text: PAXTON, Mass. — Anna Maria College has rescinded its invitation to the widow of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to speak during spring commencement ceremonies after a local bishop said he found her an "objectionable" choice because of her association with organizations whose points of view are contrary to church teachings.Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Mass., said he told the president of the college that he would not attend the May 19 commencement if Victoria Reggie Kennedy were the speaker and the recipient of an honorary degree from the institution."My difficult is not primarily with Mrs. Kennedy," Bishop McManus told The Catholic Free Press, newspaper of the Worcester Diocese. "My difficulty is with the college choosing her to be honored by allowing her to be commencement speaker and giving her an honorary degree."My concern basically was that to give this type of honor to Mrs. Kennedy would in fact undercut the Catholic identity and mission of the school," he said. "And that in so far as that happens, the 'communio' (communion) or the unity that exists between the local church and the local Catholic college is strained and hurt."Bishop McManus did not specify which of Kennedy's public appearances or statements raised concerns, but he said he was concerned that if Kennedy, who is Catholic, were honored by the college it would have given the impression that "someone can hold a position that is contrary to the church's teaching (and still be honored).""That cannot be allowed," he said.Some news reports have said Kennedy supports same-sex marriage and keeping abortion legal but she is not well-known for publicly addressing these issues. Her husband, a lifelong Catholic, was a longtime proponent of access to abortion for women and supported equal rights for gays and lesbians.A March 30 statement from the 1,100-student Catholic liberal arts college located in central Massachusetts said the invitation was withdrawn after "hours of discerning and struggling with elements of all sides of this issue."Citing Kennedy's contributions on social issues such as gun control and child safety, the statement also said college officials still believed the late senator's wife was an appropriate choice as speaker and honorary degree recipient."As a small Catholic college that relies heavily on the good will of its relationship with the bishop and the larger Catholic community, its options are limited," the college's statement said. "Should the bishop's concerns become a public debate, Mrs. Kennedy's appearance at commencement and the recognition of her many outstanding achievements could be reduced to a focus other than the primary importance of commencement, a celebration for Anna Maria College graduates."The college said it apologized to Kennedy and appreciated her understanding of its position.Kennedy expressed disappointment that she would not be able to address Anna Maria College's class of 2012.In a statement issued after the college's announcement, Kennedy said she accepted the decision of Anna Maria College President Jack P. Calareso and the Executive Committee of the college's board of trustees and "regretted the position" in which they had been placed."I have great respect and admiration for Anna Maria College and the class of 2012 and would not want my presence to hurt the school or detract from the graduates' special day in any way," Kennedy's statement said."Nevertheless, I am disheartened by this entire turn of events," the statement continued. "I am a lifelong Catholic and my faith is very important to me."She is a member of the board of directors of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, is a nonprofit organization that brings together leaders from the worlds of business, finance, academia, philanthropy, nonprofits and the church to serve the Catholic Church in the United States in the areas of management, finances and human resources development.Kennedy said she had not met with Bishop McManus "nor has he been willing to meet with me to discuss his objections.""He has not consulted with my pastor to learn more about me or my faith. Yet by objecting to my appearance at Anna Maria College he has made a judgment about my worthiness as a Catholic. This is a sad day for me and an even sadder one for the church I love," Kennedy said.


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Mac plays an important role at the Scrubs wedding
What's better than John J. York back as the most handsome Mac Scorpio? How about Mac performing the Scrubs wedding ceremony? How beautiful it was, and the fact that Uncle Mac stood up with Patrick and Robin made it even better. And it was unexpected too. Who would have thought that Mac would get ordained on the Internet? Certainly not me.
Having watched Kim McCullough (Robin) grow up on the show, it was really fun to see this happy ending. And it seemed to me that all those

subset: commoncrawl


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Product Summary
TL-WN422G High-Gain Wireless USB Adapter give you the flexibility to install the PC or notebook PC in the most convenient location available, without the cost of running network cables. This adapter enable significantly great connection reliability, even as in noisy environment and long distance.
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|TL-WN422G 54Mbps High Gain Wireless USB Adapter
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|Wireless Transmission Speed
|54 Mbps
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|IEEE 802.11b/g
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|4 dBi
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Map of Mazda Dealers
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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) has joined the newly formed Coalition for Safe Affordable Food (www.CFSAF.org) and is urging Congress to quickly enact federal standards for the labeling of food and beverage products made with ingredients that contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
"Dairy companies are committed to providing consumers a wide array of nutritious products along with the information they are looking for on our product labels," said Connie Tipton, president and CEO of IDFA. "But we need one set of labeling guidelines so that the food industry can effectively share information with consumers."
According to IDFA, a federal GMO labeling solution would:
- Eliminate confusion: Remove the confusion and uncertainty of a 50 state patchwork of GMO safety and labeling laws and affirm the FDA as the nation's authority for the use and labeling of genetically modified food ingredients.
- Inform consumers: The FDA will establish federal standards for companies that want to voluntarily label their product for the absence-of or presence-of GMO food ingredients so that consumers clearly understand their choices in the marketplace.
- Provide consistency: The FDA will define the term "natural" for its use on food and beverage products so that food and beverage companies and consumers have a consistent legal framework that will guide food labels and inform consumer choice.
IDFA believes that our nation's food labeling laws should be set by the FDA, the nation's foremost food safety agency.


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A settlement of a property owners' lawsuit challenging Monterey County's general plan over a water-supply policy will require the county to do a five-year study to determine if the Salinas Valley Water Project is performing as billed.
The settlement was announced this week by the county Board of Supervisors in a suit that challenged a general plan policy requiring property owners to prove long-term, sustainable water supplies for certain kinds of development.
The policy was challenged by the Salinas Valley Water Coalition, Monterey County Farm Bureau and other taxpayer and building-trade groups. They received financial help from the Monterey County Association of Realtors.
They contended the proof-of-water policy shouldn't apply to property owners in the Salinas Valley who have been paying assessments to finance the Salinas Valley Water Project.
They claimed the project — a seasonal diversion dam on the Salinas River near Marina and spillway modifications at Nacimiento Dam — was billed as a way to assure their water supply through 2030. The project was intended to halt saltwater intrusion and protect the Salinas Valley water basin.
"Our argument was why would we have to prove it. We are paying for it," said Nancy Isakson, president of the Salinas Valley Water Coalition.
The 2010 general plan policy requires water proof on any project requiring a discretionary permit — such as a subdivision or a major agricultural facility. But the county is still working on an ordinance to define the requirement.
"There was a lot of debate over what that is" in general plan deliberations, said Leslie Girard, assistant county counsel.
The environmental impact report for the general plan also said there would be long-term water in the Salinas Valley, Girard said.
In settling the suit, the county struck a compromise with property owners in the Salinas Valley Water Project assessment district, which is called Zone 2C. The zone contains the heart of the Salinas Valley.
Under the settlement, the county by the end of this year will commence a five-year study on how the Salinas Valley Water Project is working.
During that period, property owners in Zone 2C applying for discretionary permits for projects would have a "rebuttable presumption of long-term water supply," Girard said.
That means they wouldn't have to prove their future water supply under the general plan policy, but opponents to a project could challenge on water-supply grounds.
If the study shows the project isn't working — saltwater intrusion is advancing, or water tables aren't stabilizing — the presumption would go away, Girard said. It could be extended through 2030 — the outside boundary for the general plan — if the study shows the water project is working, he said.
The settlement obligates the county to begin processing the necessary amendments to the general plan to carry out the deal within 45 days.
The settlement also calls for the county to pay $200,000 for the groups' attorney fees and costs.
The suit is among four that challenged the general plan, which was adopted after more than a decade of debate.
Two other suits, filed by LandWatch Monterey County and The Open Monterey Project, contend the plan is flawed for a number of reasons, from water supply and slope protection to open space and winery corridor rules. Another suit filed by the Carmel Valley Association challenges the plan's method for determining traffic congestion.
The other three suits are pending.
"We have been having discussions, and that is all I am going to say," Girard said.
Larry Parsons can be reached at 646-4379 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Open up, say 'neigh': Horses help teach med students
For the next generation of doctors to develop a better bedside manner, it's important to spend some time in a stable.
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TV and soda: Small habits cause excess pounds
Just a few bad habits -- watching TV, eating potato chips, having a sugary soda at lunch or staying up too late at night -- can add up to a steady creep of pounds over the years, U.S. researchers said Wednesday. Full story
TODAY Health Headlines


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Round three review
Canterbury lead second-placed Central Districts by three points in the National Under-19 Tournament being held at the New Zealand High Performance Centre in Lincoln.
Third round action saw all six teams play in their second Two Day match of the tournament, which in the end spanned over three days due to inclement weather forcing yesterday to be abandoned.
Otago claimed an outright victory over Northern Districts, while Canterbury proved too good for Central Districts. The match between Wellington and Auckland resulted in a draw overall, but it was Auckland who claimed first-innings points.
Number eight batsmen Connor Ridge scored an unbeaten 94 to lead Auckland to a more than respectable 323 all out in the first-innings. Four-wicket bags from both Kyle Jamieson and Ganesh Ratnasabapathy then limited Wellington's response to 71 all out, allowing Auckland to enforce the follow on.
They then pushed for the victory, but were unable to make the same inroads against the Wellington line-up in the second innings. Henry Walsh top-scored with 66 to get Wellington through to 156 for four and ensure Auckland came up short.
Otago on the other hand had no such problems closing out the match, benefiting from Michael Rae's five wicket-bag in the opening innings to dismiss Northern for 66. Otago then made 251 in their reply to claim a healthy lead.
Northern fought their way to 247 in their next attempt with the bat, but it left Otago chasing just 63 to win. They did it with ease, with Rhys Bayly leading the way with an unbeaten 25 to secure a five wicket victory.
The other match between Canterbury and Central Districts was the pick of the games to date though, with the former claiming a narrow 27 run triumph. Central required 225 to win in the final innings, but a sensational five wicket-bag from Hamish Robertson saw them come up just short, all out for 197.
Earlier, Canterbury had recorded totals of 194 and 129, while Central had fallen behind with a first-innings total of 99. They came close to making up the deficit, but lost wickets quickly and cheaply towards the end of their innings.


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Regulators chose to protect banks over consumers when they agreed to a $9 billion settlement that was based on "a made-up number" to end investigations of illegal foreclosure practices by some of the nation's largest mortgage servicers.
The accusation comes from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. On Thursday, she pounded federal regulators with questions over a foreclosure review settlement in which victims will receive "pennies on the dollar" while the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve give up investigating the illegal practices.
They'd rather be fast than right
"If you can't correctly tell how many people were the victims of illegal bank actions, how can you possibly decide how much money is an appropriate amount for a bank settlement?" she asked the Federal Reserve's deputy general counsel, Richard Ashton, during a committee hearing.
His answer: Reviewing the files to properly estimate the number of victims "would have caused delays."
But the OCC and the Federal Reserve didn't seem to think delays would be a problem when a year and $2 billion were wasted on consultants who reviewed only about 100,000 loan files of the 4.2 million in question.
"We gave up looking for individual injuries," Ashton says. "Our priority was to get cash to borrowers."
Is $300 enough?
Many of these borrowers have been emailing me with questions since I wrote this post about the settlement, letting them know that their checks are on the way. Some of the emails come from borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure after the lender gave them a loan modification that increased their monthly mortgage payments. Based on the chart of payments the OCC has released, these homeowners would get $300 in compensation.
This settlement shouldn't have been about getting homeowners $300 quickly, "but getting the right amount of cash to the right people," Warren told regulators.
The 4.2 million borrowers whose loans were serviced by the banks listed in the settlement will get some sort of compensation regardless of whether or not there was misconduct or errors in their loan files. Regulators had claimed that the servicers had broken the law in about 6.5 percent of the cases reviewed.
The 'made up' numbers
"The problem is that the 6.5 percent is not accurate," Warren told the OCC. "Your staff admitted to us that number is not based on random sample. It was determined based on whatever files had been reviewed by the time you shut down the investigation. The 6.5 percent was just a made-up number."
Illegal activity is confidential information
And what about the illegal activity the consultants identified in the files that were reviewed? Can the information be released to Congress? Can those families be told the finding of their reviews?
Warren and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, are aggressively pushing for it.
But the lawyers for the OCC and the Federal Reserve say there is a "process" for that because it would be "confidential" information.
"So you've made decision to protect the banks, but not the families that have been foreclosed against?" Warren asked Ashton.
Ashton says the regulators have not decided whether to inform families of issues found in their files.
OK, the 100,000 files that cost $2 billion to review must be worth something. Logic suggests that the OCC used those findings to help create the categories used by regulators to determine how much each borrower gets from the settlement.
But none of the consultants were involved in creating the payment chart, they told Warren during the hearing.
"Who put the people into each of these boxes?" Warren asked. Answer: The banks did.
"It now appears, the people who broke the law are the same people who determined who will be compensated from the breaking of that law," she concluded.
Follow me on Twitter @Polyanad.


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Milone, A's unable to find their stride in Tampa
ST. PETERSBURG -- Brandon Moss didn't mince words.
"Obviously, we didn't do our job today with men in scoring position -- at least I didn't," the A's first baseman said.
Moss went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position Sunday, and as a team, the A's were 1-for-13 with RISP as the Rays completed their weekend sweep, 8-1, extending Oakland's losing streak to a season-high three games and knocking the A's out of first place in the American League West.
"When you come up four times with runners in scoring position, and you don't get a single one in, that's not a recipe for success," Moss added when asked where the previously hot-hitting A's offense had suddenly gone.
"We had opportunities today. And their pitchers did a good job of keeping us off-balance all series. It would be stupid for us to get down on ourselves after three losses, especially when they pitched as well as they did. That's just baseball."
In this weekend's three losses to the Rays, the A's were an anemic 3-for-25 with runners in scoring position and were outscored 17-4. Every A's starter except Eric Sogard struck out at least once, and he went 1-for-8.
On Sunday they again settled for three hits, all singles -- none coming after the fifth inning. The final nine A's who stepped up to the plate were set down in order, four of them by strikeout.
For the second day in a row, the A's did not get an extra-base hit, after collecting at least one extra-base hit in every game this season,
"Three days ago, we were getting all the big hits," said manager Bob Melvin. "We've been getting big hits all season. We just didn't do it in this series. We're pressing some with runners in scoring position. We were getting guys on base today. We just weren't getting big hits.
"We've got to put this behind us and play better in Boston," added Melvin, who did not rule out the possibility he may make some lineup changes for Monday's game against the Red Sox.
The Rays jumped on previously unbeaten Tommy Milone for three runs in the first inning, scoring on an error by A's right fielder Josh Reddick, a bases-loaded hit batsman (Sean Rodriguez) and Kelly Johnson's sacrifice fly.
"It could have been a 'nothing' inning," Melvin pointed out.
Instead, it was the ballgame, as Milone was forced to throw 32 pitches in the frame.
"They did a good job of keeping the pressure on," Milone, now 3-1, said. "I made some bad pitches and they did a good job of putting the bat on the ball and getting on base.
"That's the way the game goes. It happens, As much as we pitchers would like it, we're not going to score 10 runs every game. We don't worry about what the offense is doing. We've got to go out there and do our own business."
Tampa Bay's Roberto Hernandez worked the first six innings, holding the A's to a run on three hits. He struck out seven and walked three to pick up his first win since Sept. 20, 2011 with the Indians.
Reddick, mired in a 2-for-26 slump, singled with two outs in the fourth for the A's first hit off Hernandez, driving in Seth Smith.
"Anytime you get a hit and drive in a run, if feels good," said Melvin of Reddick. "No one is going to feel sorry for you. He's just got to battle through it and get his confidence back."
The A's are 11-2 against the AL West, and 1-5 against everybody else. They are 0-7 this season when scoring fewer than four runs.
Jim Hawkins is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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BUNNELL, Fla. - A Bunnell man was arrested on Wednesday on charges of grand theft and the cultivation of marijuana.
Guy Moraski, 58, is accused of growing marijuana, but he told deputies that it wasn't for personal use and not for distribution; deputies said there was no evidence he sold the drugs, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Moraski also was accused of stealing Tamarin monkeys and a harlequin macaw.
Frank Calabria, 57 of Ocala, told deputies he loaned the two animals to Moraski in 2008 for breeding purposes with an agreement of splitting the offspring evenly.
Moraski's estranged wife called Calabria in September stating that the animals were sold, deputies said.
Moraski's estranged wife was the one who led a Deputy Dennis Lashbrook to the household on Sept. 9 when a temporary injunction for domestic violence was served and the deputy noticed several bird and monkey cages.
A Flagler County Sheriff's deputy went to Moraski's home on Sept. and asked about the animals. He told the deputy that the animals were sold by he and his wife about four years ago, according to the police report.
Deputies also noticed a small amount of cannabis, when Moraski told deputies that he was growing marijuana on the property. Nineteen plants were found on his property, ranging in size from small to adult plants.
Moraski was booked into the Flagler Count Inmate Facility and later released on bond.
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FRANKFORT – A new third set tie-breaker for tennis in Kentucky this season did not help the Bullitt East doubles team of senior Reese Milburn and junior Hunter Norris on Thursday after they had rallied to win the second set in the finals of the Eighth Region Tournament at Franklin County High School.
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Hi all,
I just realized I have been making an assumption, and I want to verify I am correct. I understand that monks are not to pull weeds, and I think this is a rule set forth to ensure monks do not damage crops which would irritate their donors.
My question: It is OK for non-monastics to pull weeds, right? By this I mean that it does not generate any particualar kamma for "killing" the weeds as they are not sentient beings.


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Summer of cocktail festivals
Updated 10:25 pm, Tuesday, April 17, 2012
If you are thirsting for more cocktail recipes, tips and techniques, the summer is the season for more cocktail festivals.
There is still time to book a trip and buy tickets for the Manhattan Cocktail Classic, which is May 11-15 in New York City. Some events such as the Momofuku Milk Bar Masterclass, Stories from Behind the Bar: Death and Company and the gala are sold out, but there are quite a few seminars still available. Of course, there will be other opportunities to visit these and other notable bars.
Additional seminars by some of the biggest names in the country will be featured at some of the best bars in New York, such as Barrel-aging cocktails and Handcrafted Cocktails: Create Homemade Ingredients, Syrups, Cordials, Infusions and Accompaniments.
Food Channel
- Old School Fancy Restaurant Rules to Forget ForeverFAWTime
- Raccoons Eat SnacksJukinMedia
- No-Bake Blueberry-Cheesecake Ice-Cream PieSLivingTime
- How to Make Fried Egg and Crunchy Breadcrumb Breakfast SaladMyRecTime
- How to Make a Tomato Elderflower CocktailCookLightTime
- Martha Stewart Says Pumpkin Spice Is for 'Basic Bitches Only'TaLTIME
- Pickles 3 WaysCookLightTime
- How to Make 3 Nut Butters SaucesCookLightTime
- Hard Apple Cider Sangria (That's Easy)TPSYZMG
- This Cookie Dough Dip is Insanely DeliciousTPSYZMG
- Prince George Is Making Everyone Want These LentilsFAWTime
- 90 Seconds of Ratchet RaccoonsJukinMedia
- No Cheese on my CheeseburgerJukinMedia
- Happy Cheeseburger Day!JukinMedia
- Chocolate TrifleSLivingTime
- The History of TailgatingFAWTime
- Wawa Breakfast Sandwich DealFAWTime
- Tom Brady's DietFAWTime
- How to Slice Cheese RecutMyRecTime
- Homemade Pizza…With a TwistMyRecTime
Prices vary from $30 to $100 per event. For more details and to purchase tickets, visit manhattancocktailclassic.com.
Closer to home, Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans will celebrate its 10th anniversary at this year's festival, July 25-29.
Founder and executive director Ann Tuennerman and crew are pulling out all the stops to mark the milestone.
In addition to the more than 200 seminars, there are several new events this year, including a Hand-Shaken Daiquiri Cocktail Competition; a Spirited Luncheon with the Dame Hall of Fame; and Tales of the Cocktail Excursions, including Louisiana swamp tours, pig butchering demonstrations, bike and garden tours, cocktails, music and more.
For competitors, the Tales of the Cocktail Bartender Showdown offers a chance to win an all-expenses paid trip for two to the conference. Entrants must be at least 25 years old and reside in the United States. Cocktail recipes must be submitted by May 8.
The cocktail recipe must feature Drambuie Liqueur as the lead spirit and include it in the name. It also cannot use more than five ingredients.
Seminar highlights include The Ins and Outs of Cocktails On Tap, Pisco Wars: Peru vs. Chile since 1613, and Tasteless: How taste alters as we age.
Prices range from $40 to $100 per event; a Founders' Day package is available for $625; and a new package, How To Open Your Own Bar & Not Screw Up presented by Bar-Smarts on July 25, costs $141.
More and information and ticket pricing can be found at talesofthecocktail.com. Jennifer McInnis is the wine and spirits writer for the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @JenMcInnis or email jmcinnis@


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The glorious in-game Skyrim trailer is now on Xbox Live for HDTV viewing. Download it now.
In other news, the glorious Skyrim/My Little Pony mashup is now on the internet for amusement. Please enjoy it with us above.
The glorious in-game Skyrim trailer is now on Xbox Live for HDTV viewing. Download it now.
In other news, the glorious Skyrim/My Little Pony mashup is now on the internet for amusement. Please enjoy it with us above.
Sweet! I've been waiting for it to hit Xbox Live so I can watch it on my HDTV…. Oh yeah. 🙂
And somehow that My Little Pony mashup fits extremely well. Almost too well.
This is brilliant to no end. For a "girl's" show, it's surprisingly entertaining, and this mashup fits the trailer audio wonderfully.
I think it would be awesome if Skyrim's dev team referenced this somehow. A named horse, or a horse armour set, or something like that.
Haha 😀 This is awesome. 😀
What about…mmm… a tribute to the horse armor dlc… my little pony dlc? 😀 War horses painted pink would make the enemy die of laughing. 😀
The Skyrim trailer was amazing. Its going to be hard holding out until the next one.
Will the trailer be coming to PSN?
You are horrible people for making me watch this!!
AHAHAHAHA! I love it. I love both the show and the game and this was very well done. Bravo
Oh…my…Transcendent beauty on my 42″ 1080p HDTV…Oh my God Skyrim…
what the hell was that!? weird video but ok… o well anyway Im soooo glad it has hit Xbox Live! ima go download it right now! 😀
There better be a MLP easter egg in skyrim now. Hop about spikes leafy twig as an early game weapon? (at 57 seconds in that video)
The dragon shout was awesome!
This is awesome! This video is a perfect depiction of what it was like when my sister and I played with My Little Ponies when we were kids. Our story lines were EPIC. Our ponies fought massive battles with the evil barbies that wanted to enslave them. Heroes were born and and the fallen were sent to pony heaven.
Spike (the dragon) with the dragon call is definitely the best part.
Everyone should check out the MLP: Friendship Is Magic Show. Don't get turned off because it's MLP, it was created by Lauren Faust, who worked on Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends. It has a huge (and still growing) older male audience, which I thought was just some mass trolling attempt at first. Then I gave in and watched the first episode. Next thing I knew it was 2AM and I had watched 9 episodes.
Seriously, go watch it 😀
Oh, and don't hate the show before you watch it. It's more amazing than one might think. 🙂
The TES: Equestria trailer makes me smile. Well done!
I hope to find poni @ easter eggs xD
TESV Pony easter egg confirmed?
Please oh please oh please oh please license MLP: FiM for Elder Scrolls VI.
Seriously, though. Thanks for having a sense of humor and posting this. 🙂
I can only dream of Bethesda and Lauren Faust teaming up to make this a reality.
Bethesda, please make this one day
Expect "My little Pony: Skyrim" mods to be available SOON!


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Press release
Good start to the year for Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
July 2011
For Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen the first half of 2011 has exceeded expectations. More than 165,000 people visited the more than twenty special exhibitions organised by the museum. These visitors have generated approximately 4.3 million euros for the city. The museum's website and other online platforms were visited by more than 450,000.
Visitors and new media
In the first half of 2011 Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen received more than165,000 visitors, of whom more than 24,000 were 18 or younger. According to data from Rotterdam Marketing and Holland Art Cities, these visitors spent approximately 4.3 million euros in hotels, shops, restaurants and cafés in the city. The museum's main website – www.boijmans.nl – attracted no fewer than 330,000 visitors, 21 per cent of these from abroad. Up to and including June 2011, more than 53,000 watched videos about art and design on the museum's online video channel: arttube.boijmans.nl. The Peanut-Butter Post and the episodes of Boijmans TV were especially popular. The museum's virtual collection – collectie.boijmans.nl – has already been visited more than 60,000 times this year. Since the museum launched alma.boijmans.nl at the beginning of April, this special research site has been visited 4,000 times. The museum has more than 5,200 Facebook fans and 5,000 followers on Twitter.
Due to its international success, the museum's video channel ArtTube, partner to the American site ArtBabble, is being expanded. From this summer will be programmed in partnership with the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, De Pont in Tilburg and MuHKA in Antwerp. Each museum will add a minimum of eight videos per year to the channel, which already holds more thank 120 interviews, art videos and short documentaries.
Over the past six months, the museum has organised some twenty projects and exhibitions, some of them in other venues and abroad. From the blockbuster 'All Eyes on Kees van Dongen' last winter and the presentation of the acquisition of the Peanut-Butter Platform by Wim T. Schippers to the surreal installation by Elmgreen & Dragset in the Submarine Wharf and 'Beauty in Science' curated by the Prof. Dr Hans Galjaard, all the projects were enthusiastically received by the public. The museum has had massive press coverage, including abroad. In particular 'The One & The Many' by the Scandinavian duo Elmgreen & Dragset, currently on show in the former Submarine Wharf in Rotterdam's harbour, attracted significant foreign press coverage.
This year several of the museum's successful exhibitions have travelled abroad. 'All Eyes on Kees van Dongen' was shown this sprint at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (until 17 July 2011). The exhibition has been a great public success in Paris and has already attracted more than 140,000 visitors. The exhibition 'The Art of Fashion' from 2009 is now at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg (until 7 August 2011). The Johan Thorn Prikker exhibition is now showing at the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf, the partner for this project (until 7 August 2011).
Self-generated revenue
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen manages a collection of approximately 140,000 objects including old masters, modern and contemporary art, applied arts and design, and a national monument measuring 26,000 square metres. The museum receives an annual subsidy of 9.8 million euros from the city council to cover these costs. All other activities, including acquisitions, education and organising exhibitions, are finances by the museum itself. In 2010 the museum achieved a record figure in self-generated revenue of 8.5 million euros, thus covering a large part of its costs. In 2010 that was more than 45 per cent, thanks to the BankGiro Loterij, the VSB Fonds, the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, the Rabobank, the Turing Foundation, Unilever and others. Each year the museum manages to generate between 35 and 45 per cent of its budget itself. The museum hopes to be able to continue at this level in the future.
The success of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is due in large part to the support of individual patrons and foundations that have an ongoing relationship with the museum. Alongside the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Foundation, these include the Kalhorn/Timmermans Fund, the Lucas van Leyden Foundation, the Willem van Rede Fund, the Van Beuningen/Peterich Fund, the Willem van der Vorm Foundation and H+F Patronage. The museum's exhibition to celebrate the tenth anniversary of H+F Patronage is on show until the end of September, accompanied by a publication.
Funding cuts in Rotterdam
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen receives an annual subsidy of 9.8 million euros from the Municipality of Rotterdam. This sum covers the rent and the fixed building costs (the rent is paid back to the Municipality of Rotterdam) and 90 per cent of the museum's salary costs for 92 full-time posts. Next year the municipality will make no adjustment for inflation and will also cut the subsidy by 2 per cent. The represents a de facto reduction in the museum's subsidy of approximately 400,000 euros. From January 2013 the Municipality of Rotterdam push through cuts of 20 per cent (16.5 million euros) across the entire arts sector. It will not be clear what the consequences will be for Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen until next year.
Good news for the collection: the Collections Building!
Last week Rotterdam's city council gave the green light for a Collections Building for Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. For years the museum has struggled with flooding and other risks in its overcrowded storage facilities. The new building will comprise storage and conservation facilities for Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen's collections. Fifty per cent of the building will be devoted to the care of private collections, for whom the museum's expertise will be made available through a new PPP (Public–private partnership) construction. The Municipality of Rotterdam has earmarked 25 million euros for this new initiative. A private party is prepared to contribute an additional 15 million euros on the condition that the building is sited in the Museumpark adjacent to the museum. The Collections Building will be accessible to the public and is expected to open in 2015.
For more information or/ and images, please contact the Marketing and Communication Department
+31 10 44.19.561


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LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A Republican state senator is hosting an event this week to raise awareness of the human trafficking problem in Michigan.
Sen. Judy Emmons of Sheridan will be joined Thursday by officials from the Polaris Project, a national anti-human trafficking organization. During the "Human Trafficking 101 Forum," Emmons and the organization are expected to discuss local and national efforts to fight human trafficking.
The forum will be held at Boji Tower near the Capitol building in Lansing.
Emmons recently introduced legislation aimed at cracking down on human trafficking in Michigan. Her bill would make the solicitation for prostitution of 16- or 17-year-olds a felony and create tougher penalties for the crime.
Emmons says Michigan is a "hot spot" for human trafficking because of its international borders and waterways.


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Moderators: Timko, Fritz, Solty, Booter, Blake_T, Frank Delicious
JKP wrote:http://www.altrec.com/the-north-face/mens-fire-road-gtx-xcr-trail-running-shoe
thinking about ordering these, anyone have them?
keltik wrote:should i take these boots back to rei and ask for a refund or should i go straight to keen?
jsun3thousand wrote:Disc golfers are holding the sport back.
Furthur wrote:I just bought a pair of these on a whim off of steepandcheap:
They're chaco mid hight waterproof shoes, and man, do they feel well made. I've never owned a pair of Chaco sandals, but I didn't realize how bulletproof their soles are. I'll be interested to see how they perform on wet conditions, but they seem to track mud into their small grooves, which gives you this very nice base to stick to the pad. It's kinda weird, but I was able to throw with tremendous footing on one of our courses with no pads while the other people on my card were slipping all over the place.
jsun3thousand wrote:Disc golfers are holding the sport back.
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Gun activists are planning to challenge the strict new gun laws signed by Gov. Dannel Malloy last week.
Activists say part of the bill is unconstitutional, including the new list of banned weapons.
Members of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League said its lawyers are actively working on drafting a lawsuit.
Meanwhile, the group said it's planning another gun rights rally in Hartford later this month.
Copyright 2013 WFSB (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.


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If I had to sum up the benefits of business jets in just one word, I might pick "convenience." According to Wikipedia, "convenient procedures, products and services are those intended to increase ease in accessibility, save resources (such as time, effort and energy) and decrease frustration."
That's exactly what our magazine has long argued: that for companies that can afford them, business jets are well worth considering because they can provide better accessibility to more places and save effort, energy and especially time. Other bizjet advocates have been saying the same thing for years.
This is also what President Obama said in an interview on February 20.
So how did the industry respond? A press release from the National Business Aviation Association said, "An assertion was offered by the White House that the only reason American companies use business aircraft is because 'it's extremely convenient and they can afford it.'" This, said the NBAA, is "dismissive," "a misrepresentation" and "a caricature of business aviation that is at odds with reality."
First, Obama never used the word "only"—the NBAA added that, apparently for effect. Second, the president's statement is true.
So why is the industry upset? Undoubtedly because the president also suggested, as he has on previous occasions, that it's time to talk about extending the depreciation period for tax purposes for many business jets from five years to seven. These buyers "don't need an extra tax break, especially at a time when we're trying to reduce the deficit," Obama said. "Something's gotta give."
Mind you, the president recently signed a bill that extended through 2013 (and 2014, in some cases) a rule that allows bizjet buyers to write off more than half their purchase cost during the first year. In the February 20 interview, also, he said, "We want to give more tax breaks to all the aviation companies in Kansas, so that they are hiring here and producing here." But for bizav leaders, that statement and the extension of bonus depreciation apparently weren't enough to outweigh the comment about extending depreciation periods for buyers, which according to them, seemingly suggested that the president was advocating some sort of aviation industry apocalypse.
Helicopter Association International president Matt Zuccaro, for example, called the president's comment "unbelievable" and "seemingly aimed at ending general aviation." Zuccaro added that he had no problem with the president flying on Air Force One, but "is it too much to ask that private individuals and corporations also be allowed to realize the benefits of general aviation for their business activities?"
General Aviation Manufacturers Association CEO Pete Bunce responded similarly when White House spokesman Jay Carney noted that the tax proposal involved "difficult choices." Bunce called that statement "totally outrageous" and demanded an apology, adding: "It's completely offensive to refer to hard-working Americans [in the aviation industry who could lose their jobs] as 'difficult choices.' This Administration should stop the sound bites and political games."
As I've written previously, the president may indeed be playing a bit of a political game, based on the number of times he has mentioned corporate jets—a term the general public has come to associate with wealth and excess. But it seems to me that the bizav industry is playing a political game here, too—and it's the same one being played by leaders in virtually every other American industry, none of whom appear to believe their members should pay higher taxes, either. They all say that their businesses contribute greatly to the economy and that making them pay more would not be good for America, so the money needed to reduce the deficit and pay down the national debt should come from somewhere else.
Be that as it may, adding two years to the depreciation schedule for business-jet buyers wouldn't exactly make a huge difference in the nation's economy, but it probably also wouldn't hurt the industry nearly as much as its leaders suggest. BJT columnist Jeff Wieand, a member of the NBAA's Tax Committee, doesn't believe this change would have a significant impact on jet sales, nor for that matter, does he see bonus depreciation as a major factor in boosting sales. As he noted in our pages two years ago, bonus depreciation doesn't apply to used aircraft and it doesn't help the U.S. aviation industry when it is applied to the purchase of the many new business airplanes that are manufactured outside the U.S. Moreover, it merely accelerates a tax benefit rather than creates a new one; it is of value only to companies that are already doing well and have profits to shelter; and it could actually lead to higher aircraft prices.
Meanwhile, as economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman pointed out last July, corporations already have plenty of cash they're not using. As such, he wrote, claims "that a corporate tax holiday would create jobs, or that ending the tax break for corporate jets would destroy jobs, are nonsense."
So maybe we should all take a deep breath and relax. Corporate jets represent a valuable business tool. And if Congress tinkers with the depreciation rules for new-jet purchases, that tool will still be available and the bizav industry will not die, all suggestions to the contrary notwithstanding. The business aviation associations have a case to make, but they could make it better and more credibly if they toned down the rhetoric.
Kathryn Creedy (not verified)
March 4, 2013 - 10:21am
Bravo! This is a reasoned editorial. Congratulations on a job well done.
TERRY (not verified)
March 5, 2013 - 1:07pm
There is no one to blame for all this mess except congress since they started taxing every thing we buy sell drive, our pay and the water we drink. We the people believe all the hog wash they put out and they are not following the constitution. If it does not let them do what they want they change it so it will meet their agenda. All we need to do is vote them out of office. Ya think that might happen?
Sharon (not verified)
March 5, 2013 - 5:47pm
I agree completely. I'm sick and tired of every special interest group thinking their own ill-begotten breaks should be protected, to the detriment of everyone else. Wake up, people, there have been too many hogs in the trough for too long, and we need to make some painful corrections. A new GenAv aircraft's actual useful life is a heck of a lot closer to 20 years (or 30, or...) than to five. The five year life is a travesty whose time to die has come. That it's less than air transport aircraft is laughable in the extreme, since that life is also ludicrous.
JO in Florida (not verified)
March 4, 2013 - 3:32pm
You lost me at mentioning Paul Krugman, who comes off more often than not a statist hack. Speaking of political motives. But aside from that, you miss the difference of a tax and spend president and industries that must make a budget that is for-real.
The difference between what Obama's rhetoric commits and some, not all, of these industry talkers, is that Obama has continually moved the goal posts whenever the debate over taxes, jobs and "fairness" comes down to decision time. And, decisions being something he also, more often than not, lays on other people, he also lays blame more than any president in history.
Also, Obama is proven vastly unlike industry CEOs and presidents, as they have to meet a bottom line or do the things that are hard - for their scale. Obama not only doesn't have to control costs, which he had not, but appears to refuse to use anything to truly lessen this burden.
This is no time to give this president a pass for his lack of leadership by trying to color industry leaders as playing the same game as him. Because they are not. His rhetoric on economic matters not only frustrates some aviation industry talkers, it upsets the whole system. He's woefully out of touch with eocnomics.
Too bad you choose to follow his lead and let the blame fall on those he uses as lowly props for his misinformed economic agenda.
Mike C (not verified)
March 4, 2013 - 4:05pm
I agree...also the return of the accelerated deperciation for farm equipment, high gross vehicle weight trucks and the like back to the old deperciation schedule of say fifteeen years ago, and so on. Yes these are the tax beaks and many others that have distroted markets for light plane SUVs, and other manufactured goods raising voilitility in the market that had many long term unwelcome effects.
There is a rather large list.
This is a reasonable compromise.
And yes I work in the manufacturing industry and will be affected, BUT the concept of depreciaiton is to return the capital obligation back through the company cash flow through a reasonable time based on the length of service of the item. A 5 year life is rather short for a bizjet as is 3 for an SUV. While the accelated methods may not have in themselves shortened the overall time the front loaded acclerated depreciation increased demand far higher than other wise would be normal. YET over time the deomand for jet seat time etc is not affected. the accellerated methods basically hepled fill the pipe ahead of need ..retiring otherwise useful vehicles from A companies books earlier yet still having a useful service of theses items....a complex way of saying...that we are accelleraitng demand in the short term withoverall demand not chnaging leading to a reduced demand in the future..ie no orders..ask Cessna, Piper, Cirrus, Diamond etc who filled the demand then had no future work. WAS THIS SMART?
probably not.
Most of the time when Congress messes with tax law they do not improve it. It needs to be changed back to what worked..Well though out schedules of depreciaiton...remioval of special tax incentives ...simplification ...relalvance....consistancy...these are the hallmarks of good law and policy.
Tom in Minnesota (not verified)
March 4, 2013 - 4:45pm
Another Bravo from me on the Editorial . I can't imagine this or any other President trying to resolve the bottom line who would make everyone 'happy' in the process. But the tax rates on the top 1/8th earners in the country are still the lowest they've been in decades without even a mention of loopholes. Yet the suggestion that they need changing brings from many a name calling strategy instead of reasoned debate. Referring to an earlier comment; It can only work with those who think calling Obama a 'tax and spend president' is argument enough or those who really believe that a Nobel prize winning Economist doesn't understand Economics.
Lon Sobel (not verified)
March 4, 2013 - 5:01pm
Mr. Burger, you are absolutely correct. And thank you for having the nerve to say so to a group of readers that include too many like JO in Florida. Lots of folks in the U.S. just don't like the President and don't approve of anything he says or does, even when he continues or proposes programs and policies put in place or originally advocated by Republicans. Those folks include what appears to be a surprising percentage of pilots and aircraft owners. When Governor Romney was campaigning for President on a platform that included eliminating tax deductions (he called them "loopholes"), which deductions did aircraft owners imagine he was talking about? Deductions for dependents? President Obama is doing no more that affects aircraft owners than Romney himself would have done. And it's time we pilots and aircraft owners recognize and acknowledge that.
Tom from Tahoe (not verified)
March 4, 2013 - 6:44pm
Thank you for your careful, accurate presentation. The trade association arguments are spurious and denigrate the image of the aviation community.
Successful business professional do not make investment and purchase decisions based on the tax code. Occasionally, the code may add a cherry to the top of the sundae, but the purchase decision must stand on it's own merit.
Lynn (not verified)
March 5, 2013 - 1:36pm
Tax codes are generally written to manipulate taxpayer behavior. And in this case, the purpose is to encourage people and companies to spend money which benefits the economy. If you don't think it's making much difference, why bother to change it?
Elisa Carrithers (not verified)
March 6, 2013 - 6:07pm
Thanks Jeff - I agree - Let's tone down the rhetoric!
James Carlson (not verified)
March 7, 2013 - 9:58am
Bravo! You've put it well. By completely overstating their case, the manufacturers (and their supporters among the AOPA leadership and others) have managed to discourage the very people who should be on their side.
Is anything that ends up causing tax bills to go up ever "welcomed?" Probably not. But in the scheme of things, changing depreciation from 5 to 7 years for new aircraft purchases for business purposes, particularly when the taxes are recaptured as gains on resale, amounts to nothing more than a small shifting around of existing money.
Because purchases are driven mostly by needs -- very few businesses discover that they have a pile of money somewhere and decide spontaneously to spend it on an otherwise unneeded aircraft -- the shift is unlikely to have lasting effects on sales, and the rhetoric claiming that it's a disaster needs to be toned down if it's going to reach and persuade any reasonable people.
Maybe the proposed change is indeed a bad thing, but yelling as if the sky is falling certainly makes me think otherwise.


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SHEIKHZAYEDROAD'S passport is going to get a lot of stamps in the next few months after his victory in the Skybet York Stakes at York Racecourse.
The Canadian International, in Toronto, is the main target for David Simcock's five-year-old in October – but visits to Hong Kong and Dubai are also on the agenda following his neck victory over Secret Gesture in the Group 2 £100,000 contest.
Secret Gesture can count herself unlucky not to be basking in glory, jockey Jamie Spencer's mount rallying gamely after leading from the start of the mile and a quarter contest before being overtaken by Windhoek in the final couple of furlongs.
The Godolphin-trained colt faded badly on the run in to the line, however, and, as Secret Gesture came by, Sheikhzayedroad – named after the longest road in the United Arab Emirates and the main street in Dubai – rushed through with a perfectly timed run from rider Martin Lane to take the prize.
Simcock said: "The Canadian International is the main long-term aim. We will find something for him in between. Hong Kong could be an option and he will definitely be going to Dubai.
"He will do plenty of travelling. With a horse of Group 2 calibre you are not going to fit into a lot of races. He is very game and very consistent. If you look at his profile, he is so consistent and, as he is getting older, he is getting easier to ride."
Lane added: "He showed a good attitude and really knuckled down. Beforehand I would have been happy to take the first three but I really couldn't ask for anything better from him."
Muthmir came home in a blur of speed to win the Sky Bet Dash.
The 4-1 favourite, trained at Newmarket by William Haggas, looked rushed off his feet early on in the six furlong £50,000 contest.
But the fast pace, and firm ground, obviously suited the four-year-old as he came flying through, with Graham Lee in the saddle, to put the race to bed and win by a length and a half from Goldream.
Rene Mathis, trained at Malton by Richard Fahey, was third. A six pound penalty for victory may yet get him in at the bottom of the handicap in the Stewards' Cup at Glorious Goodwood next week.
Maureen Haggas, wife of the trainer, said: "That was great. We have always liked him. He's a bit enthusiastic and the fast pace suited him.
"He got his ground, which he hasn't had, and we have only been able to run him once. He has always been a nice horse. He is in the Stewards Cup and we will see.
"He has always been a good horse and things never went quite right. He would be too keen. Whether he runs next week, I don't yet know. That would be two races in a week but he has not had a hard life."


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So who thinks cars are also disgustingly overpriced for a simple piece of metal to get you from A to B?
New technology is always expensive but cars are now an old technology. They should be cheaper.
Every sheeple I've ever known always ask "How much is the monthly payment for a lease or How much is the monthly payment to buy?"
NEVER do they ask "How much money do I need to buy upfront with cash including tax and other fees along with the insurance, average maintenance costs and fuel?"
Cars, like homes are overpriced and propped up by cheap credit. Leasing a car for personal use is the most stupidest thing. For a big company it may make sense.


text: Ashland Public Library bookmobile stops next week include:n Tuesday: Jeromesville (on the square), 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.; Cinnamon Lake at the Lodge, 7 to 8 p.m.When stops are canceled due to weather or vehicle break-down, materials due that day will be renewed. The public is welcome to come aboard at any stop. Main library items can be dropped off and, with a valid library card, bookmobile items may be checked out.


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Part of NECA's Predator Series 9...
Part of NECA's Predator Series 9 hitting retail next month (June), Jungle Disguise Dutch joins Jungle Encounter Dutch and Water Emergence Predator for another great figure lineup. Check out the review above and new photos by following the link below.
Review and Photos by Jorge Pelaez
Review Sample Courtesy of NECA
To insure your action figure collection, get in touch with Collectibles Insurance, the official insurance company of the Figures.com network. Say "Figures.com" to get 5% off your first term premiums.
To buy action figures, take a look at BigBadToyStore.com, PlasmaInfusion.com, Toynk.com, BriansToys.com, ToyWiz.com, and MonkeyDepot.com.


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This week we're including a guest post from Jonathan Vatner, a staff writer at Hue, FIT's alumni magazine.
Design Entrepreneurs NYC (for new visitors to this blog, it's a program for emerging designers created by FIT in partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation) focuses on developing an airtight business plan. Sooner or later, designers growing their business will probably have to present their plan or line to potential backers or buyers, so on August 27, DENYC arranged a workshop with Performance of a Lifetime, a consulting and training firm that teaches performance skills to business people.
"Everybody is afraid of public speaking," said David Nackman, creative director of Performance of a Lifetime. "But we are our own worst critics. Nobody will know if you're nervous or make little mistakes. No matter what happens, just go with it." Before giving your next presentation, consider these tips from Nackman and his colleague Maureen Kelly.
1. Don't "present." Pretend you're having a (one-sided) conversation with one person at a time. And walk toward that person; it will make you seem more calm and engaged.
2. Come up with an opening line that's a little out of context, something interesting or provocative to inspire curiosity from the very beginning. For Jacqueline Stone, owner of Salt + Stone, Nackman recommended she start with her mission statement: "I want to make the world more beautiful, one piece of jewelry at a time."
3. Choose someone you admire—maybe a celebrity, maybe a colleague—and use some of their mannerisms. It's called creative imitation, and it helps you be "bigger" in the front of a room.
4. Avoid "hand-washing"—rubbing your hands together while you're talking. If you don't have something in your hands, rest one in the other at navel level.
5. It's perfectly acceptable to stay in one spot. It's also nice to pick three spots to walk between, during pauses in your talk. As a bonus, it can give you a moment to think when you have a brain freeze.
6. Don't spell out every detail of your company's history. Start with the poetic story of your company, then jump ahead with a transition like, "And today?"
7. Slow down. Give your words time to sink in. At the very least, put some "air" around your name and the name of your business. These are the most familiar things to you, and the most important things for your audience to hear clearly.
8. Let yourself take a breath here and there. Human beings don't talk or think in one long sentence. As Kelly said, "You can end a sentence."
9. When you feel an "um" coming, stop talking. "Ums" are the sound of gathering your thoughts. Better to do it without the noise.
10. Learn the facts about your business until they come out of your mouth without having to think. Then turn yourself over to the audience, respond to their cues, and give them the feeling that you're creating something for them.


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Hi, if you have read the games forum, you'll know I'm planning on creating my own MMORPG. However I was thinking of including characters that automatically respond to certain requests or comments. Is there any way I would be able to do this?
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Depends what you want to do. Parsing natural language is quite hard, but its quite easy to recognise certain expressions.
It really depends what you want to do?
For example, if a player asked a bartender for a beverage, how would you get them to respond? e.g./juice please = coming right up.
Depends on what you want the player to be able to say. Its easy to recognise 'juice', but the context is much more difficult. For example, that player could ask, "what sort of juice is it?", the response "coming right up" makes no sense.
If you're using c and you want to recognise juice in a string use strstr(player_input, "juice") != 0; Or STL/C++ std::string find
string player_input( "blah blah juice" );
string::size_type loc = player_input.find( "juice", 0 );
if( loc != string::npos ) {
cout << "coming right up" << endl;
} else {
cout << "only juice here" << endl;
What level are you aiming for?
Reasonably advanced, it has to make sense. Like you said it has to be in context, but I have no idea where to start with it.
Define a set of questions you can ask and let the player select one. (Just like all the old lukasart adventure games.)
The response can be a simple question->answer table, or some more logic, or counter questions with a list of possible answers for the player.
I'd say that if you have to ask the question its more complicated than anything you'll be able to achieve.
To get you started, look here Natural language processing. Thats far to complicated.
A simpler more limited approach is to define a grammar of the things you want your barkeeper to understand.
I'll see what I can achieve in terms of recognising more than one word. Thanks for putting your time aside for me, you have been extremely helpful. Thanks again Ant
AIML is your best bet. Everything you could possibly want for half-dumb( as opposed to totally dumb) NPC interactions.
You'd need to abstract things a bit, but for regular conversational stuff, I see no reason why a distributed computing setup wouldn't be doable, to carry the load away from your main server application. It would be very easy to set up a unique "personality" for every NPC by reusing AIML libraries. Hundreds of chatbots embedded into your NPCs... yummy thought, eh? 0.o
Obviously quests and whatnot should have their own parsers, but as far as "fluff" content goes, I think it would make for a great addition to any RPG, not just of the MMO variety.
http://www.alicebot.org/ to get started.
It can be pretty much plug and play to start with, but for any type of serious application, you're going to have to modify whatever source code you choose and optimize the heck out of it.
Interesting! Now that is handy, as firstly it doesnt pressurise the server and secondly I dont have to worry about too much programming. Is there any way you can modify the responses?
P.S. Fantastic idea for general conversations with built in characters!
Interesting! Now that is handy, as firstly it doesnt pressurise the server and secondly I dont have to worry about too much programming. Is there any way you can modify the responses? P.S. Fantastic idea for general conversations with built in characters!
Read the website specifically the parts about aiml
Are you sure you really need an NPC AI in your mmorpg? I mean, unless you spend _alot_ of work on it, players will still be able to spot it as a non-human player in seconds. And more importantly, do you think players will enjoy talking to a chat bot the first time they meet? A week later? What about after six months playing your mmorpg and having to type a whole sentence just to buy a glass of juice every day?
The smart players will figure out that you can write "buy juice please" (or something) instead of "I'd like a glass of cold refreshing orange juice, please" if the result is the same. Heck, they would make a macro saying it if your game allows.
I think the reward you'll get for implementing an impressive chat AI with lots of personalities is that your players are going to hate you. Sorry to say, but I think you really have to think this through. Instead I think you should put time into developing means to make the player's life easier, like a good macro function (Without giving away too much ofcourse. Don't want everybody to write an all-powerful macro turning the whole thing into a one button game )
After all, people play mmorpgs to interact with other people, not computers
I have experience with 2D (which is why I'm always asking 3D questions because I suck at it) and have used AI before.
fhein is right, the idea of a MMORPG is to interact with other players. Just do a prompt system:
1) Player clicks on Bartender
2) Bartender says: Hello, Welcome to my Pub. What are you looking to do?:
Buy a drink
Nothing, just wanted to talk :)
3) Player clicks on one of the two choices that appear on his screen:
if choice 1) Pull up an inventory menu of the drinks to choose from
if choice 2) Exit the conversation / dialog
Of course it will depend on how you are implementing your game and different interactions, but it's easy if you just limit the options. Players come to the bar for a reason: to buy beer (or something else you might implement). Why have the bartender bullshit you for a while if it's just going to delay your time in getting the beer?
Or you could have some really new uber idea that needs the AI to make your game the ultimate one out there.
Great man, go for it. But also realize that it will take processing time on your server. Everything takes clock cycles. Limiting your AI will not only save you production time, but will speed up the game.
Yes, server lag will be a huge issue. However, certain services in the game will probably REQUIRE it. The perpose of the game is based around realistic WANTS as opposed to NEEDS. Such as services, food, drink, products,etc... This task is probably too big for me and my budget, however hypothetically it was just a plan.
Runescape doesn't let you truly control what you say, but does let you feel like you have control, kind of. It isn't the best way, but it does easily allow the server to serve 100,000+ players at once. Sometime you have to sacrifice the "cool factor" for effeciency reasons, but hey what do I know I am a 7th grader.
You probably have just as much knowledge as the rest of us, if not more because of your experience with non-stop gaming! Perhaps the *option* of beverages would save time, effort, memory and money instead of actually *asking* verbally for them.


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New Dietetic Internship Program Emphasizes Wellness
October 7, 2010
For most students, having an internship under their belt is one way to get ahead of the competition when applying for jobs after college.
For dietetics students, it's a different story.
In dietetics, getting into and completing an accredited internship program is a mandatory step on the way to becoming a certified dietician. That's why Bradley University is proud to be in its first year of offering a dietetics internship program.
Dietetics Internship director Amanda Newell said Bradley's internship program is unique because students leave with approval from the American Dietetics Association to sit for the certification exam, and in the process acquire 13 credits that transfer to master's programs around the country.
"Our emphasis is wellness," said Newell. "We try to improve the overall health and wellbeing of the community, taking one piece of nutrition and ingraining it in people's heads."
Bradley provides students the opportunity to spend time in different local organizations through rotations in the fields of food service, community and healthcare. No more than one intern is ever placed at the same organization at the same time to ensure one-on-one contact with the preceptor at each location.
Newell says another unique aspect of the internship program is the research project requirement. Students must submit a proposal, conduct a study, and present results. Newell expects most students will choose to publish their research, an opportunity not included in most internship programs.
The 10 students currently participating in the internship program have established a relationship between Bradley and the Peoria community. The program is committed to addressing daily health concerns and working to improve nutrition on a local level.
As word about this unique new program spreads, Newell expects admissions will become more competitive. She anticipates some 70 applications for the 10 spots available in the 2011-2012 school year.


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Why Choose Southwestern
The students who choose Southwestern come from a variety of backgrounds. What they have in common is curiosity: a passion for learning in small classes, with access to professors and facilities aimed directly on our undergraduate population.
Academic Strength
Learning matters here—and it happens everywhere. A Southwestern education, steeped in the liberal arts, takes place both inside and outside the classroom. Southwestern students bring active curiosity and intelligence wherever they go.
Experiential Learning
Southwestern is committed to experiential and active learning in and out of the classroom. With small class sizes, professors get to know their students, use non-traditional learning resources, bring outside experts on topics to class, and challenge students to get involved. Internships, Civic Engagement, Intercultural Learning, and our unique Paideia program all help to strengthen the SU educational experience.
Student Views
Facts and figures alone can't explain what it's like to walk around campus on a sunny day, play on one of Southwestern's athletic teams, or make your first 'A' in a college course. Hear from students about the typical day-to-day experiences of Southwestern. These are their lives; hopefully they will help you decide how you want to live yours.
Success After Southwestern
A Southwestern education opens doors. Did you know that 78 percent of employers only hire candidates with relevant work experience? Not a problem at Southwestern. Working with our Career Services office can help a student make the transition to the world after Southwestern!
Higher education is an investment in yourself and in your future. Today, it's essential to know that your school of choice provides an impressive return on this investment. Southwestern University does just that. In fact, the value of a Southwestern education appreciates over the years. Southwestern's prestigious reputation--combined with the achievements of our graduates--ensure that a degree from Southwestern will be valued throughout your lifetime by you and others.


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Topic: Fresh from the Surgeon's Table
Sad to say my spouse, too, is a CC patient. Went into ER for what he thought was food poisoning. Surgery revealed the awful truth. Weight loss is startling; appetite is gone. Complaints of back pain are frequent, and lying down is far more comfortable than sitting up. Energy loss and fatigue are predominant. Friday we go to the James in Columbus (OSU) for a second opinion. A port will be put in August 4; allowing the 6 weeks of chemo and radiation to begin. It all seems surreal. Crying and grief have taken a back seat to numbness of spirit. The maelstrom of thoughts and feelings fade for a while; then rush back in an angry blue-purple rage to tear and gnaw at me. Life goes on, but not as before. Never again as before. My mental salvation has been this website- thanks to ALL of you who contribute; for each message contains a message; and helps to ease the pain and the anger and the disbelief. The nuggets of knowledge shared so freely and with so much compassion are each their own little life saver in so hostile a sea. Thanks to all of you! Sandy


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Gotta win it tomorrow night. That's a big game.
(Courtesy of NBA.com)
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Gotta win it tomorrow night. That's a big game.
(Courtesy of NBA.com)
Last edited by Trophy; 12-28-2012 at 10:33 PM.
David West carries the team again - he owned Scola in the last 5 minutes lol. Great win. Hopefully the Cavs and Pistons can hold on.
17-12, exact same record that last years team had at this point last season!
We shot at 44.2 % despite the horror show in the second half which really shows how good our first half was. Satisfied with the win and the first half performance. I guess it's in the team's DNA to surrender any big leads. Roy reverted back to being embarrassing (offensively) tonight.
Oh and that damn Pacers FO burnt us with their decision to sign West last season. We should have gone for Nene.
Last edited by Johanvil; 12-28-2012 at 10:37 PM.
And this is without Granger, making it more impressive.
Also, this was the best game Lance has played all season. He missed his free throws, but man whenever Phoenix would be looking to make that final push and get up over the hump he would make a game-changing steal or open up the floor for somebody to take an easy shot.
My only complaint is that Tyler should have been given more time to play in this game. He was the 2nd leading scorer before West and PG caught up in the points column in the final minutes. Vogel should at least recognize whose playing well and let them play a little more than usual.
Good win btw. Hope the momentum continues and get some huge margin against the other East teams as the positioning for 4-8 spots are really tight at this point.
OJ with 24/5/6 on 9-19 shooting down in the D League
Apparently our rookies own the D-League.
Last edited by travmil; 12-29-2012 at 02:53 AM.
Was it Lance who threw that alley-oop to West in the fast break and West barely got the ball before going out of bounds?
As soon as Danny comes back, Lance needs to become backup pg and D.J. needs to be in street clothes.
"We've got to be very clear about this. We don't want our players hanging around with murderers," said Larry Bird, Pacers president.
I'm not perfect and neither are you.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the esteem of Elohim,
Ephisians 4: 32 And be kind towards one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as Elohim also forgave you in Messiah.
I'm much happier with the way we're playing now as opposed to early in the season, but I want to keep things in perspective, as well.
This is the second game (in a row? can't remember) where Lance's number has been called down the stretch to lead the offense.
Very interesting.
"Look, it's up to me to put a team around ... Lance right now." Kevin Pritchard press conference
Lance was the PG when he and DJ were on the floor together. Something is wrong with Hibbert; he looks tired at the halfway point in the quarter and he does a lot of walking up the court.
West was money down the stretch.
are these games still available through youtube?
There's a huge difference between this quote:
And this quote:
I thought some people said last year's record had more to do with the condensed schedule and the Pacers' young legs. Yet this year they have the same record thru 29 games, while missing their leading scorer, and while playing terribly on offense. What gives?
Apparently they aren't nearly as bad as some would love to keep saying they are.
I see all those that were claiming this team was going no where earlier in the season, and there were a lot of you, are now quiet. Not a signature win but i will take it. This team could have came out flat but they didn't. Can't wait until danny returns. Pacers gonna be scary good.


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Partly due to the hard work of our New York patient advocates, as of July 1, 2013, the patient's health care provider is the decision maker, not Medicaid, about prescribing medically necessary prescription drugs in many categories relevant to lupus treatment. Providers must still document the need for any medication, but Medicaid Managed Care plans will provide a three-day temporary supply of medication when necessary. Please check http://www.newyorkhealthworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Expand-Prescriber-Prevails-6-4-13.pdf.
Also, as of July 8, 2013, it will be easier for managed care healthcare providers to submit a request for Medicaid approval of coverage for their patients' medications. The same form will be used by Medicaid Managed Care, Family Health Plus and Medicaid Fee for Service. For more information see this memo from the NYS Department of Health http://www.newyorkhealthworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Standard-PA-Form-2.pdf . The form will be available for Managed Care plans at http://pbic.nysdoh.suny.edu and for Fee For Service at https://newyork.fhsc.com.


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LonesomeYogurt wrote:Alobha wrote:Just like a doctor who is sick, can still prescribe medicine and tell patients how to get healthy again, so can an unawakened person encourage the practice that leads towards awakening.
There's a huge difference between being unawakened and being actively, unabashedly preoccupied with activities that make awakening impossible. I agree that we should not be the moral police, handing out decrees on who is or isn't Buddhist. However, we also cannot risk letting Buddhism become a social club with no restrictions, no requirements, and no ultimate goal. What is the point of Buddhism, especially in the West, when you can ascribe to the path with one breath and drink, smoke, lie, cheat, kill, and otherwise muddle the mind in the next? No one should be "disqualified" by anyone for slipping up in their practice, but there is quite the difference between occasionally faltering on the path and accepting with open arms thoughts, words, and deeds that are completely opposed in every way to the Buddha's teachings.
I think Western Buddhism has lost quite a bit of moral authority when we can't make a judgement about an alcoholic philanderer who passes his teachings to a man who sexually solicits students despite having AIDS. If we as a community cannot point at that trail of actions and say, "You know, that person is not following the Buddha's path," then we're no longer just non-judgmental and tolerant - we're descending into total spiritual anarchy, so to speak. The Buddha's teachings need to be protected, and while we can't achieve that with witch hunts or needless criticism, we absolutely can have high standards for those in power who claim to be teaching the Buddha's Dhamma.
Just my two cents.
Dan74 wrote:Hmmm... I don't think moral authority is derived from making judgments about others.
As for Trungpa, apparently he used to go to pubs, talk to the alcoholics about the Dharma and they would become his students. Coming to the West in the 60ies as a young and innocent Tibetan monk, I wonder how he could've achieved some real contact with his audience if he stuck steadfastly to his precepts.
I also wonder about the shock this vastly different culture and the permissiveness in particular, would have had on someone raised in a monastery in medieval surroundings. Perhaps this is a failing of Mahayana - if you enter the cesspit, it is hard for the dirt not to rub off. It would surely have been easier for Trungpa to stay in the Himalayas in his monastery where he was worshipped and respected rather than do what he had done.
And though his successor was a disaster by most accounts, we have some great teachers coming out of Shambala, like Pema Chodron, and others and the organisation is very much alive to this day - Naropa University, publishing Dharma books at Shambala, translating and teaching at Vajradhatu. His legacy, whether we like it or not is very powerful and much of it, if not all, is very much in line with the Buddha's teachings as preserved in the Pali Canon, though his own life deviated from the them in some significant respects, it is true.
Dan74 wrote:
I think if we all took the medicine, we would not be here.
Perhaps there is more subtlety to the human condition that you seem to be seeing, Gazelle. A person can be a sage in some respects and deluded in others. He could be capable of sublime acts of selfless compassion and yet wallow in the cesspit of self-destruction. Sometimes the most extreme contradictions coexist. Uncomfortable to conceive of, yes. Hard to get a grasp on, yes. But then again, reality rarely fits neatly into any conceptual straight-jacket.
tiltbillings wrote:You do seem to have thing about poor dead Trungpa.
That's good for you.Gazelle wrote:And plus I've had the pleasure of having conversations with pro Trungpa students where I was heavily outnumbered and gunned down.
tiltbillings wrote:That's good for you.
Gazelle wrote:Your smily thingy suggests that the question is crazy, and I agree. No guessing from me on that.
Ha ha... are you serious? From what we know of the historical Buddha (even though I can't verify 100%) it would be fair to assume that the Buddha would find Trungpa's conduct less than ideal I would think.
Angulimala was not a Buddhist when he was making his necklace. The complaint about Trungpa was that he was a monk, then a lay teacher of Buddhism, all the while acting at times very badly. As I said Trunpa was a complicated, brilliant but seriously flawed man who could be a very skilfull, insightful Dhamma teacher.Buckwheat wrote:I don't know about Trungpa's conduct, but if the Buddha took the time to teach Angulimala,
Gazelle wrote:Hi Dan74,
No that's 'Bodhivana' Monastery in Warburton.... the name is close... I was living at Bodhinyana in Serpentine with Ajahn Brahm.
Gazelle wrote:As to Trungpa, it doesn't bother me if he considered himself a Buddhist or not, it's just words....however what was frustrating was when I had a conversation with a good friend a while ago about Trungpa, I couldn't seem to communicate with her that some of Trungpa's actions were in direct contrast with what many people would agree is the closest we have to the Buddha's words in the Pali Canon. That's not Trungpa's fault obviously, however because of people like him, I feel many get a warped idea of what the Buddha taught. I got the feeling that my friend thinks that I've become some sort of Buddhist conservative freak because I say, heavens forbid, drinking yourself to an early grave and having sex with married women is against the precepts. Trungpa supporters will say it's some sort of Dhamma teaching.... I find it all a bit of a copout.
But whatever.... I can't control others.... I'm off to sleep....
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New For 2014
The ML sees no major changes for 2014. The sport styling package, formerly offered only on the ML550, can now be had on the ML350.
Vehicle Summary
The Mercedes-Benz M-Class is the brand's mainstay SUV. The M-Class was originally conceived with the U.S. market in mind, and it was the first Mercedes built at the company's then-new factory in Alabama. The M-Class is now in its third generation, and it's still built in Alabama largely to the same formula. The execution, however, is much improved, and the model range has expanded to include a diesel, a V-8, and an AMG version, along with the six-cylinder standard model.
The base M-Class is the ML350 with rear-wheel drive. It's powered by a smooth and capable 302-hp, 3.5-liter V-6. 4Matic (four-wheel drive) is optional. The ML350 is all the M-Class that most buyers will need — optioned up to their personal tastes, of course. Personally, we'd start with leather, as MB-Tex (vinyl, really) is standard.
Next up is the ML350 BlueTec diesel. 4Matic is standard here, as it is in all M-Class models save the ML350. The BlueTec 3.0-liter V-6 is rated at 240 hp and 455 lb-ft of torque. This is a very well-mannered diesel, quiet and fairly smooth. It even feels peppy, unless you put your foot all the way into it. The diesel's advantage, of course, is fuel economy. The BlueTec gets 20/28 mpg (city/highway) versus 17/22 mpg for the gasoline ML350 4Matic.
If performance is a priority, then you'll be more interested in one of the eight-cylinder M-Class models. The ML550's 4.7-liter twin turbocharged V-8 spins out 402 hp and 433 lb-ft of torque. That's a big jump over the six-cylinder models, and it chops the 0-to-60-mph time by more than two seconds, to 5.3 seconds. Even though the ML550 is quick, however, it's really not sporty. The steering is very light and easy, and the M-Class is more about comfort and isolation than anything having to do with driver involvement. The one version that at least makes a claim to the latter is the ML63 AMG. It starts, of course, with more power, which comes from AMG's 5.5-liter twin-turbo V-8. That characterful beast makes 516 hp and 518 lb-ft, chopping the 0-to-60-mph time by another half second, to 4.8 seconds. An available performance package ($6550) ups the output still further, to 550 hp and 560 lb-ft, and comes with a higher top speed of 174 mph. The AMG is also loaded up with standard equipment, including special performance gear such as a recalibrated suspension (with sport and comfort modes), twenty-inch wheels, and high-performance tires.
You'll like:
- Diesel gets good mileage
- Roomy but not huge
- Muscular performance (ML63)
You won't like:
- Some key items cost extra
- Nice, but dull, to drive
- No third row available
Key Competitors
- Acura MDX
- Audi Q7
- Land Rover Range Rover Sport


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"...The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall serve as the Suitability and Credentialing Agent..." ~Executive Order 13467, as amended
"...primary executive branch service provider for background investigations..." ~Executive Order 13467, as amended
Visit this federal site to search for our regulatory notices, proposed and final rules.
See the latest tweets on our Twitter feed, like our Facebook pages, watch our YouTube videos, and page through our Flickr photos.
Reginald Brown is a Senior Executive Service (SES) member of the United States Federal Government. Mr. Brown is the Deputy Associate Director, Emerging Solutions/HR Innovations with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management located in Washington, DC. He is responsible for implementing interoperable solutions/initiatives to enhance the performance of operational human resources processes, to include the overall management of large scale governmentwide HR technology projects.
Prior to joining OPM, Mr. Brown served as Director of the Transformation Planning and Performance Directorate, of the Defense Business Transformation Agency (BTA) of the Department of Defense. He has acquired over 22 years of experience in systems development, systems implementation, systems deployment and project management gained by working in various leadership capacities within the Department of Defense and Department of Navy. He has received many professional honors and awards and has been recognized at the national level. Most recently he was named as one of the Top 100 Leaders in government E-Learning by E-Learning magazine.
Mr. Brown holds a Master's of Business Administration in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix and is a Defense Certified Acquisition Level 3 Professional within the field of Program Management. Mr. Brown is a frequent speaker at human resources business and technology conferences and a variety of federal government forums throughout the nation.
As an undergraduate, Mr. Brown made the Dean's List, completing his undergraduate studies with the University of Phoenix by earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. During his undergraduate years, he performed tutoring of disadvantaged youth within the San Francisco Unified School System. He was also a founding member and treasurer for the Ethnic-A-Fair Program within the Oakland community that provided funds to the Black Adoption and Placement Center. He participated in voter registration drives and held offices within Neighborhood Homeowner Associations.
Within the church community he serves as deacon and assists his church with outreach initiatives to feed the hungry while helping to provide shelter and clothing for the homeless. He volunteers his time as Vice President of the Riverside Station HOA and has been a part of neighbor cleanup projects. As a member of the Woodbridge Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, he serves as assistant exchequer and volunteers his time to help at risk youth. Mr. Brown also participates in community enrichment projects. He led efforts to raise over $40,000 for HATI and $200,000 for the Combined Federal Campaign. In 2010, he was selected as a Board of Trustee Board Member for Saint Paul's College where he is trying to save this historic educational institution from closure.
Mr. Brown recently married his wife Frida, and they are planning to start a family very soon in the Prince William community. His professional affiliations include membership in the Senior Executives Association, Defense Acquisition Alumni Association, American Society of Military Comptrollers, and Project Management Institute.
Being the first member of his family to graduate college and help provide for others has fostered a passion for achievement and excellence that motivates Mr. Brown to continually press forward.
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A dozen trees are slated to be removed from Mitchell Park in Palo Alto to make way for a new playground.
Eighteen others, however, will remain.
The city hired Pleasanton-based horticulture consultant agency HortScience to assess all of the trees at the project site. Each one was rated for suitability of preservation based on its age, health, structural condition and ability to safely coexist with the new playground.
Five stone pines and three eucalyptus trees will be removed due to structural defects. A fourth eucalyptus will be removed due to its proximity to a planned tot lot, and a fifth is being felled at the request of the Palo Alto Bicycle Advisory Committee to eliminate a blind curve on a pathway leading to the park.
In addition, a Raywood ash and holly oak will be removed. The former is crowding a larger, more mature evergreen ash and the latter is in extremely poor and declining condition. Finally, five windmill palms will be relocated to a new location within the park.
The trees, none of which are native to Palo Alto, are set to be removed the week of July 14.
They will be replaced with five valley oak trees and seven "Forest Pansy" trees. The oaks were selected for their grand mature size, long life span and their ability to adapt to local climate conditions.
"The playground plan calls for protecting and integrating many of the park's cork oak trees and other mature trees into the design of the playground area for natural shade," said Greg Betts, director of the city's Community Services Department, in a news release this week.
"The decision to remove the majority of the 12 trees was based on health and structural condition of those particular trees with large limbs having the potential to break and drop onto the playground. With the proposed tree removal and replanting, the safety of the playground is improved."
The result of a partnership between the city and the nonprofit Friends of the Magical Bridge, the playground is intended to serve children of all ages and abilities. Construction began on June 23 and is expected to wrap up in November.
Email Jason Green at firstname.lastname@example.com; follow him at twitter.com/jgreendailynews.