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Last week, London based indie developer Curve Studios did something a lot of games companies have been toying with recently – it gave its new game away for free. The brilliantly titled Stealth Bastard is a downloadable 2D platformer for the PC, filled with traps and enemies but also a light/dark mechanic that requires the player to creep through shadows to avoid being detected. The team has referred to its project as Super Meat Boy meets Metal Gear Solid and the sub-title of 'Tactical espionage arsehole' really drums that analogy home. It's funny, it's immensely challenging and, yes, it's free.
But unlike a whole host of other social and casual gaming experiences these days, it really actually IS free. It's not freemium, it's not 'free-to-play'; you won't be asked to buy bigger, better shadows to hide behind or new outfits for the hero. It's just… free. Unsurprisingly, considering this sales model, together with the game's title and engaging concept, Stealth Bastard has done rather well, attracting almost 25,000 users within its first week on sale. So far, those early adopters have racked up over eight years of continuous play. ("They've also died 757,864 times, which makes us cackle," says producer, Ed Fear)
So why would a professional studio put out such a gem for nothing? Curve already has two well-regarded titles out there, Wiiware puzzler Fluidity and action platformer Explodemon; what's the deal with giving stuff away? "Well, it's done wonders in getting our name out there," says managing director, Jason Perkins. "We'd already ramped up our 'presence' in the industry with Hydroventure/Fluidity – which Nintendo published last year, and did amazingly well critically – and with Explodemon, but Stealth Bastard has got our name out within the indie PC gamer audience, which is a group of people that traditionally haven't known about us. This helps us promote whatever we do in future, but also, our current projects aren't going to be released until late next year so this is a great way of keeping us in the spotlight."
The way that the game came about may also have helped with the decision. Designer Jonathan Biddle built it in his spare time over the course of 18 months, using the highly intuitive development package, Game Maker. "I've been using it for nearly seven years and really enjoy it," he says. "It's very quick and flexible, and it's surprising what it's actually capable of. I think in some circles there's the perception of it only being used by kids to make silly platform games, but there are some brilliant game makers out there, such as Cactus and Derek Yu, who have proven that it is able to do much more than that.
"I made a fully-featured prototype for our self-published title, Explodemon! in Game Maker, but that was never released. This is really the same situation, but we decided that this prototype was polished enough to be in players' hands, and would benefit from it too."
Of course, now that the prototype of Stealth Bastard is out there doing extremely well, there must be a way to make some money from it? Apparently, members of the PC gaming community have been emailing Curve, offering to donate cash to its continued development. The model, then, is closest to the indie way of doing things – prototype, iterate and release.
"We definitely know there is a lot more we would like to do with the game in the future," says Perkins. "We're interested in talking to publishing partners about where we could go with this, and indeed some discussions have already taken place. After Explodemon, we've come to realise that our strength doesn't lie in publishing games ourselves and everything that comes with that – we want to create original games, create IP, and then work with others to help make those a success. That's how we do business."
It's an encouraging idea; build a good product and they will come. Increasingly, digital game development is about courting a fanbase rather than spending cash on marketing and PR, or looking to make a quick buck on new projects. As Perkins says, "Fostering a community, getting people engaged and excited – that has far more value to us right now than making $5 on each download – especially as the numbers would have been much smaller with that barrier in place. We need to prove that this is as brilliant as we think it is, and the 24,000 people who have already registered to play are doing a brilliant job of proving us right…"
Game designer Jonathan Biddle on the birth of Stealth Bastard
"I'd been playing around with some shadow technology in Game Maker, and I wanted to make a full-sized 'Metroidvania' featuring a Flashback-like spy character. He'd be able to duck behind cover, nip out and shoot, but also use stealth to infiltrate his objective; hiding in shadows and taking people out unseen like Solid Snake. When I decided that was a fine long-term goal, I knew it would take a very long time to make, so took a step back and tried to do it a step at a time, just so I could actually get something finished. My new goal was to make a very simple game where the object was just not the be seen. The high concept was 'extreme stealth'.
"I was interested in removing a lot of the peripheral mechanics of stealth and focusing it down to 'don't be seen or you will get killed'. Having made a stealth game before – Stolen on PS2 – I was fully aware of how complicated the systems have to be in order to support multiple options for the player after they are discovered. The goal for the player at that point is always to get back to the hidden, stealthy state, and AI behaviours and supporting systems require lots of design and iteration to get right. I think that part of a stealth game is basically a lot less enjoyable. In Metal Gear Solid, for example, it's great fun sneaking around and feeling constantly in control, but once you're spotted, everything goes to hell, and it's very difficult to regain that feeling of control.
"In Stealth Bastard, my goal was to not have that 'post-spotted' state by instantly killing the player whenever they were seen. I was also influenced by Super Meat Boy, in that its controls demanded precision in the same way that my binary take on stealth did, but the levels were short enough not to frustrate the player when they died. Literally merging the structure of Meat Boy with a simplified pre-discovery stealth game such as Metal Gear resulted in Stealth Bastard you see today."


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The countdown to June, comic launch, and my growing nervousness continues. Here's a panel from the strip that I've modified in order to show it morph from my inks into Tom's colors, just so you can see the amazing dimension he's bringing to my art:
And so, your new spicy tidbits:
- The above is the second panel in the strip
- It's an adaptation of a public-domain novel
Let the guessing begin. See you next Tuesday.

subset: commoncrawl


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Alumnus Encourages Public Service Work with Gift to Fund Fellowships
Many law students enter law school with the goal of someday working in public interest, but those students often can't afford to take the unpaid summer internships that lead to those careers.
Herbert L. Caplan, '57, recognized this need and made a gift to the Law School to establish a paid fellowship for eight students to work in public interest after their second year of law school. But this is different than other summer fellowships. Caplan Fellows must work in role that involves them in public policy, the type of position that would allow them to help find solutions to problems.
"Herb Caplan had a vision for inspiring students to follow a path that would make the world a better place," said Lisa Guynn, Senior Director of Development. "Through his generosity, the Caplan Fellows will gain valuable public-interest experience that places them at the heart of pressing social issues."
Caplan, who also is a '52 alum of the College, dedicated his entire career to public service. He retired in 1998 after spending the bulk of his career as First Assistant Illinois Attorney General and in the City of Chicago's Law Department. Caplan remains involved in Chicago neighborhood issues.
This isn't his first act of generosity to the Law School. He also established the Herbert L. Caplan Award Fund several years ago to honor two second-year students who demonstrate excellence or special promise in pursuing service in public interest. The students are awarded a scholarship based on an essay about the public-interest work they performed the summer before their second year.
Caplan's time in the Illinois Attorney General's Office provided some of the most fulfilling work of his career. When he started there in 1970, the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and the new Illinois state constitution were being enacted. He and his colleagues were charged with adapting state practices to the new laws and defining policies of the Attorney General's Office.
"We felt that we were doing the people's work," he said.
Caplan said he funded the summer fellowship to motivate young attorneys into a career path he found so satisfying.
"A large percentage of people go to law school because they are expecting to do work that will benefit society," he said. "After graduating, they can pretty quickly become dissatisfied with the priorities of private practice. I know how much satisfaction I received from the kind of work I did and I know other people would really love to have the same kind of work environment."
Caplan Fellows were chosen for their dedication to public-interest law. They were then paired with organizations such as the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless to gain experience in policy work.
"These students were incredibly appreciative that they were able to be paired with such great organizations and received funding for positions that otherwise are unpaid," said Abbie Willard, Associate Dean for Career Services and Public Initiatives. "The experience they're gaining in public policy is invaluable. Without the establishment of the Caplan Fellowship, these students may have had to stray from their long-term goals of working in public interest."
In easing students' burden of working without pay, Caplan says he also wanted to show students that they won't always have to make sacrifices to follow a career in public service.
"Working in public service doesn't have to mean they won't be able to support their families," Caplan said. "You can have a satisfying career and have a place in the economy."


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Hornby is a small village and civil parish located about 4 miles north-west of Bedale. It is part of the non-metropolitan district of Richmondshire in the shire county of North Yorkshire, England.
Prior to the nationwide municipal reorganization of 1974, Hornby was located in Leyburn Rural District. Historically, it was an ecclesiastical parish in the Hang West Wapentake.
Hornby is probably the most northern civil parish within what was Leyburn Rural District. Other places in the parish include: Hackforth, Arrathorne, and Ainderby Mires with Holtby. The villages of Tunstall and Scotton are nearby. There is another Hornby in the North Riding and one in Lancashire.
Research Tips


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Enter your VIN
1. Where is my Vehicle Information Number (VIN)?
Some possible locations of your VIN (also known as the serial number):
- driver's side dashboard
- driver's side door pillar
- vehicle registration certificate
- on motorcycles, the VIN is on the frame
2. The VIN I entered isn't working. What's wrong?
Be careful when dealing with these letters and numbers:
If you're sure the VIN is correct, it's likely that the vehicle was never registered in Saskatchewan or assigned a special status.
3. What exactly will the search tell me?
The search will tell you:
- The status of the vehicle (if any).
- Saskatchewan damage claims history.
- The most recent Saskatchewan registration expiry date.
- Whether the Saskatchewan PST is payable.
4. What won't the search tell me?
The search won't tell you who owned the vehicle before you or how many owners the vehicle has had. In addition, you will only be able to find the total amount of physical damage to the vehicle. However, Road Hazard Glass losses are not included. No liability or injury amounts will be included in your search. For total loss vehicles, the amount will not be provided.
The search will also not show any claims that occurred prior to Nov. 1, 2002.
5. What's the difference between this search and the Cross-Canada Search?
The Cross-Canada search costs $20 and cannot be completed online. It confirms whether or not Saskatchewan will allow a vehicle to be registered here determined by its status, whether the Saskatchewan PST is payable and also includes the Saskatchewan damage claims history. The Saskatchewan VIN search is a free online service offered by SGI and tells you the Saskatchewan status of the vehicle, the most recent Saskatchewan registration expiry date, the past damage claims reported to SGI and the value of the appraised damages, and whether the Saskatchewan PST is payable.
Note: Road Hazard Glass losses are not included.
6. Why do I have to go through a security feature before I can perform a search?
The security feature insures that an individual is conducting the search, rather than a computer running a large number of hits against SGI's database.
7. How can the vehicle have a VIN status, but have no Saskatchewan claims history?
The vehicle was likely brought in from another jurisdiction with the status and may have no Saskatchewan claims history reported to SGI.
8. How come I can't find who owned the vehicle before me?
This is considered personal information and is protected under The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
9. Why can't I find out the number of owners the vehicle has had?
There are plans to include this information as part of future enhancements to the online vehicle history search service.
10. Can I do a Saskatchewan VIN search on a snowmobile or ATV?
SGI's Auto Fund has not provided physical damage coverage for snowmobiles since Aug. 1, 1999. Physical damage claims information is only available for claims starting Nov. 1, 2002. However, the search can tell you the expiry date of the snowmobile's most recent Saskatchewan registration and whether or not it has been assigned a status.
SGI does not register or insure ATVs, so the search would not return any information.
11. Are there privacy concerns associated with this service?
There are no privacy concerns associated with this service as none of the information being released is considered personal information.
12. Why does the search only include results since Nov. 1, 2002?
SGI's database only has claim information tied to vehicle information numbers (VINs) since that date.
13. Why is the Saskatchewan VIN search only available during certain hours?
SGI requires time to perform regular maintenance and updates to its claims database, so the service is unavailable during certain non-peak hours.
1-800-667-9868 (Saturdays)


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Enjoy SPG Restaurant Month at Vinifera Wine Bar & Bistro
From January 10 through February 10, 2013, Vinifera Wine Bar & Bistro will offer a prix-fixe, three-course meal exclusively for Starwood Preferred Guests®. Make your dining reservation to enjoy:
- Lunch for $20.13 - Click here to view our lunch menu.
- Dinner for $30.13 - Click here to view our dinner menu.
Plus, receive additional SPG Member savings and earn Starpoints® for your meal – just one more way SPG members enjoy benefits at home and on the road. Make a Reservation.
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/viniferareston


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Panning Best Practices
Camera panning is one of the most utilized cinematic techniques, and for good reason. It can make otherwise static shots more dynamic, give vistas a more expansive feel, and track the movement of a subject, among other benefits. However, results may appear unusual if the panning rate, settings and method are suboptimal. This article discusses best practices for improving results.
The apparent panning speed is controlled by both the physical rotation of the camera and the focal length of the lens. For the same on-screen effect, a camera needs to be rotated more slowly when using a longer focal length, for example, since these lenses span a narrower angle of view. In the diagram below, the longer focal length lens has to transit twice as many screen widths despite being rotated identically:
Being able to control panning is important because moving too quickly can cause unpleasant visual artifacts. Objects or backgrounds may appear to flash across the screen in discrete jumps, for example, whenever the on-screen displacement is too great compared to the duration between frames. This is commonly referred to as strobing or "judder," and has happened since the early days of film.
Although judder has many contributing factors, it is ultimately determined by how fast a scene moves from one side of the screen to the other. The rule of thumb is to pan no faster than a full image width every seven seconds, otherwise judder will become too detrimental. This rule is especially simple and powerful because it applies regardless of camera lens, model or sensor size.
However, this is not an all-or-nothing limit; images will not immediately become unwatchable faster than seven seconds, nor will they become fully artifact-free when panning slower than this limit. It's just a good starting point. Other factors may also modify the effect . . .
The seven second rule of thumb is based on traditional theatrical viewing at 24 fps with a 180 degree shutter angle. Varying either setting can influence the appearance of panning and change the optimal panning speed.
The shutter angle controls the balance between stuttered and blurred panning: larger angles cause panning to appear smoother but more smeared, whereas smaller angles cause panning to appear crisper but choppier. Most cinematic pans are performed near 180°, but special purpose scenes may work better with other settings. When a more fluid, dreamlike effect is desired, one can often get away with faster panning and a larger shutter angle, for example. Similarly, landscape detail may benefit from slower panning and a smaller shutter angle.
The frame rate can also have a big impact on panning. For example, capturing at a higher frame rate (such as 48 or 60 fps) can help smooth the most detrimental high-frequency camera movements if this footage is played back more slowly (such as 24 or 30 fps). Alternatively, high frame rate playback can reduce the appearance of judder or other artifacts without having to decrease the panning speed.
Note: High frame rates are still cutting-edge on the web. For the smoothest playback, use a fast computer, don't move the mouse, and view multiple times to ensure it gets loaded into memory. Otherwise try downloading the videos here.
Using the standard seven second rule of thumb along with other factors, the tool below estimates the panning speed where judder will likely become too pronounced. The goal is to provide a more accessible tool than the charts and tables commonly referenced in cinematography manuals.
Panning Speed
Results should only be taken as a rough guideline for static scenes with constant camera movement. Ultimately, it's a human watching the panning, and what matters is whether the panning looks good to them. Any results should also fit the mood of the scene. High energy scenes can often get away with more abrupt camera movements, for example. However, what feels too fast to one person may feel just right to another, in which case the above calculator can be used as an objective baseline.
Factors in addition to panning speed, shutter angle and frame rate may also be important. These include:
Variable Panning Speed. The panning rate may need to vary, especially when tracking a subject that passes near the camera (such as with the biker pass-by example below). In that case, the brief rapid pan when the subject is closest typically doesn't need to be held to the same standard as constant panning.
Scene Content. This can also influence the appearance of panning, although perhaps more subjectively than the other considerations. Scenes with higher contrast and abrupt dark-light transitions are typically more susceptible to strobing artifacts, for example.
Subject Distance. With a constant horizontal pan, nearby objects will transit the frame much faster than the background. In those cases, one may need to prioritize based on where the subject is located and whether the background is out of focus. In the example below, the subject matter moves horizontally while the camera remains stationary. Note how the foreground ice judders but everything further appears smooth:
Swish Pans. These are often used when quickly snapping between subjects, or as a unique transition between scenes. The idea is to render almost everything blurred during these types of pans, so the normal rule of thumb doesn't apply.
Panning Technique. Prior to being concerned with specific camera settings, panning technique should be as even and continuous as possible. Smoother manual panning is often achieved by initiating and completing the pan prior to passing through the desired start and end points, respectively (with any extra footage being cut afterwards). This may also include using a longer handle on the tripod head to extend hand motion over a greater distance, or switching to a fluid panning head. In either case, tension should be optimized to minimize sticking and skipping. Ultimately though, high-end productions typically use automated panning devices for the best results.
- See the tutorial on Shutter Angles & Creative Control to learn more about their influence.
See the tutorial on High Frame Rate Playback to learn more about its influence.


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Four new additions bring to 45 the number of Trustees/Fellows serving Georgetown College. Installed at the winter meeting of the College's self-perpetuating board were:
James L. "Jim" Barlow, Sr., Georgetown, Kentucky, Fellow
Mr. Barlow, a Georgetown native, is CEO of Barlow Homes, Inc. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and has been active in numerous civic, community and professional organizations. He divides his time between homes in Georgetown and Naples, Florida.
Douglas C. Freeman, New York, New York, Trustee
A graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard University, Mr. Freeman is CEO and founder of Virtcom Consulting, a strategy management consultancy focused on solving complex global diversity management challenges, with offices in New York City and London. He currently serves on a United Nations panel on Global Workforce Discrimination. Civic and community activities include the Chicago Sinfonietta National Advisory Board and Friends of the Czech National Symphony.
Dr. Major L. Jemison, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Fellow
Dr. Jemison, senior pastor of St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, is immediate past president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention. He is a graduate of Bishop College, the Perkins School of Theology at SMU, and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Janice C. Shelton, Johnson City, Tennessee, Trustee
A retired East Tennessee State University administrator and professor, Dr. Shelton is an alumnae of Georgetown College, the University of Kentucky and UNC Greensboro. She is currently director of senior adults at Central Baptist Church in Johnson City. Dr. Shelton previously served Georgetown's board of trustees from 1998 to 2005 and as chair from 2003-2005.
A full list of Georgetown's trustees may be viewed online.


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MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's car market shows no signs yet of recovery, unlike other key countries in Europe, a top Fiat FIA.MI executive said on Thursday.
Italian car sales fell 5.58 percent in October from a year ago, while sales rose in France, Spain and Germany.
"We are not seeing signs of a recovery in Italy, while in other markets we are seeing the glimmer of recovery where the market has touched bottom," said Fiat-Chrysler EMEA chief Alfredo Altavilla. "The real problem in Italy continues to be lack of consumer spending."
He confirmed that Fiat will reach break-even in Europe in 2015 or 2016 as previously forecast, despite continued weakness in Italy's car market.
Italy accounts for 10 percent of Fiat's volumes in Europe, said Altavilla.
Fiat's market share in Italy has remained between 28-30 percent for years. Altavilla said the company is not wedded to its Italian market share.
"We're not and we never have been," he said. "We are bound to our economic targets and we have to find the right connection between market share and economic results."
Reporting by Jennifer Clark; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle


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Fruit Preserves
Fruit Preserves
We love fruit. I mean, we REALLY love fruit. We eat it fresh, in smoothies, baked in pies, in crumbles, on other fruit, in salads, grilled, braised, broiled, baked...you name it, we'll try it! And in the height of summer when the bounty of the trees and fields is being brought in, we realize we cannot possibly eat all the fruit of the season. So we pull out our pots and pans, roll our sleeves up, and get to work preserving the tastiness! Our fruit preserves tend to be on the tarter side of sweet so the taste of the fruit still comes through. Some tend to be thinner rather than thick since the preserves we make are great accompaniments for more than just toast. Try them on yoghurt, in granola, atop oatmeal, as a sauce on ice cream, as a glaze for chicken or pork, in a PB&J sandwich...the possibilities are endless.
Apple Butter and Pear Butter
Our fruit butters are cooked down beyond the "sauce" stage, but similar to our apple sauce, there is nothing added to these jars of goodness. The apple butters are made with a mix of tart and sweet apples. The pear butters are made from super ripe, sweet pears. Eat atop pancakes, waffles or scones, with pork, as a glaze for chicken thighs, or as a spoonful of goodness for those babies making their way into the world of solids.
Apple Sauce
Just apples, nothing else, cooked into a comforting sauce that reminds us of autumn days, when school has been in session for a month or two and the days are getting shorter. Nights chill the toes, but the afternoons still have a warm hold on us. The school day is done, but dinner is not for a while yet. Mama always said a bowl of apple sauce would fill you just enough but not too much, so that's what you reach for. This sauce has no added anything, just the fruit cooked slowly to capture all the taste of fall.
Apricot Jam
Sunshine on a spoon, apricots are another of those fruits we think needs its tartness left intact. Our jam is sweet, but there is still a lip-puckering undertone in this rich jam. Slow-cooked until the fruit is thick on the spoon, this jam contains apricots, cane sugar, Meyer lemon juice and a tiny bit of pectin. We relied on the slow-cooking method to thicken this jam, resulting in a deeper bronze color and a rich taste of fruit. This preserve is one of our favorites in yogurt, served with poultry, mixed into sour cream for a dipping sauce, accompanying raw almonds, and on a slab of fresh baked & buttered bread.
Bing Cherry Conserve
Do you remember as a kid eating cherries until you felt like you'd pop, spitting seeds at your friends, leaving purple spots on your clothes? Or did you ever dangle the double cherry combo from your ears like Carmen Miranda earrings? Bing cherries are another signature summer fruit that we love and our Bing Cherry conserve is made with summer cherries, organic cane sugar and Meyer lemon juice & rind. They are delicious on pork or duck, and add a richness to fresh or aged cheeses. We also tend to eat this preserves straight out of the jar, in secret so we don't have to share.
Fig & Meyer Lemon Conserve
While the Bible tells us that Adam and Eve used fig leaves as the first human fashion statement, we prefer the fruit to dress up our cooking! This conserve uses black figs which are covered in cane sugar until the fruit has released its juices. They are then slow cooked in their own syrup with fresh Meyer lemons. This preserve is made with black figs, Meyer lemons and cane sugar. We love this chunky preserve on pork loin, with toasted walnut sourdough & ricotta, with pâté, or on hot biscuits.
Lemon Pear Jam
We are huge fans of lemons. We pick them off our tree and like to use them in much of our cookery. One day we had a huge haul of assorted pears and were wondering what to do with all the fruit. We also had an extra large haul of lemons. Pear meet lemon, lemon meet pear. This jam is tart and has a fair amount of pectin. It is lovely on scones, waffles, pancakes, toast of all flavors, mixed into lemon chicken, heated and served over clotted cream with berries, and on a spoon with a whopping helping of chocolate ganache.
Monkey Jam
For as much as we love bananas and could eat them at every meal, they can be a tad overwhelming when their bounty exceeds the confines of ones cooking space. In desperation one day when we were given an excessive number of bananas and mangoes, we decided to try our hand at a tropical treat. Bananas, mangoes, pineapple, and coconut are a sweet sensation in this rich jam that is, quite frankly, like candy in a teaspoon. We will proudly admit that we eat it with a liberal dose of Nutella. With no guilt.
Plum Jam
Ricardo at the local market asked us how all of the cooking was going with the girls. We told him we were in high gear, cooking up a storm of new flavors. He told us he had a tree full of plums at home that he would share with us. We of course said yes and made a deep purple jam with his bountiful fruit. This jam contains plums, cane sugar, Meyer lemon juice and pectin. It's tartly sweet in a peanut butter sandwich, a charcuterie plate, in oatmeal, deepens a meat marinade, and turns yoghurt into a decadent treat.
Stone Fruits Preserves
Oh boy do we love the golden orbitude of the yellow stone fruits! We cannot get enough of peaches, nectarines or apricots and their sweetness leaves us thinking we should have just one more. After all, they're ripe NOW and they'll go bad if we don't eat them, right? We often have a plethora of all the stone fruits at once which we divide between our mustard and preserves. These preserves are light in flavor, not overly sweetened, with a hint of Meyer lemon. We love them in yogurt, in marinades for poultry or fish, on toast, and in hot cereals.
Strawberry Preserves
Strawberries always let us know summer is arcing its high heat across the Valley. And the best way to escape the bark of the dog days is to sit in the shade and eat berries until our mouths are red with juice and the seeds are stuck in our teeth. After indulging, we take the extra fruit and make our preserves with summer berries, cane sugar, Meyer lemon juice & rind and Pomona's pectin. These preserves tend to be on the tart side so the taste of the fruit still comes through. This preserve compliments yogurt beautifully, is delish on a PB&J sandwich, and makes a mad ice cream sundae.
Thompson Seedless Grape Preserves
We dry many of our grapes to make the fatly sweet raisins we use in our cookery, but occasionally we get a huge batch that we can't accommodate in our drying space. So, out come the thinking caps. Hearkening back to our time spent in Italy and remembering the way that grapes were not relegated to just table fruit or raisins, we tried our hand at making a preserve to showcase the fruit. This preserve is light but juicy and can be mixed into poultry dressing, tossed into a spinach salad, served atop cheesecake, or cooked with meats.


text: University Students Forced To Take Internship at Foxconn, Otherwise Failed! June 19th, 2012 in Foxconn, internship, photos, University Students Foxconn has partnered with an university in China to provide a summer internship for the university students to earn some work experiences (assembling iPhones and iPads?). But the stupidest thing is this internship program is a compulsory curriculum. Students would NOT be permitted to graduate if they don't participate the work experience. Continue reading → FacebookTwitterGoogle


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Francis Ludlow (Part-time Lecturer)
|Telephone: +353-(0)1 896 2357
|email: email@example.com
|Postal Address: Department of Geography, Museum Building, Trinity College, Dublin 2.
|Teaching Interests & responsibilites:
Francis's teaching interests are in the areas of climate, statistics and historical geography.
Frank Ludlow is a Research Fellow with the Trinity Long Room Hub (since 2009) and lecturer, part-time, with the Department of Geography, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College, Dublin (since 2007). Since 2009 he has been Treasurer of the Irish Quaternary Association. In 2006, he was a Visiting Scholar with the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen's University, Belfast. Here he worked with Prof. Mike Baillie and Mr. David Brown on a comparison of historic records of weather extremes and the Irish oak dendrochronological record. Frank has also worked in University College, Cork (2008-2009) as part of the Extreme weather, climate and natural disasters in Ireland project, funded by the EPA STRIVE program. Frank obtained a B.A. in Geography and Economics from Trinity College, Dublin, in 2003, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Statistics from Trinity College, Dublin, in 2005. He is currently completing his PhD thesis on the environmental record within the Irish annals.
Research interests:
Historical climatology - Irish climate - weather and climatic extremes - impacts of extremes on society and the biosphere - Early Christian, medieval and early modern Irish society and economy - famine - harvest failure - dendrochronology - ice cores - volcanic impact on climate - environmental archaeology - the Irish annals - perception of weather extremes and natural phenomena in historical sources.
Ludlow, F. (2003) An Assessment of the Disadvantaged Areas Classifications in County Monaghan, 2003. Irish Farmers Association - Research Report, 26pp.
Ludlow, F. (2005) "Interpretation of celestial and environmental phenomena in the Irish Annals" Atlas, 10, 48-60.
Ludlow, F. (2005) "A surprisingly useful source of information about Ireland's past climate - the Irish Annals" Geographical Viewpoint, 33, 26-33.
Ludlow, F. (2006) "Three hundred
years of weather extremes from the Annals of Connacht"
Journal of Postgraduate Research, 5, 46-65. pdf,
Leahy, P., Ludlow, F, Stefanni, B, Reilly, E., Monk, M. and Kiely, G.(In-Preparation) Extreme Weather, Climate and Natural Disasters in Ireland. Dublin: Environmental Protection Agency.


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Further to my column on the iPad, I've also been able to make a comparison between Apple's device and Amazon's Kindle. The brief answer is: for periodicals such as digital papers and magazines, the iPod is better; for books, the Kindle still wins.
I've written before about the experience of reading papers such as the FT and the Wall Street Journal on a Kindle and have come across devoted readers – mainly senior executives in global companies – who are attached to reading the FT on their Kindles. Read more


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Haywood Moving Up
by Mike Coffey
EsPN is reporting Fighting Irish offensive coordinator (and alumnus) Mike Haywood is going to get his first head coaching job at that long-time Cradle of Coaches, Miami University in Oxford, OH.
Congratulations to Mike, who hoed a long row to get his shot. We'll be keeping an eye on the RedHawks next season, and wish him all the best.


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History of Science (HPSC4102)
This unit explores major episodes in the history of science from the 18th century until the present as well as introducing students to historiographic methods. Special attention is paid to developing practical skills in the history and philosophy of science.
Our courses that offer this unit of study
Further unit of study information
One 2 hour seminar per week.
10xquestions (50%) and 1x5000 wd essay (50%)
Weekly Readings
Faculty/department permission required?
Study this unit outside a degree
Non-award/non-degree study
If you wish to undertake one or more units of study (subjects) for your own interest but not towards a degree, you may enrol in single units as a non-award student.
Cross-institutional study
If you are from another Australian tertiary institution you may be permitted to underake cross-institutional study in one or more units of study at the University of Sydney.


text: This is really good movie that I didn't see until about 5 years ago. River Pheonix plays a marine who's about to go on leave to Vietnam. Him and his buddies decide to make a bet to see who can get the ugliest girl. Thats when Pheonix meets Lili Taylors character. Awww. Cruel, right? Well, during the course of the night he begins to fall for her. Its a touching, heart warming and heart breaking movie.


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- Sound: 8
- Lyrics: 10
- Overall Impression: 9
Users' score:
(4 votes)
Sound — 8
The Alternative/Screamo band 'Herbrightskies' has earned the title "The Pride of Jnkping" in Sweden, and has spread their success over to America with their new album "A Sacrament; Ill City". While back in Jnkping, Sweden, they worked on their first EP "Beside Quiet Waters". It wasn't too long before their voice was heard and they earned the title known as "The Pride of Jnkping", seeing as Jnkping is their hometown. The music is a mixture of screamo, alternative, and post-core. It has a slight similarity to A Day To Remember. In short, their music is a constant growing success.
Lyrics — 10
The creative, poetic, and more overall, emotionally charged lyrics are more than astonishing. They carry out a meaning in which we all must focus on the world around us before it's too late. The vocals could not match any better with the tone set. It's proof that with different mixtures of music, you get something that truly stands out of the crowd with a meaning. It has a sound that cannot be easily compared to any other artist, or Swedish artist for that matter. You will not be disappointed by the lyrics and sound structure ever so ingeniously created.
Overall Impression — 9
Bottom line is a 9. With different mixtures of screamo and a strong emotional tone, it is sure to turn your attention in their direction. The most impressive songs on this album would be "Burn All The Small Towns", "Come Serenity", "Black Lungs & Dollar Signs", and "I Love The Bomb". All of which show a great deal of creativity and a strong lyric structure. It's the kind of music that always sounds like it's the first time hearing it. It just never gets old. This band is absolutely recommend to fans of artist such as A Day To Remember, Silverstein, and Our Last Night. If you're even just a fan of any form of rock, then you must look up Herbrightskies.


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Have You Caught the Hurry Disease?
I couldn't wait to get to our favorite family vacation spot – Telluride, CO. That was months ago. Now I can honestly say that I had caught the "hurry disease" before I left. You know – the latte in one hand and cell in the other.
In reflection, I recognize how much I hurried through breakfast to get to work, hurried to next appointments, hurried to conscientiously follow up with clients, then hurried to get home and unwind. (Am I kidding myself? Once home I hurried to cook dinner and finally hurried to bed so I'd be rested for the next day!) Exhausting just writing about this.
It took me two full days to unwind. I had to intentionally force my thoughts to move away from work and busyness. Being somewhat isolated and with sketchy internet, I am forced to slow down a bit each day. It was not until the third day I found myself finally withdrawn from my "hurry disease."
Do you relate?
Do I really have to be in that big a hurry? After all – I AM in charge of my time. Why is it so easy to pressure ourselves to push, push, push? Guess what?! My clients are still there. My friends are still there. And I might have missed memories with family had I not disconnected to be fully present with them.
So here's the deal. It's way too easy to be driven by obligation and get in the rut of "have tos." If we don't intentionally stop the crazed pace of life, we might miss things like:
• Being fully present with people
• Recognizing daily positive occurrences
• Seeing better ways to handle conflict
• Living mindfully
• Listening – really listening without being distracted by the next "to dos"
Enough said! My commitment is to commit myself. Let's make a pact, shall we?! You hold me accountable and send me your commitment so I can hold YOU accountable.
That's My Voice: What's yours? Let me hear your wisdom and I'll send you a free article I wrote for SW Spirit Magazine
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"Business leaders refer to communications, teamwork, and etiquette as "the soft skills." They are not the soft skills if they can get you fired. They are the foundation of business relationships, and nothing happens in business until there is a relationship. This book fills an important gap in the education of new and seasoned professionals."
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Monday Morning Leadership for Women
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The other day my beautiful wife emailed me a link to this City Journal article entitled "Love in the Time of Darwinism" by Kay S. Hymowitz about the selective pressures which the modern dating environment places on the mating pool. It seems the same author had written another article earlier this year entitled "Child-Man in the Promised Land" about the phenomenon of single men in their twenties and even thirties who, rather than shouldering the "grown up" interests of their forefathers a generation or two before, linger in an extended adolescence of playing video games, watching cartoons and gross-out comedies, and seeking only uncommitted sex rather than marriage on the dating scene. In response to this first article, the author had received numerous emails from young men informing her that the reason that they behaved that way was essentially that the actions of the women on the dating scene left them little other choice. Hymowitz sums up their reaction this way:
Their argument, in effect, was that the SYM [single young male] is putting off traditional markers of adulthood—one wife, two kids, three bathrooms—not because he's immature but because he's angry. He's angry because he thinks that young women are dishonest, self-involved, slutty, manipulative, shallow, controlling, and gold-digging. He's angry because he thinks that the culture disses all things male. He's angry because he thinks that marriage these days is a raw deal for men.
And so this article is basically an investigation into how accurate this complaint is.
As with many such articles, what follows is a mix of anecdote, analysis and mild titillation. Hymowitz essentially takes the position that in a society with no fixed paradigm for what what women can or should have as expectations in dating, women on the modern dating scene often simply choose to expect that men fulfill whatever expectations they happen to have at the moment:
But then, when an SYM walks into a bar and sees an attractive woman, it turns out to be nothing like that. The woman may be hoping for a hookup, but she may also be looking for a husband, a co-parent, a sperm donor, a relationship, a threesome, or a temporary place to live. She may want one thing in November and another by Christmas. "I've gone through phases in my life where I bounce between serial monogamy, Very Serious Relationships and extremely casual sex," writes Megan Carpentier on Jezebel, a popular website for young women. "I've slept next to guys on the first date, had sex on the first date, allowed no more than a cheek kiss, dispensed with the date-concept altogether after kissing the guy on the way to his car, fucked a couple of close friends and, more rarely, slept with a guy I didn't care if I ever saw again." Okay, wonders the ordinary guy with only middling psychic powers, which is it tonight?
In fact, young men face a bewildering multiplicity of female expectations and desire. Some women are comfortable asking, "What's your name again?" when they look across the pillow in the morning. But plenty of others are looking for Mr. Darcy. In her interviews with 100 unmarried, college-educated young men and women, Jillian Straus, author of Unhooked Generation, discovered that a lot of women had "personal scripts"—explicit ideas about how a guy should act, such as walking his date home or helping her on with her coat. Straus describes a 26-year-old journalist named Lisa fixed up for a date with a 29-year-old social worker. When he arrives at her door, she's delighted to see that he's as good-looking as advertised. But when they walk to his car, he makes his first mistake: he fails to open the car door for her. Mistake Number Two comes a moment later: "So, what would you like to do?" he asks. "Her idea of a date is that the man plans the evening and takes the woman out," Straus explains. But how was the hapless social worker supposed to know that? In fact, Doesn't-Open-the-Car-Door Guy might well have been chewed out by a female colleague for reaching for the office door the previous week.
The result, according to Hymowitz's analysis, is thus that men eventually decide that women are essentially out for whatever they happen to want at the moment (which in cases like some of those above certainly appears to be the case) and so decide they might as well seek to find tactics for getting whatever they want out of life (in this case: video games, sex and fart jokes.) The result is what Hymowitz describes as a Darwinian struggle in which both men and women seek tactics to get what they want out of the other without giving commitments or putting up with behaviors they don't want.
While I recognize that any "struggle for survival" has in our culture come to be referred to as "Darwinian", I can't help finding this a rather peculiar use of the term, since to the extent that all of this churn in the dating world is intended to be entirely sterile it really has nothing to do with "reproductive success". Hymowitz says
No, the problem with the Darwinian tenor of the Menaissance is neither antipathy to women's equality nor a misguided reading of female nature. It is an uncompromising biological determinism that makes no room for human cultivation. We are animals, the new Darwinians seem to say; get used to it. They define manhood as alpha-style toughness and unsentimental promiscuity. And in that spirit, they cultivate manipulation, calculation, and naked (in both the literal and metaphorical sense) self-interest. "Nature doesn't care about hurting people's feelings," explains dating coach Mike Pilinski. "It cares ONLY about reproductive success."
And yet one of the things that strikes me about this described system is that while it is a struggle shaped by the ways in which certain tactics achieve or fail to achieve their goals, it is a wholly un-natural situation. The whole reason why the scene that the article describes is even able to exist is that modern technology allows people to totally separate (or at least, imagine that they are totally separating) sex from its traditional context of producing offspring.
And in that regard, when I read this sort of thing (which apparently the parents on our local Catholic homeschooling email list are forwarding around with proclamations of how this seals their determination never to allow their children to date) I can't help wondering how real and widespread a phenomenon is actually being described here. I don't doubt that the people interviewed in the article, and in the books and studies quoted in the article, exist. But what percentage of the population has actually experienced anything like this sex-saturated primal struggle to get everything one wants without compromising any of one's own desires? Perhaps it's huge and I've somehow managed to live in a small corner of the Catholic sub-culture where I missed it. However, my impression is that while the dating scene described in the article doubtless exists among people of a certain income and background, in certain areas of the large cities throughout the US, for most people the post-sexual-revolution dating scene is one in which most people end up having sex before marriage, but nonetheless fairly quickly find themselves in long term relationships where they have children, share bank accounts and argue about who left the dishes undone.
There must be, it seems to me, a strong pull towards a moderately "traditional" lifestyle inherent within the human person simply because we are creatures made to associate sex with the closeness necessary to form a family able to nurture the children which naturally result from it. So to the extent that the culture described in this article is widespread (rather than just a good story for scaring parents and exciting those who wish they knew what bars the interviewees were hanging out at), I don't see how it could be sustainable. It's a culture which one can only bring new people into the world by leaving, and as such it seems like something that would naturally burn itself out fairly quickly. Even in the present of birth control technology which is obviously socially disruptive, if people are indeed going to keep reproducing and having anything vaguely resembling a stable family culture, this kind of sub-culture must be either very small or very transitory.
As Christians, our duty is to make it clear through word and example what the sane alternative is.
16 Responses to Sexual Selection and Modern Dating
I can only say that this article describes perfectly the dating/hookup culture of my junior high, high school, college (at a Catholic college), and grad school years.
It also conforms with my first decade of life in the workforce. While I was married and settling down, I was surrounded by coworkers a decade older than myself for whom life revolved around puerile humor, the quest for physical gratification, and ever more exotic diversions from the essential emptiness of existence.
I realize that anecdotal evidence isn't dispositive. But my observations for the last 15-20 years are accurately summarized in this article.
This culture is not a subculture, but the norm as far as I have ever seen it for those in their 20's and 30's. As a 29 year old male, this is the sort of thing that I am bombarded with on TV, in ads, in magazines and more importantly at the workplace and in the classrooms.
Even for those who seemingly reject it and get married, unless they understand the evil of it, they will still live it out as far as they are able in their conversations and probably their fantasies.
You make a lot of good points about the problems with this approach and I completely agree with you except to say that the roots of the problem are deep. If you doubt this I would challenge you to page through any issue of Maxim Magazine or Cosmopolitan.
The traditional understanding of men and women, their roles, and how they should interact is completely forgotten and young men and women have to rediscover it. This can only be done with great effort because of the scars we all have, and the poison we are being fed.
It seems to me there are two different things going on here. For some men, this type of activity is a transitional phase that lasts anywhere from their mid 20's to their late 30's. Others, however, simply give up on the idea of marriage altogether (Hymowitz cites a study indicating 22% of those interviewed show a strong aversion to marriage). If observation of class-mates and siblings is any guide, there is a lot of chaos in terms of dating expectations, and people develop different strategies to manage it.
I had a conversation with a 40 year-old co-worker several years ago who assured me that 'when he did get married, it would last,' although that was not going to anytime soon. I thought, but did not say, that the vow 'until death do you part' would probably keep getting easier to keep with every passing year. In any case, I think the article inevitably over-dramatizes the situation, but touches on some important aspects of the current dating culture.
Good post, Darwin.
As you noted, it's hardly Darwinian–the drive remains but the effect frequently falls short of reproductive success. Not much of a survival strategy, is it?
I often wonder what happened –while young adult promiscuity was common enough during my salad days, I think that ol' Darwinian bonding impulse still had a strong pull on the culture–including (if to a lesser degree) the male of the species. Most of the gals (and many of the guys) I knew then didn't bedhop purely as a form of recreation; if they weren't all practicing continence until marriage there was at least the recognition of sex as bond and engaging in it triflingly wasn't thought of very highly.
While "women don't know what they want, so we act like animals" is a sorry excuse, I think there is a grain of truth to it. Young people today have as a group been underexposed to self-restraint and fidelity and overexposed (at increasingly young ages) to sex divorced from its moral or emotional aspects and to sex as a means of exploiting others (and the girls, having more maturity and emotional control, can be as much or more the offenders in that regard.) In other words, my generation and the one just previous have done a poor job of setting the example (high divorce rates, serial "monogamy,") and pop culture promotes the tomcat lifestyle as normal. I've encountered young teens who whiled away their idle time with Mom's porn video collection or the soaps or whatever filth was on HBO while parents were off chasing their latest flame–with that background, we can hardly expect a healthy and holistic view of sexuality.
As a feminist, I'm troubled by the view (not merely a perception of my own as I've read plenty of remarks made by young women that confirm it) that equates immodesty, promiscuity, and consequence-free sex with female power. All this time I thought the struggle was for fair pay, respectful treatment, equality before the law, and educational access: to be more than sex objects. Then along come these kids who never had to do without those claiming the right to be nothing more than sex objects in the name of liberation. It's a concept that can only harm them as persons and will ultimately undo any good that feminism has ever done.
The summary of this essay is- There Are No Rules. I want what's mine. Whatever Mine may be on any given evening. Remember, many of those in the Hook Up Culture are children of divorce. Used to having Weekends With Daddy, if that much. Or horrible screaming fights leading to protracted divorce cases. Seven years ago, I was in a Chinese restaurant with mutual acquaintances. Each person had multiple personal stories about divorce, abandonment, disjointed families with multiple half-siblings. To which I went- gulp. Mom and Dad married happily for 45 years until Dad shed this mortal veil. Three younger sisters who married three terrific guys- actually four, but poor Tom succumbed to effects of Agent Orange while serving in 'Nam. Six terrific nieces and nephews. Oh that's right I lived in a comfortable Catholic bubble until time for the humongous urban circus that was Temple University in the mid 70s. Boy was I fortunate. Boy was I the oddball in the bunch.
This analysis described my college experience perfectly.
I was too timid to date, not sure what was expected of me at all. It's not just the men though, but the women too. My wife pursued a relationship with me because she knew what my values were and that there wouldn't be expectations of sexual activity.
If young adults with family values are the majority, they are indeed a silent majority. Most of them are shying away from relationships and dating because the loud, promiscuous, substance abusing crowd causes so much confusion. The "good" kids have a lot of friends but rarely date.
Sadly, my brother (23) has fallen into the video games and garage bands cess pool. I'm not blaming women entirely, but I think that the behavior described in this article is definitely a contributing factor.
I'm 29, so I certainly saw the hookup culture at some of the colleges I looked at, and heard about it from friends who went the secular college route.
With the exception of some of the middle-aged salesmen who frequented parties at the Playboy Mansion at the company I worked for in LA, I haven't run into it so much in the working world. Among people my own age it seems like I'd mostly run into:
a) Women who had been living with the same guy for some time and couldn't seem to understand why he had no interest in getting married. (Or on the flip side, guys living with their girlfriends who claimed to be perplexed as to why their girlfriends were so obsessed with marriage.)
b) Nice guys who were unmarried and complained they could never find any sane single women.
c) Young married professionals who were waiting till their mid thirties to have those one or two kids — or who insisted that they were so overwhelmed taking care of their dogs they couldn't imagine having kids.
d) Other people with what I think of as "normal" married lives with several kids — who invariably turn out to be very involved in their churches, often Evangelical but sometimes Catholic.
The big problem for our culture in the modern US, though, is that all media outlets seems totally focused around the have-sex-with-anyone-you-date-for-more-than-five-minutes culture, and the commonly portrayed alternative is the family made up of a smart alec wife, a overweight and stupid husband, two bratty kids and some interfering in-laws. Regardless of how frequent these two alternatives are, the fact that they're portrayed as normal by all our cultural outlets has got to be causing a lot of damage to people who are not already getting a strong positive example through some other means.
Two statements. The first is that I have seen quite a bit of the happy-go-lucky sex culture myself, both here at college, and when I worked a summer at construction. By no means did a majority look for rampant promiscuity, but a visible minority had no problem discussing girls they picked up one night, only to discard them the next day.
The second is in reply to one of the concluding statements:
I don't see how it could be sustainable. It's a culture which one can only bring new people into the world by leaving, and as such it seems like something that would naturally burn itself out fairly quickly.
The answer here, I think, is virus. By themselves, viruses cannot reproduce, but once they latch onto a host and convert a particular cell into a factory, they can make many more of themselves (which in turn cannot reproduce without invading some other host).
Whenever I think that that the culture of promiscuity is going to die out after a couple more generations, I remember the virus thing. The promiscuity culture waits for the non-promiscuous to reproduce, and then it infects some of the offspring, thus guaranteeing its propagation through yet another generation, and another, and another.
Now, how to make a vaccine…
Eh. I say it sounds like immature young men enjoying every minute of their freedom and conveniently blaming women for their "confusion". I dated my wife for 5 years (because we met in high school and I didn't want to be married until I had a degree and a job.) If I hadn't met her until we were 25, it would have taken me all of three months to propose. That's not to say there wouldn't have been other women to date and discern. But when a confident young Catholic knows what he's looking for, and uses a little common sense and knows where to look for it (NOT at a bar), it should be pretty easy to discover pretty quickly whether she would be a good wife. Shacking up for two years because you're "just not sure" is total BS.
will ultimately undo any good that feminism has ever done.
that horse left the barn long ago with abortion and free love.
I can tell you from first hand experience that the culture is definitely real and exists for pretty much all singles in their twenties that have not already entered into a long term relationship. You say that the culture is unsustainable because it's a culture which one can only bring new people into the world by leaving. First of all, it is not a true anthropological "culture" of persons so your existential math is not applicable to it. The culture of "Children" is also not capable of creating new members but the population of children has not declined now has it? The culture is really more a sub-culture. I believe your real question is whether or not this is a lasting sub-culture for it's individual members and whether or not this sub-culture will go extinct due to darwinian forces because so many of it's members have a low reproductive rate. Answer #1: no. Members of this subculture will leave it eventually because they lack sexual currency. Answer #2: maybe. Some parts of this subculture will very slowly go extinct because of it's low reproductive rate but other parts of it have a higher than replacement rate reproductive rate due to the prevalence of single mothers.
Also, let me say that I disagree with the author in his contention that men are becoming a sort of overgrown adolescent as a form of protest to the wrongs committed to them by women. I do not find that this is the case. I come from a conservative background and had many 1950's style ideas about dating in my head when I was younger. I have found that being a more responsible, mature, and committal man to women makes oneself extremely unattractive to them. The reason men have become grown adolescents is because that is what women have come to expect and desire. More mature men are considered boring and "lame" by the modern single girl/woman. A man that follows old school dating protocol seems like a prehistoric relic and a completely socially inept person to the modern woman. Also, the women themselves do NOT want to commit until they are damn well ready. And when such a time comes, she will try to turn one of her immature male peers into a more steadfast person. If she succeeds, she will be glad but also secretly disappointed that she was able to cow her man. The adaptation of men to this modern reality is darwinian in the sense that it is something that has evolved randomly in order to gain more success. And also, there's actually less sex going on than you would think. Hookups happen but since neither party is committed, there are long time spans between hookups. Serial monogamers probably have more sex but fewer partners.
"The culture of "Children" is also not capable of creating new members but the population of children has not declined now has it?"
Actually it has as many industrialized nations are now below replacement rates in the number of births.
Also, let me point something out to those of you that haven't already heard about it in the news.
Japanese bithrates and plunging and relations between young men and young women are disintegrating. What's happening there is a more extreme version of what's happening here.
I think that a lot of what's happening is due several factors:
Less social pressure to get marry.
It's easier to financially survive on your own with the rising GDP/capita of the modern world.
Men are less attractive to women.
The last one is interesting and exemplified in Japan. I would say that there are very few men that the average japanese women finds attractive and the reason has nothing to do with looks. Japanese men are too nice and unagressive for even the polite and unagressive japanese girls.
The truth is, women do not like equality when it comes their mate choices. They want men who have higher social positions and are more personally socially powerful than themselves. I believe that the liberation of women was a good thing for moral reasons but women have failed to pay their due and adjust their preferences in men now that they are much more the equal of men.
One of my co-workers is a 27 year old evangelical Christian. She went to college on both an athletic and an academic scholarship. She also happens to be extremely pretty. And yet, she sits at home most Saturday nights.
She told me quite a while ago that she wants to be a virgin when she marries. That accounts for the solo Saturday nights. She has many first dates (some with men who claim to be Christians), but somehow they never call again. Of course, not all first dates work out. (Actually, I could write the book about horrible first dates). I doubt her moral values (which would have been expected 50 years ago) are helping her popularity in the dating scene circa 2009.
I admire her steadfastness. I hope she soon meets a young man who admires and values her beliefs instead of thinking "Why should I waste money on a chick who won't put out?"
I've read a lot of articles and blog posts and it seems the issue is an imbalance between the number of eligible men and eligible women.
Note: the following is mainly applicable if there is an absence of traditional norms.
Between high school and the 30s, there are more eligible women than men, with 80% of women in the market and 20% of men in the market. This 20% of men are known as the "alpha males" and women direct all of their attention to attracting these men. The other 80% of guys can play video games since they don't have any value in the dating market and would lose even if they tried.
The general tendency is a polygamy if these alpha men play the field and monogamy if these alpha men settle down.


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Dave Evans
David Evans is Cisco's chief futurist, and senior director and chief technologist for the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) Innovations Practice. IBSG, Cisco's global executive consulting organization, drives market value creation for the company's customers by delivering industry-shaping thought leadership, CXO-level consulting services, and innovative solution design and incubation.
A Cisco veteran of more than 22 years, Evans leads a team chartered with helping customers incubate new ideas and translate vision into value. He joined IBSG from Cisco's IT organization, where he managed the global architecture innovations team, focusing on IP telephony, unified messaging, wireless, networked home, and Internet-related technologies.
Evans has a passion for applying technology innovation to real business needs. He is considered an industry expert on emerging technologies and regularly liaises with other thought leaders, including those in the venture capital community.
Prior to Cisco, Evans held varied IT positions at both AMD and MMI. Evans has pursued computer science and computer engineering at San Jose State University in San Jose, California.


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VATICAN CITY:US cardinals in Rome have abruptly cancelled media briefings in a victory for pre-conclave secrecy as workers readied the Sistine Chapel for a historic ceremony to elect the next Pope after Benedict XVI's resignation.
"Concern was expressed about leaks of confidential proceedings reported in Italian newspapers. As a precaution, the cardinals have agreed not to do interviews," Sister Mary Ann Walsh, US Conference of Catholic Bishops spokeswoman, said in a statement.
US cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, and Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, had been due to address journalists at the Pontifical North American College in Rome as part of a series of congenial briefings which have drawn crowds of journalists.
Italian media earlier on Wednesday reported there were "sparks" flying at pre-conclave meetings between US and German cardinals, keen to have longer discussions ahead of the conclave, and Italian ones pushing for a papal election as quickly as possible.
The Vatican denied it had intervened directly to censor the electors, with spokesman Federico Lombardi saying: "It seems natural that the path towards the conclave lead progressively to greater reflection and discretion."
While all cardinals taking part in the pre-conclave meetings are bound to secrecy on pain of excommunication, there had been a growing openness among electors in general about the problems facing the Church and what the future may hold.
Though no date for the conclave has yet been set, preparations got under way at the Sistine Chapel, where builders in hard hats worked under Michelangelo's famous frescoes, laying a false floor and installing two black stoves which will be used to alert the world when a Pope is elected.
The stoves were attached to the Sistine Chapel's chimney: ballots cast by the cardinals will be burned in them on a daily basis once the conclave starts, with black smoke signalling a vote has taken place, while white smoke will tell the world that a new papacy has begun.
The Vatican has said it wants a new Pope in place by Easter, which this year falls on March 31.
Spokesman Federico Lombardi said all of the 115 cardinal electors - cardinals below the age of 80 - should be present in Rome by Thursday, when a decision about the conclave date may come.


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Youth Profiles
Not long after Benjamin Becerril's first day at Staten Island's Richmond Early Learning Center, other children began to notice the discoloration on Benjamin's teeth. When they started asking him questions, he didn't know how to answer.
This unwanted attention led Benjamin, already a shy toddler, to become uncomfortable with his appearance. He soon became less verbally expressive as a result, unwilling to talk to the other children or even to his teachers at times.
To tackle the problem, Children's Aid staff quickly arranged for an in-house dental hygienist to clean his teeth, and worked with Benjamin's mom and her insurance company to find a highly recommended dentist.
Upon evaluation, the dentist determined that Benjamin had a condition known as baby bottle tooth decay, which was caused by Benjamin falling asleep with his bottle in his mouth. The sugar from the liquid had remained on his teeth, and promoted decay and discoloration as a result.
Benjamin received a filling and appropriate care for his condition, and his overall dental health improved. The color of his teeth improved noticeably, too. The dentist also stressed the importance of routine brushing to Benjamin, and told him all about the best ways he can take care of his teeth as he grows into adulthood.
While boosting Benjamin's dental health, the staff at Children's Aid also worked closely with Benjamin to increase his abilities in verbal expression. They provided targeted interventions and developed his social skills so that he would gain the confidence to speak with his peers and teachers. Slowly but surely, he started to show signs of progress.
After just a year, he has greatly improved his verbal expression, chatting frequently with his classmates and teachers. He also looks in the mirror and says, "My teeth are clean and strong." He no longer feels self-conscious about his appearance.
Benjamin is currently in his second year at Richmond, and when he finishes up, his mother has no doubt that he will be ready for kindergarten.
When the time for kindergarten arrived, Nancy Evangelista knew she needed a school that would provide her daughter, Eva, with a challenging academic curriculum.
But the public schools in her Parkchester neighborhood in the Bronx were not offering the structure she desired. When she heard that a highly rated principal had taken charge of Children's Aid College Prep Charter School, she applied to send her daughter to the new school.
Eva was chosen to become part of the inaugural kindergarten class in 2012.
An active child, Eva can be a challenge to manage, but Nancy found that teachers at Children's Aid College Prep were willing to help Eva transition between home and school, and emailed her often with updates on Eva's progress.
When they discovered that Eva read above grade level, her teachers ensured that she stayed engaged and interested in reading by placing her with the first graders during reading time and giving her access to higher level books.
Now in first grade, Eva continues to read above her grade level and her behavior has improved markedly. Her teachers continue to find ways to keep her motivated and nurture her interest in reading.
At home, Eva is already talking about college, reminding her mother that school continues after the 12th grade. For now, she would like to be a teacher when she grows up and knows that a college education is necessary to achieve that goal.
Recently, Eva received a college savings account as part of the CAS College Savers program – a joint initiative of The Children's Aid Society, the Citi Foundation, the 1:1 Fund and Tuck's R.U.S.H. for Literacy.
Children who enroll in College Savers receive $100 in seed money. Then every dollar a parent, friend or family member adds to that account in the first year is matched, up to $100. Additional incentives will be offered as family members continue to contribute.
Research shows that low-income students with just $500 or less in college savings are three times more likely to enroll in college and four times more likely to graduate.
Eva is already looking forward to receiving her monthly statements in the mail so see how her savings have grown. Nancy is grateful that her daughter is part of such an innovative school that pushes her daughter to succeed and prepares her for a future that includes college.
For the past two years, Xavier Reyes, 13, has traveled all the way from the Bronx to attend a Children's Aid community school in Washington Heights. The reason is simple: your support has opened up a world of opportunity to him.
An eighth grader at our Mirabal Sisters campus, Xavier takes advantage of a variety of after-school programs that help reinforce what he learns each day. So far, he has participated in an after-school club in robotics, taken a boat-building course and even attended a space camp halfway around the world, in Izmir, Turkey.
"No other school would have given me so many opportunities and helped me be the person that I am today," Xavier says.
Children's Aid programs are a family affair. His mother, Margarita Ramirez, is an engaged and active parent at the school, where she has taken part in workshops on nutrition, baking and curtain design.
As Xavier moves on to high school and then college, Children's Aid is monitoring his progress along the way. To ensure his academic success, we track his attendance, his interest in learning new concepts and his capacity to manage his time and set appropriate short- and long-term goals.
Providing social-emotional support is another priority. Through his participation in multiple, structured peer groups after school and throughout the summer, we are watching as Xavier builds trust and deep personal connections with peers, and develops strong feelings about his own capabilities—all of which helps him express his thoughts and feelings in productive ways.
To keep him healthy, we provide Xavier access to a full-service health center—with medical, dental and mental health services—right in his school. Meanwhile, through exposure to our "Go!Healthy" program, Xavier has demonstrated a strong interest in nutrition and a desire to prepare healthy meals at home.
Our last area of focus is on Xavier's family life. We help him maintain strong connections to adults by building positive relationships among our staff and his family. His mother says that these friendships are "like a second family watching out for Xavier." And through her involvement in the life of the school, she has high aspirations for Xavier's higher education, which research shows will increase the likelihood that he gets to and through college.
For now, Xavier is focused on computer science and math, while the community around him nurtures and supports him to follow his dream: One day, he says, he will work at Apple as an engineer.
Jonatai Saintilus, 16, is a junior at Cathedral High School in Manhattan, where she maintains an A average and takes honors classes in English, history, science and trigonometry.
As she starts planning for her future, Jonatai gets college prep support at The Children's Aid Society's Hope Leadership Academy in East Harlem. Thanks to its comprehensive curriculum, Jonatai attends workshops on financial literacy, public speaking and scholarship opportunities.
Personal family experiences have inspired Jonatai to eventually pursue a career as a physician with a specialty in geriatric medicine. She knows that if she works hard enough, she will become the first member of her family to graduate from college in America.
This goal is extremely important to her as she strives to be a good role model for her four adopted siblings and to make her father, who emigrated from Haiti to the United States, proud of her accomplishments.
The Hope Leadership Academy was established by The Children's Aid Society after 9/11, as a safe place for adolescents to process their feelings on violence and victimization. Our youth development model is designed to compensate for real or perceived lack of opportunities by providing an environment that promotes success and celebrates achievements.
Hope trains youth to be community educators and leaders, imparting the skills for youth to make changes in their own lives and inspire change in others.
As Jonatai navigates the challenges of her junior year in high school and a heavy work load, she leans on the support and guidance from Hope. With encouragement from the staff, she has broadened her view of what her college experience should be and is paying attention to criteria other than specific degree programs. She is now looking closely at campus size, the diversity of the student population and other factors that will lead her to choose a school that is a good fit for her as a student and individual.
She is also hoping that her performance at school, boosted by the support from Hope staff, will allow her to consider Ivy League schools.
"The Children's Aid Society has given me the building blocks to prepare for my future," she says.
Originally from Mexico, Julio Olmedo travelled alone to the U.S. at 15, driven to help his family back home by finding work here. He made his way to New York City, where he lived with an older brother.
Two years later, police found the pair sleeping on the subway with their belongings, having been evicted from the room they shared. An "unaccompanied, undocumented youth," Julio was referred to Children's Aid's teen foster care program in May 2010. He was placed in two temporary settings before finding a stable home with his current caregiver the next year.
Despite having left school after seventh grade, Julio had a strong desire to graduate high school and attend college. He entered Liberty High School in Chelsea—which serves students newly arrived to the United States—as a 17-year-old freshman.
At Liberty, he took ESL classes in addition to his regular coursework. Children's Aid provided his medical and dental care, including braces and even a referral to treat his lisp.
In November 2012, Julio began meeting with a coach as part of a new program funded by the Hilton Foundation that aims to get youth in foster care to and through college—one study shows that just 6 percent of former foster youth earn a two- or four-year degree by 24.
During their first meeting, Julio and his advisor assessed Julio's strengths at school, as well as his struggles with math and science. Together, they developed a plan for Julio to enter college in the fall of 2013.
Throughout his senior year, Julio and his advisor met regularly to review his progress, prepare his applications and explore financial aid. Julio also got enrichment services—in-home tutoring and SAT prep—that helped him make significant strides. The 65 he earned in geometry last November jumped to an 85 by June. In the spring, his perfect attendance at 10 test prep sessions helped him raise his scores.
In May, Julio was accepted to his top choice, CUNY's John Jay College, which offers special academic and financial support to students in need. This includes a summer program he attended to help prepare for the demands of attending a four-year college.
Today, Julio is a college freshman and, at 21, has formally "aged out" of the foster care system. But he remains in our care, getting support and services as he needs them on his astonishing path to graduation day.


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Sen. Corey Brown:Legislature may deal with reactions to national events
As we all begin to replace our previous year's calendars, the next session of the South Dakota legislature is ready to commence.
There have been some changes to this district. Hyde County is now a part of the Pierre district. District 23 has changed its boundaries to include Hand County, Leola and the rest of McPherson County, as well as part of Spink County, which includes Tulare. While change is always difficult, I do believe that these additions and subtractions are generally aligned with the culture and views of the district as a whole. I look forward to working with the new areas in the same way I have done with the existing areas.
In November we concluded a general election with a substantial number of big ballot measures. Few of those passed the scrutiny of the voting public. Certainly it was a step in the right direction for the state to reform the Cement Plant Trust Funds, albeit a complicated issue.
Moreover, I think few would disagree that it is important for the state to enshrine in the Constitution the requirement to balance our budget, even though we have done so for 124 years. With the dynamics in Washington D.C., it is understandable to make sure that our state doesn't fall into the same dysfunction. As a practical matter, that decision will help to boost our standing with credit rating agencies, which could ultimately save us millions of dollars in interest on our bond payments.
In terms of the state's budget we start with a much better forecast this year than those of the past.
We have seen projections that indicate most of the state's major revenue sources are trending toward a positive trajectory. Despite this, the increases are modest (at best). With 2 to 3 percent revenue growth, inflationary increases may be available for many of the state's major programs. However, it is unlikely we will be able to afford any new major programs or expansions.
I do believe that this next legislative year we need to continue to be conservative with the state's limited resources. Although we are seeing a positive revenue trend, this is not the time to commit the state to major expansions in ongoing funding.
I would anticipate that this next year we would see many proposals and reactions to some of the recent national events that have occurred. Without knowing the details of those proposals, I would tell you that I think we need to exert some caution to any proposal.
Our state currently has very fair laws towards gun owners. They are not too cumbersome, yet they are effective at limiting those who should not have the right to have a firearm. When we look at the tragedy in Connecticut we have to ask ourselves whether any of the proposed reforms would have eliminated that tragedy. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a proposal that I would believe would have prevented that.
I also believe that our rising prison populations will dominate the discussion in Pierre for the next couple of months. The governor has indicated that this will be a top priority for him and I would expect that this next week some of the proposed reforms will be released.
While we never want to be soft on crime, I do believe that there are potential changes that could be more effective in rehabilitating some of our offenders.
This next year I will serve in a bit of a different role in the Senate. I am the nominee for the majority party to be the next Senate President Pro Tempore. I will talk some more next week about what that means for District 23 and the different duties that it will involve.
Although I try to emphasize it every year, I really do appreciate your feedback. Even if you have never made an effort to contact me before, it is important for you to let me know your views on the various bills being debated in the legislature.
I can be contacted in the following ways: 605-769-0540 (cell phone), email@example.com (email… make sure you remember the "e" and the "w"), or 316 S Potter Street, Gettysburg, S.D., 57442 (traditional mail). There is no question that your feedback helps me to make decisions that better represent our district.
Corey Brown
SD State Senate
District 23


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Ted PhernettonInterim AdministratorPhone (920) 272-8291Email:
Office of Living JusticeBona HallP.O. Box 238251825 Riverside Drive Green Bay, WI 54305Fax: (920) 272-8430
The Office of Living Justice promotes the social justice agendae of the Holy See, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Wisconsin Catholic Conference.
The Office of Living Justice works hand-in-hand with the local Church so that during the 21st century the seven themes of Catholic social teaching will come alive. These themes are:
CST 101 is a collaborative 7-part video series on the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching. The video series is co-sponsored by the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Catholic Relief Services.
Videos will be released every few weeks in conjunction with notable events on the Church calendar.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, president, Caritas Internationalis; Sr. Ruth Bolarte, IHM, Director of Multi-Cultural Ministries, Diocese of Metuchen, N.J.; Sean Callahan, President and CEO, Catholic Relief Services, discuss Solidarity.
Cardinal Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap, Archbishop of Boston; Bill O'Keefe, Vice President, Government Relations & Advocacy, Catholic Relief Services; Helen Alvaré, JD, professor of law at George Mason University, discuss Rights and Responsibilities.
Fr. James Martin, SJ, editor at large, America Magazine; Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, president, Caritas Internationalis; Kerry Weber, managing editor, America Magazine; and Thomas Awiapo, Global Solidarity Coordinator, Catholic Relief Services, discuss Option for the Poor and Vulnerable.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; Dr. Carolyn Woo, CEO and president of CRS; and Father James Martin, SJ, editor at large for America Magazine, discuss Care for God's Creation.
Bishop Robert Barron, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; Dr. Jonathan J. Reyes, executive director of the USCCB Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development; and Helen Alvaré, JD professor of law at George Mason University, discuss the dignity of the human person and our right to life.
Lisa Hendey, founder of Catholicmom.com; Msgr. Ray East, pastor of St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Washington, D.C.; and Jonathan Reyes, executive director of the USCCB Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, discuss the call to family, community, and participation.
Pope Francis released his encyclical, Laudato Si' ("On Care for Our Common Home") on June 18, 2015. The encyclical discusses human ecology and Catholic social teaching on the theme of Care for God's Creation. The full text of Laudato Si' is available on the Vatican website.
Laudato Si' Text
Download Document
On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court issued a decision on two questions: (1) whether the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires states to issue marriage licenses to two persons of the same sex and (2) whether it requires a state to recognize a "marriage" between two people of the same sex when their "marriage" was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has prepared several resources to give additional context before the Court's decision and to encourage continued education and prayer.
In his 2015 Message for the World Day of Peace (January 1), Pope Francis urges us to recognize the "equal dignity" of our enslaved and exploited brothers and sisters and to work to end human trafficking, trade in migrants and prostitutes, slave labor, and the enslavement of women and children.
February 8th is the Feast Day of St. Josephine Bakhita, who was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery. Once she was freed, she dedicated her life to sharing her testament of deliverance from slavery and comforting the poor and suffering.
Catholics are invited to pray for the emotional, physical, and spiritual healing, and personally commit to work against human trafficking and can the following resources:
Sitio Web
Special website helps parishes fully implement Bishop David Ricken's pastoral letter and its six pastoral focus areas. Includes:
• The pastoral letter• Best Practices• Articles• Blogs


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Marlborough – biggest drop in number of teenage smokers
Marlborough – biggest drop in number of teenage smokers
4 February 2014
Latest results from the 2013 Census show that the Marlborough region has seen the biggest percentage decrease in the number of smokers aged 15–19 years.
2013 Census regional summary tables – part 2, released today, gives an interesting impression of the Marlborough region and its districts.
"For instance, the number of 15–19-year-olds in Marlborough who smoke regularly decreased 55.1 percent since the 2006 Census. This was the biggest percentage decrease in the number of smokers in this age group in the country, and represents 309 fewer young people lighting up," Census General Manager Sarah Minson said.
In last year's census, 11.7 percent of Marlborough residents aged 15–19 years reported being regular smokers, down from 22.7 percent in 2006.
Of all Marlborough adults, 23.7 percent reported receiving income from New Zealand Superannuation or the Veteran's Pension in last year's census, the highest proportion in the country. The total number of Marlborough residents receiving income from this source increased 25.6 percent since 2006.
"This local breakdown of census information is some of the most important, as it will help communities and service providers plan for the future," Ms Minson said. "Providers of local services such as health, education, community, and recreational facilities can use census data to form a picture of the region and what it needs to succeed."
2013 Census regional summary tables – part 2 has more information on topics such as religion, relationship status, occupation, and smoking.


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Modern Cat Photo Contest Entry- Considering Necessary Details In losing weight
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Meet: Considering Necessary Details In losing weight
Vote For Me!
Some tips will work for you, while others will not. Are you looking for more information regarding diet plans losing weight. Well I think that you can or how you are reading this, how stupid I am LOL.
They may get tired or pleading their case for you to lose weight and take control over your health. For instance, a person should eat slowly, avoid the vending machine, sleep for a full eight hours, and keep a food journal and also drink plenty of water. One option is to choose a plan that results in some relatively rapid loss at the beginning, then slows down and produces more sustainable results.
Remember, these are just quick tips, and are not the whole picture, just a portion of it. - Fruits and vegetables like berries, apples and plums. When someone drastically cuts calories, the body decides to save the fat cells because it thinks it is starving.
Taking this way of action will no doubt allow you to lose weight fast, but at what cost. For those on a diet, your objective is to seek out the exercise regimens that have significant weight reduction benefits; in this case it would be cardio exercises. Reaching these small goals will keep your confidence up as well. As in quick weight loss diets that work for women.
With regular exercise, proper diet and your great resolve, you will soon start fitting into your good old jeans once again. Also in the weight loss menu are alternative protein sources that will definitely not include those huge beef and pork slabs. There are a number of reasons why your weight-loss strategy may not be yielding expected results.
With these supplements you don't need to put extra amount of effort for weight loss. When dieting, you need to determine if you are losing fat or water. Well, at this point we can get away from calling it "The chocolate cake diet," because it really isn't about just eating chocolate cake to lose weight.
Changes usually mean making sacrifices. Brush your teeth early in the evening to deter nighttime snacking. As the moment someone calls you fat and makes fun of you, you feel like taking revenge on that person and nothing can be a better revenge than massive weight loss success.
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