Rice, Purinton & Goodwin surnames
Maine Genealogy - Online Maine genealogy databases, births, deaths, cemeteries, marriages, and cit ... <<snip>>
Maine Cemeteries - Burial records of persons interred in Maine cemeteries are indexed here.
Maine Military Records - Online records of Maine military service men and women
Maine Census Records - Shows you where to find online Maine census records.
See Also:
Obituary Daily Times
RootsWeb Surname List (RSL)


text:
Authors I'm particularly fond of right now: Jane Austen, Terry Pratchett, Stephen Fry, JRR Tolkien, Agatha Christie.
Movies: If forced, I'll always always answer The Truman Show, but I also have a well-documented fondness for 80s blockbusters and quirky comedies.
Shows: For mindless entertainment, British panel shows. Apart from that I only really follow 30 Rock and Elementary right now, but I've been meaning to catch up on "Torka aldrig tårar utan handskar", and I don't mind the occasional Project Runway episode.
Music: Well, I like jazz (just not smooth jazz or the really experimental stuff), and the Beatles. Right now I'm listening a lot to Mumford and Sons and Phillip Glass, but the truth is that I like a bit of everything. The only genres that I don't like anything at all in is svensktopp and heavy metal.


text:
What happens when technological innovation transforms ordinary sex toys for men? The answer is simple: Men experience more pleasure in less time, with less effort, and for greater periods of time. So it's no real surprise that the Cyberskin Power Stroker 100X has become such a popular stroker toy. Hey, this energetic masturbation sleeve is remarkably computer compatible! Plug the USB cable (included) into your computer - or rely on its battery operated system for power.
Are you a nighttime Internet surfer, looking for all of Jesse Jane's, Stormy Daniels', and Sydnee Steele's erotic clips? Plug in your new companion into your computer and watch your favorite naughty clips while feeling the Cyberskin Power Stroker 100X's pulsating tightness massage your penis. Pleasure, with style and power - it doesn't get much better.
This versatile sex toy is designed with 100 different vibration and pulsation programs - with each program creating truly unique sensations, offering men many different stimulation options. Change functionality modes according to your mood and stimulation preferences by using its nifty hand controller, which is easier to operate than other hand controllers. The sleeve is made of skin-like, soft Cyberskin material that enhances stroking movements, mimicking the sensations experienced during sex.
This vibrating sex toy grabbed my attention immediately: "Wait ... so someone manufactures a pulsating masturbation sleeve that plugs directly into my USB port? You have me at 'hello' and so much more. I am all over this review assignment." That was my initial response when I had this stroker sex toy sitting in my hand, reading the informational booklet. There aren't many masturbation toys for men like it, so I eagerly volunteered to review it.
I had high expectations for the Cyberskin Power Stroker 100X. Did it live up to my expectations? Or exceed them? Phew! Yes, this vibrating stroker met all my expectations and even surprised me with all its many different programs. I hadn't really considered the programs its best feature, but in the end, those vibration and pulsation programs are exactly what a guy like me needs. I get bored with the same old sensations, so 100 different programs comes in handy.
Since it is computer compatible, I don't worry much about batteries. And though I am embarrassed to admit it, I enjoy searching the Internet for my favorite darling adult actresses. The two - this toy and Internet adult clips - fit together, and it makes masturbation more enjoyable and convenient. As excited as I was about its computer compatibility, I also got a kick out of its unbelievably soft sleeve texture. I'll never say it feels like the real thing, but this type of texture must be the closest to the real thing.
The manufacturer created an intuitive, common sense hand controller that doesn't complicate masturbation with strange placement of buttons or with the presence of too many controller options. I might like technological innovation in my sex toys, but that doesn't mean I am a hip, savvy tech expert. I am, in fact, somewhat slow at adapting to technology's widening arms, so I like this toy's controller simplicity. Keep it simple, but keep me stimulated - a motto that I live by, if possible.
|Battery Info:
|4 AA batteries and USB cable included.
Internet viewing is a hobby of mine, especially viewing "those" websites. So, naturally, when I read the editorial review and it mentioned the enhancement of internet porn, I immediately investigated the Power Stroker 100x. I read reviews all over the place. No one had given it poor grades. I went ahead and purchased it.
I used the USB port the very first day. I went to my favorite website, pulled the lube out, and went to a hard day's work. I had no idea the vibrations would feel as good as they did - or do. I prefer the random programming, because I don't have to mess with the controls as much. The smooth feeling of this male masturbation toy surprised me. I expected it to be soft and all, yet, I didn't expect the inside lining to be as smooth. It does have small bumps that give it a unique feeling, but my penis slid in and out as if it was lubed more than it was.


text:
Visit the
Medical Education (e-learning) PgCert/PgDip/MSc
page on the Cardiff University website for more details!
The course has contributed significantly to my teaching role as a surgical practitioner in many ways. The teaching techniques I have learned have dramatically changed my approach to education delivery in all aspects of my working life. I see training opportunities at many more varied levels and situations and am learning methods to exploit these in productive and imaginative ways. The feedback from students is extremely positive. I began the course as an enthusiastic yet unconsciously unskilled teacher, but now feel my enthusiasm has been harnessed and directed towards meaningful competency that will result in life-long educational skills which I will be able to give back to future generations. Training has become an exciting, innovative aspect of my working life rather than a chore and I can only thank the Medical Education course for this.
"For my research project, the final part of the MSc course, I chose to evaluate the PgDip/MSc Pain Management course, which I was developing as part of my role as a lecturer within the Department of Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine. I chose to evaluate the course from a qualitative perspective as during previous courses, I had only undertaken quantitative research. The fact that the assignments and dissertation could be tailored to facilitate changes in practice was very valuable. The successful completion of the MSc in Medical Education led to a personal promotion to that of a senior lecturer and through my endeavours at improving pain management through education, I won Welsh Woman of the Year."
"This scholarship package will give high-calibre students the opportunity to study at a world-leading, research-intensive university and help ease the associated financial burdens."Professor Colin Riordan, Vice-ChancellorWe are pleased to announce that the Taught Master's Excellence Scholarship Scheme for 2016/17 entry has been confirmed.We are committed to invest up to a total of £500,000 in this high value competitive scholarship scheme to support UK and EU students who are planning to start an eligible master's programme in September 2016.The scholarships are each worth a minimum of £3,000 and will be awarded in the form of a tuition fee discount.Scholarships will be awarded based on academic excellence.
Cardiff University
Find A Masters.
Copyright 2005-2017
All rights reserved.


text:
The North Face Chilkat II Winter Boots - Waterproof, Insulated (For Men)
Item #5677Y
About The North Face Chilkat II Winter Boots - Waterproof, Insulated (For Men)
Closeouts. The North Face Chillkat II winter boots boast a snow-and-slush beating waterproof shell design, with 200g Heatseeker insulation that offers a comfort rating of -25°F.
- Waterproof construction and materials keep feet warm and dry
- Waterproof, BLC-compliant nubuck upper
- Anatomically engineered, patented, waterproof TPR rubber shell foot with molded grooves to enhance flexibility
- 200g Heatseeker insulation is soft and warm
- Removable comfort insole
- Gaiter-compatible D-ring on instep
- Compression-molded EVA midsole
- Durable, grippy TNF Winter Grip® outsole with temperature-sensitive IcePick® traction lugs
- IcePick® lugs offer extra grip on winter surfaces
- Comfort rated to -25°F
- Half sizes order up
- Made in Viet Nam
- Visit our Winter Boot Guide
- US shipments only
Specs about The North Face Chilkat II Winter Boots - Waterproof, Insulated (For Men)
- Waterproof (All),Insulated
- Waterproof materials: Waterproof materials and construction
- Gusseted tongue
- Insulation: 200g HeatSeeker®
- Upper: Suede
- Lining: Textile
- Removable insole
- Midsole: Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA)
- Outsole: Rubber
- Height: 7"
- Heel height: 1-1/2"
- Weight (pair): 3 lb. 2 oz.
- Half sizes order up
- Made in Viet Nam
- Visit our Winter Boot Guide
- US shipments only
Do you own this product? Write a review and help others with their buying decisions!
4.375000 5 Overall Rating: 4.4 Based on 8 reviews
Most Helpful 5-Star Review
Reviewed by Mike from kentwood, michigan on Saturday, March 30, 2013
I like it, good services.
Your search for "" returned reviews for The-North-Face-Chilkat-II-Winter-Boots-Waterproof-Insulated-For-Men
Reviewed by Dry Joe from Wisconsin on Friday, May 3, 2013Great quality. My first "North Face" product ever. Younger family members have purchased North Face previously. Great durable construction & winter snow/slush traction. Wish boots were just a bit wider; hopefully rubber will stretch. Wear size 12-13 (depending on boot/shoe). Ordered 13s. Overall satisfied (quality product for price)!
Reviewed by Mike from kentwood, michigan on Saturday, March 30, 2013I like it, good services.
Reviewed by David from Colorado on Thursday, March 28, 2013these are nicely made boots, comfortable and quite warm, even without thick socks. The soles have a grippy rubber compound that is pretty secure on ice (or as much as one can expect). The toe box is pretty low volume, and they fit snugly (and I have really narrow feet), although they might pack out over time. I would imagine these might not fit someone with wide feet well.
Reviewed by Lyra S. from Massachusetts on Friday, March 22, 2013I bought these boots for my boyfriend because he works outside and always has wet feet from fall until spring. He finds them super comfortable, and I'm only giving them a 4 star because of the sizing. These definitely run SMALL! He usually wears a 10 1/2, so after reading other people's reviews about the sizing I ordered him an 11. Even these were tight, so we exchanged for a size 12 (STP didn't carry the 1/2 sizes, or they don't make them). The 12 fits great, especially if wearing some thick, warm socks. Overall he loves them.
Reviewed by Yang from Michigan on Thursday, March 14, 2013These are excellent snowboots that are easy to walk around in. However, order one size larger than you would normally wear as the padding inside the boot make it a snug fit.
Question & Answer
Questions about this product? Get answers from community and staff experts.
"I typically wear a size 8.5 in all my shoes.
Will a size 9 be big enough or would 10 be better ?
What is your return /exchange policy ?
Our sizing recommendation is for half sizes to order up, so a 9 should fit. At Sierra we have a 100% satisfaction guarantee so if you are not happy with your purchase for any reason, please return it to us as soon as possible. Products purchased within 6 months of the order date will receive a refund by the original payment method. For returns on purchases over 6 months old, a gift card will be issued. For more about returns: Use this link to our returns & exchanges pages.
"Hi,|Please confirm the shoe size available/mention in your webside.|Is it US size or the Indian/UK size.|I waiting for your revert to finalize my sippment."
The sizes are US men's sizes.


text:
All Products > Appliances > Other
Product Information:
These Singer sewing machine needles are precision manufactured and have colour coded shanks for easy identification. In a standard point size 100, use them on heavier weight, natural, woven fabrics.
Pack contains 5 needles.
Rating: Rate this item
See more from Other Appliances


text:
Pratt, Dave and Noss, Richard (2010) Designing for mathematical abstraction. International Journal of Computers for Mathematical Learning, 15 (2). pp. 81-97. ISSN 1382-3892. DOI UNSPECIFIED
PDF (Pratt2010Designing81.pdf)
Pratt2010Designing81.pdf - Other
Download (381Kb) | Preview
|Item Type:
|Additional Information:
|In this paper, published in a prestigious international journal, we revisit data set out in 2002, where we proposed a model for the micro-evolution of mathematical knowledge. In this publication, we foreground the design of the software, including a novel heuristic in which the designer develops representations of target knowledge that can be used as controls over the software. We articulate in detail the design process, demonstrating a dialectic relationship in which not only does the design shape learning in the conventional sense but also learning shapes design. The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com
|IOE Departments > Departments > Geography, Enterprise, Mathematics and Science
IOE Departments > Departments > Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment
IOE Departments > Departments > London Knowledge Lab
|Depositing User:
|IOE Repository Editor (1)
|Date Deposited:
|10 Nov 2011 10:38
|Last Modified:
|29 Jan 2015 08:45


text:
amBar Bangkok operates daily from 4:00pm - 12:00am, is located eight stories up on the rooftop of Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok offering a relaxed atmosphere. A mix of modern and comfortable couches and beds create the perfect place for watching the sun set while at the rooftop bar. If you're looking for the best nightlife in Bangkok – better head to amBar!
Let's have special hour together with amHour. Special prices on selected drinks Wine, Beers, Cocktails, and Spirits. Available daily from 8pm - 10pm.
ENJOY FREE FLOW: Sparkling wine for 2 hours THB 999 : Per person available daily from 4 pm - 12 am


text:
The way Princeton school bus drivers make their 13 stops along Highway 95 could change in the weeks ahead as the school district continues working with the State Patrol to set a new policy for bus stops on this busy, two-lane highway.
The subject of forming a new policy came up at the April 1 Princeton School Board meeting.
But according to Tim Wilhelm, manager of the Palmer Bus Co., the school district's transportation provider, this move to revise the district's transportation policy this way started 18 months ago. The goal, according to Wilhelm, is to set a "consistent policy" for how buses stop along Highway 95 to pick up or drop off students. The desired changes include having only right-side stops and pulling onto the shoulder of the highway and activating a four-light system.
The proposed policy change also includes pulling onto the shoulder and activating the four lights during certain stops within city limits. Wilhelm talked about the subject on April 4, during which he explained that the in-city stops have to do with picking up and dropping off some special needs students.
If the student requires a wheelchair, that can take much longer at the bus stop and if the bus is parked on the driving lane during that time with the stop arm extended and red lights flashing, motorists can get frustrated and impatient waiting, Wilhelm said.
It's that impatience that may have encourage some drivers to drive against the extended bus stop arm at times, Wilhelm said.
During the April 1 School Board meeting, Superintendent Julia Espe and Director of Business Services Michelle Czech mentioned eight-light and four-light activations. Espe explained that the current procedure for busing Princeton students along Highway 95 is to use the eight-light activation, and Czech said the desire is to go with four-light stops on the shoulder of Highway 95 "in certain situations."
Wilhelm explained that the eight-light system begins with two amber lights on each of the back and front ends of the bus on top oscillating back and forth 300 feet before the bus is to stop, for a total of four lights activated. Then when the bus comes to a stop, the driver activates the red flashing lights on the front and back on top. Those four lights added to the four previous flashing amber lights equal the eight lights activated to make the stop. When the red flashers go on, a red stop sign is also extended from the left front side of the bus. During all of this time, the bus is stopped in a traffic lane and drivers coming from either direction are prohibited by law from driving past the stopped bus.
Bus drivers are trained to look for license plate numbers of violators and turn in the information for law enforcement notification.
Wilhelm explained that the four-light stop means the lower flashing lights, two on the back and two on the front, are activated when the bus is pulled off the road and stopped.
Wilhelm also explained that right side stops means a bus stops on the same side as the student's residence so the student stays on the right side of the bus and doesn't cross over the highway to the left.
Goals for the highway
Wilhelm noted it is already law that school buses are to pull off the road when stopping on a four-lane road. The goal of the Minnesota Highway Patrol and school districts with bus stops along Highway 95 is to have a consistent policy on these bus stops, Wilhelm said.
The push for changes is hastened by the many incidents over the years of motorists driving against the extended stop arm and flashing red lights, and one such situation occurred on a Princeton route the afternoon of April 3, according to Wilhelm. He said it was on a Sherburne County road in Baldwin Township and a driver shot by the bus from the opposite direction.
Espe told the School Board that Princeton is collaborating with Cambridge to set a new policy that will designate how each stop is to be done along Highway 95. Wilhelm added that it will ultimately involve all the school districts along Highway 95 from St. Cloud on east to as far as Stillwater.
District working on new policy for how buses stop along Highway 95
The way Princeton school bus drivers make their 13 stops along Highway 95 could change in the weeks ahead as the school district continues working with the State Patrol to set a new policy for bus stops on this busy, two-lane highway.


text:
Name: Ronnie Town, 50, of Marmora, Upper Township
Education: Absegami High School, University of Delaware
Family: Single; grew up in Atlantic County
Company: Atlantic City Electric
Position: Senior public affairs manager
I'm a community liaison, developing relationships with key stakeholders, customers, and government officials, including municipal, county, and state officials.
I address daily inquiries from that group of people and follow up on their requests. They might want to know why their streetlight is out, when a meter is going to be installed in their new home, and why their electric is out.
We have a speaker's bureau program where we go out and inform customers about our storm restoration process, energy efficiency, or our future plans. So I might speak to the Rotary and other groups.
Another role is to coordinate our community presence plan. We strategically determine what relationships we want to establish in our eight counties.
We can't be everywhere, so we have to figure out how everything fits in with our company. I chair the committee that makes the decisions on contributions and donations throughout our service area.
Our key role is emergency management, which could be involved after a pole accident or a storm.
I've never heard my phone ring so much for seven days as when the big snowstorm hit Cape May County a couple of years ago.
Entry: I started in customer service doing dispatching and such. I've worked on the operations side, including in Atlantic City. I came to this position after a variety of promotions during my 27 years here.
Atlantic City Electric sponsored a team at the Walk to Defeat ALS on the Ocean City Boardwalk in September in memory of two of our employees, Ed Town, my late husband, and Herb Chalk.
I led the team and we were the top corporate fundraisers with more than $5,000. The event was founded by the Goudie family of Ocean City.
About me: I like walking the Ocean City Boardwalk, cooking, and travel. I love Italy and have been there twice. I do a lot of volunteer work, including for the Child Placement Review Board for 25 years. I'm also the immediate past chair of the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce.


text:
Please fill out the fields below and submit the form.
Some information is required and marked with asterisks.
You will not be able to submit the form without filling the required fields.
Please make sure that Email and Verify Email should match with each other.
© 2014 Antioch University New England | 40 Avon Street, Keene, NH 03431-3516 | 800-553-8920


text:
Costless Signalling in Financial Markets
- Abstract
- Full Text PDF
- Author(s): CÜNTER FRANKE
- Published: Apr 30, 2012
- Pages: 809-822
- DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1987.tb03913.x
A costless, fully revealing signalling equilibrium is derived from two easily understandable conditions. The outsider‐rationality condition states that the outsiders relate the price that they offer to pay for a security inversely to the supply of this security, which they interpret as a quality signal. The no‐arbitrage condition requires that the marginal exchange rate for two securities be the same in both primary and secondary markets. These conditions restrict the firm's financing policy and have strong implications for the valuation of securities and of the total firm. A costless signalling equilibrium is obtained.


text:
1. Type gpedit.msc in the Start Search box and hit Enter.
2. Click Continue when the UAC prompt appears.
3. Navigate to the following policy location:
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Event Log Service
4. Look under Application, Security, Setup or System to configure settings for the log desired.
5. Enable the following policy setting:
Back up log automatically when full
Note that you should also disable the following policy if you are going to configure the above setting:
Retain old events
If you do this, then when the event log becomes full, the event log file is closed by Vista, renamed, and a new event log file is created.
Mitch Tulloch, MVP


text:
For me every day is a gift, so no other gift is as important. However, there are 10 other important gifts which would make my life near perfection.
1. To be given the cure for my diabetes. Though I am very healthy otherwise, I have inherited diabetes from my mother and grandmother and sometimes it can be debilitating. It would be lovely to wake up one day and not have to worry about its stability and progress.
2. Being with a wonderful guy I can call the 'love of my life', whoever he is!
3. Long life and good health so that I can carry on my work and innovations for quite a long time. Apparently we are capable of living up to 1000 years. I am not greedy, just 250 years would do nicely, thank you, so long as friends and relatives are a alive with me too!
4. The gift of perfect vision. It would be great not to have to wear glasses or contact lens, especially as I use my eyes so much in my work.
5. A photographic memory for everything I read. I am such a voracious eater of knowledge, I wish I had more time to simply absorb all the knowledge I can each day. Just being able to snap everything like a camera and store it would save so much hassle, especially when memory fails!
6. Having my young sister back. She died unexpectedly at 36 years old leaving three young children. It is always heartrending when someone dies so young with all their life ahead of them. I am sure she would be thrilled to see how her oldest daughter has turned out.
7. The gift of Love. We can never have too much love for ourselves and others and I would like even more to share with the world when my natural fallible store is exhausted!!
What are the TOP gifts that would matter most to you?


text:
Mikami's contribution is clearly the gunplay, which is tight and satisfying, bearing the hallmarks of his work. It lifts Resident Evil 4's over-the-shoulder viewpoint with a lock-to-aim trigger squeeze. But there are no pondering animations here to slow the pace, and it's a simple button-press to snap into a 180-degree turn while aiming down the barrel of your weapon.
However, while character control is comparably tight, Shadows of the Damned is a far looser and ropier experience than Resident Evil 4 when it comes to the fights themselves. Decapitating an enemy with a headshot is accompanied by a lingering slow-motion camera, but these skittish enemies are far less satisfying to extinguish than Los Ganados, and the giant, glowing red weak spots on each and every boss lack the elegance of Mikami's more solemn output.
Each gun can deploy a 'light shot' as well as standard fire, a type of ammunition that will momentarily freeze enemies as well as dispelling darkness if used to light up one of the goat-head street lamps. Darkness damages Hotspur, so is used to construct a series of puzzles, many of which must be solved while battling enemies. The satisfying rhythm of upgrading weaponry (improving power, reload times and capacity) is heightened by more substantial visual upgrades that occur when you defeat key bosses and, by the end of the game, you are starting to feel like the badass Hotspur so readily professes to be.
But the graceless enemy animations and their repetitious designs are among the things holding this game back from being the triumph it could have been. Likewise, the lock-and-key puzzles soon lose their freshness, especially as the stream of new mechanics and ideas slows to a trickle in the second half of the game. There are only so many times you can hunt out a strawberry to feed to a lock, or laboriously shoot and explode sticky bombs around the edges of a fractured wall in order to progress.
Although the game's components fail to inspire in isolation, together they provide a breezy, enjoyable ride. There's just enough variety on offer to keep you driving forward, and the snack-sized chapters make the game difficult to put down. As with all of Suda's games, the wilful absurdity sometimes reeks of trying too hard - while the use of various types of hard liquor as health items is plainly trying too hard - but there's just enough gold amongst the chaff to make the farce believable, and ensure the game can appeal to a wider audience than tittering schoolboys.
For example, there's Christopher, a hulking demon with two rows of razor teeth and a camp redneck accent, from whom you can purchase ammo or weapon upgrade crystals. Or there are the firework stations into which you thrust your Johnson torch in order to light up the sky and ward off the sapping darkness. There are the yakety-sax sections where you're chased at high speed by a zombified version of the girl you're trying to save. And there's the pot-bellied demon boss that incessantly screams 'f***********k yoooooou' as a battle cry before turning into a giant eagle and shooting feather daggers at you.
These ideas are one-offs. They haven't been plundered from a rival series, and they won't be making an appearance in any other EA titles scheduled this year. Uniqueness alone isn't cause for celebration - but when combined with competence and the odd flash of inspiration, it can make up for other shortfalls.
Shadows of the Damned lacks the polish of Mikami's Capcom work, showing a rough edge that its creators no doubt hope communicates their punk attitude to game development, but really just comes across as a bit shoddy. But at a time when few publishers of EA's stature are willing to take genuine risks, its uniqueness is welcome and interesting. And as a celebration of the puerile, it leaves Duke Nukem Forever standing, staring longingly at its tit bridge.
7 / 10


text:
21 Iraqi police shot dead in massacre
Page Tools
Twenty-one policemen were shot dead, execution style, when an armed gang stormed a police station today in a town in the restive Iraqi province of Al-Anbar, a police officer said.
Several dozen gunmen attacked the police station in Haditha, 200km west of Baghdad, said the police officer from the town.
"The attackers disarmed the police, gathered them together and then shot them dead," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The gang stole weapons and vehicles from the police station before making their escape, he said, adding that some 40 policemen were usually based there.
Al-Anbar province is also home to the rebel-held cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, around which thousands of US and Iraqi troops have gathered as expectations mount of an all-out assault to regain control.
Seen as collaborating with the US-led military, Iraq's fledgling security forces are a top target in an insurgency that has raged in the aftermath of last year's invasion.
An apparently coordinated torrent of car bombs and clashes against police and local government targets in the restive city of Samarra yesterday left at least 33 people dead.
The attacks further undermined efforts by the US-backed interim government to restore peace to the country in time for elections planned for January.


text:
VATICAN CITY -- Young people can send Pope Benedict XVI a Christmas greeting personalized with a photograph and they can send their friends electronic Christmas cards featuring a message from the pope.
The Vatican's special Web site for young people -- www.pope2you.net -- has been doing a brisk business since it was launched last May and already visitors can see more than 300 of the photographic Christmas greetings that have been sent to the pope.
Archbishop Claudio Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, which designed and maintains the site, told Vatican Radio that it was natural for a site that wanted to bring the pope and young people closer together to make an extra effort at Christmas.
"We wanted to ensure that in this Christmas season there could be a livelier, more beautiful, more profound" encounter between the pope and young people, he said.
Archbishop Celli said that since the site launched, people have used it to send more than 200,000 e-cards to their friends. And that was before his office designed the Christmas cards: four images with quotes from Pope Benedict's speeches. Each of the four cards is available in English, Spanish, Italian, German and French.
The Pope2You site includes a link for sending a Christmas greeting to the pope and for uploading a message and photograph to the "Pope2You -- Christmas Cards' photo stream" on Flickr, a photo-sharing Web site. By midday Dec. 21 almost 350 photos and greetings were available for viewing. Baby pictures and photos of Nativity scenes dominated, although there was a fair number of family photographs posted as well.
Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the communications' council, said the Vatican has not done a big publicity push for the Christmas greetings because his office felt it was important "to watch and learn how social networking really works" on the Internet through Web sites like Facebook.
With almost no publicity, visitors to the Web site sent 20,000 Christmas cards to their friends using Facebook Dec. 16-21, he said. The Pope2You site was averaging 15,000-20,000 visits a day, Msgr. Tighe said, but on Dec. 21 the number of hits skyrocketed to 100,000.
The Irish monsignor said the Flickr contributions are reviewed before being made available to the public because "obviously, there is an obligation on our part to ensure the material is suitable."
His office plans to collect all the contributions on a disc and give it to the pope, along with a printed copy of sample highlights.
NCR Comment code: (Comments can be found below)
Before you can post a comment, you must verify your email address at Disqus.com/verify.
Comments from unverified email addresses will be deleted.
- Be respectful. Do not attack the writer. Take on the idea, not the messenger.
- Don't use obscene, profane or vulgar language.
- Stay on point. Comments that stray from the original idea will be deleted. NCR reserves the right to close comment threads when discussions are no longer productive.
We are not able to monitor every comment that comes through. If you see something objectionable, please click the "Report abuse" button. Once a comment has been flagged, an NCR staff member will investigate.
For more detailed guidelines, visit our User Guidelines page.
For help on how to post a comment, visit our reference page.
Commenting is available during business hours, Central time, USA. Commenting is not available in the evenings, over weekends and on holidays. More details are available here. Comments are open on NCR's Facebook page.


text:
Did you know that "Fox and Friends" co-host Steve Doocy is a 61-year-old stripper who tragically died today? No, he is not, but according to a Wikipedia edit today he is. The November 26 edition of "Fox and Friends" discussed word of some school districts banning Wikipedia and the false information some readers add. As a result, some apparently angry viewers proved their point and added wild information to their pages.
Apparently, Steve Doocy died in a car accident today, is 61, and a stripper. Brian Kilmeade has been dead for ten years. Perhaps his ghost now hosts "Fox and Friends."
Several months ago, MRC President Brent Bozell warned of unreliability of Wikipedia. One internet user falsely claimed there is an ongoing feud between Bozell and famed media critic Bernard Goldberg.
For the record, Gretchen Carlson's and Brian Kilmeade's pages have been changed back and editing by "unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled." Steve Doocy's page has not been disabled, but apparently a Fox fan recently edited it to add a very glowing and positive profile of Doocy most conspicuous in this passage.
"Doocy has been involved extensively in fundraising for the poor and disadvantaged, he has helped build homeless shelters in northern New Jersey, stock food pantries around New York City, and was a national spokesman for the March of Dimes."
Relevant conversational points about Wikipedia throughout the show are below.
GRETCHEN CARLSON: Have you guys ever gone to Wikipedia to look for something? Well, it is the online encyclopedia.
STEVE DOOCY: Because it's free.
CARLSON: The problem is, I guess anybody can go into these pages and adjust what's on them? So is it really factual? Well, now some schools are saying "look, we're going to ban this at our schools because we don't think this is the best way for our students to be learning about history and other information." And I wholeheartedly agree. The last time I went to my Wikipedia page, guys, they had a fact on there that wasn't right.
DOOCY: Really?
BRIAN KILMEADE: Your own personal one?
CARLSON: Yeah.
KILMEADE: Oh okay.
CARLSON: So, I mean, I don't know how to go in and change it. I probably should learn how to do it.
DOOCY: I looked at mine one day, because somebody sent me something about it. And I looked, and it said that I was a Catholic. And then- it said Steve Doocy, Roman Catholic- and then it talked about, said all of these vile things about the pope and stuff like that.
KILMEADE: That you said about the pope?
DOOCY: I never been connected to the pope before. And it talked about where I live. There's-the problem is if somebody watching right now has got an axe to grind with one of us, doesn't like us, they just go on and you can anonymously change it.
DOOCY: But if Paul McCartney asks you to go to the prom, you go.
KILMEADE: That's true too.
DOOCY: Everybody would go. If Paul McCartney's watching, I'm available.
CARLSON: Uh oh! I'm going to add that to your Wikipedia page!
DOOCY: I'm sure it's on there!
CARLSON: And he wants to date Paul McCartney.
DOOCY: Just to prove my point that Wikipedia is a worthless source when it comes to reliability. According to- you're seeing a technological and medical marvel right now, because according to Wikipedia, I'm dead.
KILMEADE: In a car accident.
DOOCY: I died today according to what somebody had put in there. Now, listen to you Mister, I wouldn't be getting-
CARLSON: What does his page say?
DOOCY: Now his page says you died in 1997.
KILMEADE: Really?
CARLSON: Since we've been talking about this, somebody went in and adjusted the pages?
DOOCY: On my page somebody has made ten edits already in the last 15 minutes.
DOOCY: Now according to Wikipedia I'm 61. It's wrong, of course I'm 67.
ALISYN CAMEROTA: At least you're alive again.
DOOCY: Thank you! I'm alive again!
KILMEADE: And everyone got over my death in '97 pretty quickly.
CAMEROTA: Small blessings.
DOOCY: Hey, you're still dead.
CARLSON: They had my birthday wrong as well.
KILMEADE: They did?
CARLSON: But so far I am still alive. I think somebody got mad at us because we were talking about Wikipedia and they went in and sabotaged it.
DOOCY: Too bad! It just shows that you can go in and do it.
KILMEADE: If Brittanica turns on us, we don't have a prayer.
CARLSON: What's the latest on you on Wikipedia?
DOOCY: According to Wikipedia, I am now a stripper.
KILMEADE: And what about me? What did you just find out about me?
DOOCY: You are now alive again.
CARLSON: But I'm still really old.


text:
By Hal Bodley, USA TODAY
If Barry Bonds thinks Shea Stadium was a snake pit when he played against the New York Mets there recently, wait until he arrives at Boston's Fenway Park this weekend.
Red Sox fans pride themselves on their knowledge of baseball and are so deep-rooted in its purity and credibility they'll have no patience for Bonds.
SPORTS SCOPE: Bonds lawyer gives ultimatum
To make matters worse for Bonds, who is eight away from tying Hank Aaron's all-time home-run record, Daniel Kramer and his Boycottbarry.com will be in force outside Fenway Park attempting to put the focus on the use in baseball of illegal performance-enhancing drugs and the allegations that have dogged Bonds.
This should be a remarkable three-game series beginning Friday night. The Giants — they were the New York Giants then — haven't set foot on Fenway's hallowed grounds since playing there in 1915 against the Boston Braves, who were using the stadium until their new facility was built nearby.
Just the thought of Bonds walking onto Fenway's hallowed grounds, where immortals such as Ted Williams and Babe Ruth played, will be too much for Red Sox fans.
"My guess is there will be boos audible in Cambridge," says longtime Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan. "If Barry hits one (home run), I don't think there's the slightest chance that ball doesn't return to the field. Whoever dares to keep it will risk physical harm."
Ryan says the media "often overrate the sophistication of the people here. Parochially, they like to think of themselves as enlightened, intellectual fans as a body. We allow them to perpetuate that myth and go out of our way to propagate it. But I'm often let down by them."
The Red Sox were the last of major league teams to integrate, in 1959. It's taken years for the franchise to shake its reputation of being racist.
"I think it's pretty much in the past," says Ryan. "It's hard to support any idea we haven't become enlightened. Look at the treatment Mo Vaughn got here and how revered David Ortiz is.
"But, this weekend will test it in terms of how ugly people can get. I don't discount the possibility of it getting very ugly."
Kramer, a 25-year-old graduate of Tufts University, came up with the idea for Boycottbarry.com in 2005. "I asked my father, Neil, who was our Little League coach how, as fans and Americans, could we deal with Barry Bonds. Dad said, 'Boycott Barry.' I put it on dot.com and ran with it."
Speaking by phone from his office in Los Angeles, Kramer, a political consultant, says he wants to provide fans tools to help clean up baseball. He adds he's spent "at least five figures of my own money" getting the project started.
"We're going to be passing out Bondsfolds, a blindfold fans should wear every time Bonds steps up to the plate," he says. "It's our way of demonstrating a desire for authentic records only and an even playing field."
Kramer believes "baseball is in danger of a downward spiral if it doesn't address its most serious threat since the 1919 World Series, which was thrown by the White Sox. I submit the steroids scandal is the biggest threat of all time because the 1919 World Series was a one-time thing."
Kramer rates baseball's current steroid testing "as a joke. Baseball fans aren't stupid. They went away in droves after the 1994-95 strike and, if there's not serious action taken, they'll do it again."
What should they do?
"Boycott Barry," he says. "Put on a blindfold every time he comes to bat, write letters to the owners, players association, the commissioner, Congress. They should say, 'I love baseball, but this is fundamentally wrong.' "
Red Sox fans need not be pushed, but just for good measure, Kramer wants to remind them: "When you're approaching what is widely considered the most important record, not just in baseball but in all American sports, somebody has to stand up and say, 'I'm not OK with this.' "
Around the horn
A Pirates treasure: Pittsburgh Pirates CEO Kevin McClatchy, who toured China recently with several other MLB executives, would like to see his team play 2008 exhibitions there late in spring training, then go to Japan for a season-opening series.
MLB President Bob DuPuy says no decision has been made but reiterates his desire to have the exhibitions in Beijing before the season opener in Tokyo. "Nothing is set in stone," McClatchy told USA TODAY. "This is something we're interested in."
The concept, which needs approval by the union, would include several days of spring training, followed by the exhibition games in China, then the opening series in Japan.
"There probably would be two exhibitions and two regular-season games," said McClatchy, who was accompanied on the trip by Boston Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchinio, San Diego Padres CEO Sandy Alderson, MLB executive vice president Jimmie Lee Solomon and DuPuy.
The Chicago Cubs and New York Mets opened the season in Tokyo in 2000, and the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays started there in 2004.
Phillin' fine: It's amazing how the Philadelphia Phillies have turned around their season considering their bullpen is ailing (Brett Myers and Tom Gordon are on the disabled list) and right-hander Freddy Garcia was dreadful (1-5, 5.90) before going on the DL last week with what could be a season-ending injury.
They enjoyed Thursday's day off tied for second place in the National League East, two games behind the Mets. April 20 they were 4-11; since then they're 31-20, best in the NL during that period.
Even more amazing is Antonio Alfonseca, who has become the closer and hasn't allowed a run in 9 2/3 innings and has five saves in six chances.
Back home: The St. Louis Cardinals' Tony La Russa returns this weekend to Oakland, where he became one of the greatest managers.
The Cardinals are playing their first-ever series at McAfee Coliseum against the Athletics. La Russa took over the A's during the 1986 season and remained through 1995, going 798-673 with four division titles and a World Series title in 1989.
Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.


text:
Here's a collection of highlights, selected totally subjectively, from the recent enterprise HPC news stream as reported at insideHPC.com.
Too busy to keep up? Make your commute productive and subscribe to the Weekly Takeout, insideHPC.com's weekly podcast summary of the HPC news week in review.
Get your JAVA today
The AP reports that today is the day that Sun Microsystems flushes its old ticker symbol — SUNW — in favor of the trendier JAVA. Sun's stock is off 10% since January, and is off its February 2007 high by over 20%. (More on this enterprise HPC news item)
ProCurve switches doing well
HP is talking about the success of its ProCurve line today
HP logoProCurve Networking by HP experienced year-over-year port growth for the second calendar quarter of 2007 more than double the industry growth rate, according to a recent report by market research firm Dell'Oro Group.
Uncle Sam wants you…to comment
The $3B Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) office is asking for comment by the end of September on its draft plan for advanced networking research and development.
Do the country a favor and send in your two cents. You can find the plan at www.nitrd.gov under "What's New', "Solicitation for comment…"
Weekly Takeout podcast posted
In this week's episode AMD and Intel duke it out with dueling chip and technology announcements, DARPA drops support for productivity research, TACC starts an international supercomputing group, IBM broadens support for Solaris, China gets new Blue, optical quantum computing takes another step forward, new chip cooling technology, and stocks.
Listen to the podcast or subscribe.
John West summarizes the HPC news headlines every day at insideHPC.com, and writes on leadership and career issues for technology professionals at InfoWorld. You can contact him at firstname.lastname@example.com.