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DGA audiences witnessed an ironic clash between New World technology and Old World cultures when the Special Projects Committee's Global Cinema Series screened Director Sameh Zoabi's debut feature Man Without a Cell Phone.
In Zoabi's comedic drama, a 20-something Muslim slacker named Jawdat just wants to have fun and find love while chatting up several women via his cell phone much to the chagrin of his olive farming curmudgeonly father Salem. Salem suspects a newly installed Israeli cell phone tower is irradiating the villagers and causing cancer and is determined to drag the whole community into a fight to bring it down, including his son who depends on that tower to communicate with girls in the outside world. As Salem's schemes disrupt more than just his precious cell phone reception, Jawdat finds his life even further complicated when his wireless flirting with girls in the West Bank catches the attention of the Israeli security authorities.
Following an introduction by Global Cinema Chair Victoria Hochberg, Zoabi sat down with DGA Special Projects Committee Chair Jeremy Kagan for a discussion about his film and how to use comedy as a tool for political and social commentary after the October 10, 2012 screening in the DGA Theater in Los Angeles. Director Philip Haas served as moderator of the discussion with Zoabi following the April 5, 2013 screening at the DGA Theater in New York.
photos by Krista Kennell (Los Angeles) and Donald Rassmussen (New York)


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Candice Swanepoel's Sexiest Looks
14 Things Candice Swanepoel Can Make Look Hot
14 Things Candice Swanepoel Can Make Look Hot
Candice Swanepoel is officially the hottest person on the planet, or so says Maxim, which crowned the 25-year-old South African supermodel with the top spot on its annual Hot 100 list. And why shouldn't she be? She's a Victoria's Secret Angel, after all. She's paid to look good. So we dug up some less-than-picture-perfect moments — and a few looks that would make even the most stunning supermodel, never mind us real people, take pause — in Candice's career to see if she really has what it takes to be the hottest of them all. The verdict? She's got our vote.
Source: Getty / Theo Wargo
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subset: commoncrawl


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(WBIR- Hamblen County) Morristown is hosting "Gig It," a new three-day music festival Aug. 1-3.
Hamblen County Events Coordinator Jeffrey Dillard said this is an effort to bring tourism dollars to the community. He said people from all across the country have bought tickets for the event and many are staying in local hotels.
He said more than 1,000 pre-sale tickets have been sold. A single day ticket is $25, and a three-day pass is $65. This means at least $25,000 worth of tickets have been sold. Dillard said they are expecting a large walk-up crowd, and the money is used to fund other events in the county.
The festival will feature 32 bands. According to the "Gig It" Facebook page, the event "supports music of all types and fashions."
Lisa Rose was the first person in line to get into the festival. She said she will be at the festival for all three days to see some of her favorite bands.
"I really hope that they have a great turnout," she said. "I hope it's something that really catches on where they can get a lot more bands interested and a lot more people interested."
Local businesses in the community are also benefiting from the festival as well. The North Hamblen County Volunteer Fire Department set up a concession stand as a fundraiser.
"I think it helps the community a lot," said Tony Trent, chief of the North Hamblen County Volunteer Fire Department."[It] brings in a lot of people so in turn brings in a lot of tax dollars and more business to the businesses in the community."
This is the first year for the festival, but the Dillard said they would like to see it continue and grow in the future.
"Obviously we're not trying to go after Bonnaroo but definitely want to give it a good run for its money," Dillard said. "We're a small town. And, it's something that we feel like we can offer a friendly service to everybody, and they'll want to come back and keep doing it."


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Danger hiptop / Sidekick
Info Photos Reviews 4 News Forum
No color screen!?!
Are you kidding me?! This is a waste of time. Why would they not put a color screen on something they're calling the "hip-hop" They need to hip, hop their asses right back to the lab on that one
3 replies
unlocking sidekick 3
to unlock your tmoible sidekick phone 2 or 3
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1 reply


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Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said the Spartans have a chance this season.
Of course, everyone agrees with him.
The Spartans were picked to finish first in the Big Ten and guard Gary Harris was selected as the preseason player of the year.
"I do think we've got a good team," Izzo said at Thursday's Big Ten media day in Chicago. "We've got a veteran team. We've added some pieces. We've got some guys gack healthy. You add those things I think it gives you a shot if the guys handle the things that go with being ranked high."


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My dad was a minister in a church. My uncles were ministers. My cousin's a minister. About thirty of my best friends are, or were, ministers.
I was a minister, until I quit seven years ago. Probably forever.
It's difficult being a minister. In the hard times, I always felt like many of the people in the church didn't really understand us. Where our hearts were, how we were feeling, what our intentions were, how best to help us help the church. Which often felt dysfunctional. And I spent a lot of my down time thinking about a list of things I wish the church understood.
But while I was in the position, saying them would have sounded only like whining. Or it would have been uncomfortably vulnerable.
Now that I'm seven years removed from ministry, with no chance of returning, I want to offer some of these things to you who attend church regularly, hoping that they might be received in a different, more constructive spirit. I've really got nothing invested here any more, except love and respect for my brothers and sisters who do this for a living. And a hope that I can make someone's life just a little better.
A disclaimer is in order. I ran these by a large handful of ministers this week, and most of them said something akin to 'Yes, exactly!' But there were one or two who responded saying that they've had a different, better experience with ministry, and that most of these don't apply to them. But I think it's fair to say that about nine out of ten ministers relate strongly to most of what's here.
It might also be weird that I've written them in the first person, as though I'm currently a minister. I'm not. But since I was born and bred and trained for it, and since I did it for so many years, I'm placing myself back into the fold for this post. Most of it comes from my own personal experience anyway.
So here's what your minister wishes you understood. Give it a read, give it some thought, and give him or her a bigger hug than usual tomorrow morning.
1. Our greatest fear is irrelevance. It's not losing our jobs, hurting your feelings, or accidentally saying the F word during a sermon. Those fears are there. But they are nothing compared to the nagging fear that what we say and do is making zero difference in your life. That you are only showing up to church because of habit, or obligation, or mental illness. That we are laying ourselves bare to write and deliver a sermon every week that nobody is hearing. If your pastor has made an actual difference in your life ever, by word or deed or example or friendship, take some time this week to let him or her know, in as much detail as you can. You cannot imagine how far that will go.
2. We are mama's boys. Apologies to the female pastors, this one's just about the guys. I've read studies that higher than 80 percent of male pastors say they are much closer to their mothers than their fathers. This has a lot of implications, and it explains why we're more likely to play an instrument than fire a gun, have coffee with a friend than watch a game, read a book than restore an old Mustang. It also means that nobody in the church gets our attention as much as the old ladies, who can make or break our day with a kind word or a disapproving scowl. When you're dealing with your male pastor, keep in mind that he's more likely to speak the language of nurture over discipline, collaboration over competition, forgiveness over punishment. These aren't things he learned in seminary, these are things he learned in diapers.
3. S/he sees you when you're sleeping. Some people in the pews think there's a two way mirror between them and the pulpit, that they can see the pastor but the pastor can't see them. Wrong. We see you yawn, look at your phone, whisper something into your wife's ear. Sleep. Which is fine. If we're boring, it's not your fault, it's ours. But just be aware that we see you, and that if you can manage to at least look like you're a little more interested, it might actually feed some energy back to us and give us more zing. Energy goes two ways.
4. We think about quitting a lot. Behind closed doors, most ministers talk about moving on with regularity. The job is hard in a way that people who've never done it cannot understand. Not physically, or even mentally. But emotionally it can wreck you. I don't fully understand why, although I have theories. But just know, when you're choosing how to interact with her or him, that your pastor is probably hurting and tired and wishing s/he could quit. And that, in most cases, the only thing keeping him or her there is a sense of love and obligation to you. Be gentle, sensitive, and grateful for that.
5. We envy people who can be themselves. We wish we could cuss without it making headlines. We wish we could get drunk at a party, just once, without it resulting in an elders meeting. We wish we could be enthusiastic about a hobby without people raising their eyebrows about how much time and money we're spending on it. We wish we could make angry political remarks on Facebook. You know, all the things that you feel free to do all the time. You want us to be human, but not too human. Believe me, we know. And it's probably for the best that we are charged with setting a good example, it makes sense. But just know, we sometimes envy your freedom to just be yourself.
[UPDATE: It's August 12th. This blog has now received over 104 thousand views. And the wording of my point above has stirred up more controversy than the Zapruder film. See about half of the comments below to see what I'm talking about. Several readers misunderstood my intentions with the phrases 'We wish we could cuss…' and 'We wish we could get drunk…', apparently without reading much further to understand the point I was actually trying to make.
I'm very frustrated by this, but I'm willing to take responsibility for the poor wording. I suppose if I were to rewrite the article in light of this confusion, I'd say it differently. My emphasis was not on the wishing to sin, but on the headlines and elders' meetings that always seem to result whenever a pastor slips once and does something a little too human. And the ensuing fear that the pastor and his/her family have to live in 24/7. And the envy we feel for those of you who do not live with that fear. Perhaps it would have been better to say, 'We wish that whenever we failed, just once, to live up to the standards that have been set for us, it wouldn't always result in major disciplinary action or public embarrassment.'
And by the way, if you ever wonder why your pastor isn't more vulnerable about his personal weaknesses, just read some of the comments below. That should make it crystal clear.]
6. We are often spiritually starving. Probably the most closely guarded secret among pastors is how spiritually empty many of us are. Like a worker at the chocolate factory who no longer likes the taste of chocolate, or the prostitute who gets no pleasure from sex, we deal with spiritual matters so much that they often no longer have much meaning for us. Worship, for us, is a program that must be organized and executed. It's work. It's not for us. It's for you. And then, when we're not 'on,' often the last thing we want to do is something spiritual. Because it reminds us of work. We can't read the Bible without thinking of sermon ideas. We can't pray without thinking of leading prayers. We can't meet with other church people without talking shop. So we'd rather play golf, or watch TV, or anything else. Which ultimately leaves us empty. Not everyone, not always. But often.
7. We are sinful, no different than you. We don't just think about sinning. We aren't just tempted to sin. We commit sins. The same kind you do. Believe it. But also understand that this doesn't make us less qualified to talk to you about sins, but more. If you've ever sat in the pew and heard a pastor rambling on about temptations and sin and thought, "Whatever, there's no way she understands what I'm dealing with," think again. It's very likely that she does, first hand. And that what she's saying comes from her own life, not just from a book.
8. We are lonely, because it's hard to trust. Pastors often have trust issues. As well they should. All pastors have heard stories about Reverend So-and-so who confided in someone in his church about his addiction to whatever, only to have that person tell the elders about it, which ultimately got him fired. It happens. We know it does. So every time we interact with you, even if it's in a prayer group or some very intimate setting, we're not 100% open. We can't afford to be. It's not your fault, it's not our fault, it's just a bad system that doesn't allow pastors to be as human as it should. You can't fix that, but you can have understanding and compassion for the man or woman who loves and serves you week after week, who counsels you and hears your confessions, and yet often has nowhere to go to get the same healing and relief.
9. Ministry is a hard job. Sometimes it's said as a joke, sometimes it's said in anger, that ministers don't work very hard. That it's a cushy gig. If that were true I doubt I'd know so many ministers who have quit swearing never to return, including myself. The best way I can think to explain why ministry is hard is to compare it to being the parent of a young child. From the outside it might not look like a lot of 'work,' but from the inside it's the most exhausting thing you'll ever do. Because it's not just about the amount of things you do, it's the total emotional drain of it. It's worrying all day every day about the people and programs you're in charge of, being on call and not ever feeling really free to be away, feeling like you live in a fishbowl with hundreds of eyes watching you all the time and never really knowing what they are all thinking of you (unless they complain, which some of them do with regularity). It's caring for people to the point that you have nothing left for your own family when you get home, yet expecting that they show a certain spiritually-put-together face to the church (because the church expects that). It's often feeling empty, yet pretending to feel full. It's presenting yourself and your work to hundreds of people, several times a week, for evaluation, and often getting no feedback except 'constructive' criticism. And after all of this, after years of this, it's looking out at the people in your church and seeing little or no change. Ministry is very hard, albeit perhaps in a different way than your job is hard.
10. We are more sensitive than you probably think. Most ministers I know have one or two people in their congregations who send them stinky emails weekly, and another ten or fifteen who can be counted on to complain about things about once a month. Then of course there are handful of the angels, who hug and love and say encouraging things every week. But guess what. The people who complain are far more thorough and specific and persistent than those who encourage, and they are the voices that keep us up at night feeling bad about ourselves, wondering if we suck at this. Most ministers have skin that is way thinner than their congregants think it is. We have to be open and sensitive to you, because it's you we are charged with caring for. This means that the things you say to us can reach far deeper inside than they could otherwise. If you need to criticize your minister for something, please just be aware of this. Tread carefully, and with a lot of love and appreciation for her vulnerability. We are not above correction. Nobody is. But please make the extra effort to wrap it in as much care as you can.
11. We care about you more than you can imagine. The best moments of being a pastor for me, by far, were the times the ministers would gather for staff meetings and talk about the week ahead. Did we discuss worship and youth outings and air conditioning and budgets? Sure, for maybe twenty minutes. And then for three hours we'd talk about the people we were serving, what's going on in their lives, and how we might help them. I always wished the whole church could be in those meetings and just see how much these people care, how much their hearts break for them, how much time and emotional energy they spend wanting to help them. Those meetings are my most sacred memories of church, because those were the moments when I saw men and women who had every reason not to care, to phone it in, to even be resentful. And yet, in spite of all of it, at the end of every day, they still cared, sometimes to the point of tears. You might have no idea how much.


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By Werner Ruotsalainen updated on 01/03/2013
Ever wanted to know whether you can know not only the precise GPS coordinates of something you've shot a video of during travel, but also the direction (based on the internal compass) of the camera while the object was taken a video of? Every wanted to know how this can be done on an iPhone (or any 3G iPad) – or, if you have a non-GPS/compass-equipped external camera, with the help of your iDevice? Read on – this article is for you!
In the first chapter of the article, I explain why you can't do this with Apple's stock Camera app – or for that matter, when compass recording is concerned, any decent(!) standalone camera out there.
In the second one, I show you two third-party apps for iOS that (are supposed to) do the trick. Should you only need an app for shooting with dynamic location / direction information, you can safely skip all the other chapters.
In the third chapter ("Shooting with an external camera"), I explain how iPhones (and 3G iPads) can be used as a GPS & compass tracker to be used together with an external camera. After listing and evaluating several GPS (but not compass!) trackers readily available in the AppStore, I present mine, along with source code(!), that does this – including even compass tracking. If you in no way want to shoot with your iPhone for the reasons outlined in this chapter (narrow field-of-view or mono audio, for example) but would still use it as an excellent tracker, this chapter is for you.
Note that THIS article also explains the advantages of dynamic location / direction storing - you might want to read it before going on, should you not see the point in all this, based on my introduction above.
1. The problem
1.1 The problems with dedicated cameras
I've frequently posted information on cameras capable of storing GPS coordinates along with still shots (and videos). One of my 14-month-old list is HERE, in my well-known still photo geotagging tutorial.
Unfortunately, the situation hasn't changed much in the last 14 months. Still very few cameras have built-in GPS, let alone compass. Video support is even worse: the only cameras with continuous(!) GPS data recording are pretty restricted when it comes to overall image quality, with particular emphasis on low-light performance. Unfortunately, IQ-wise the best compact cameras with GPS like the Canon S100, aren't able to record continuous GPS data at all (as they aren't using AVCHD but restricted (see Section 1.2.1 below) simple MOV files). The GPS-equipped AVCHD models, already capable of dynamic location logging, in the Panasonic TZ / ZS series (for example, the ZS20) can't boast very good image quality. Finally, Sony's HX-series P&S cameras (the only ones that do have compasses in addition to GPS'es, both dynamically logged along videos), being compact superzooms, aren't really meant for enthusiasts, not even in their most recent reincarnations as their lens are pretty slow and sensors tiny (as with all compact superzooms, as opposed to true high-quality small enthusiast cameras like the Sony RX100, the Fujifilm XF1, the Panasonic LX series etc. - see THIS for more examples of these cameras).
Needless to say, the king of sports cameras, the GoPro series, don't even contain a GPS unit (let alone a compass), not even in their third reincarnation. The only dedicated sports camera model with GPS, the Contour+2, doesn't have compass either – and is, generally, much less recommended than the GoPro series, particularly if you need easy and safe chest / head mountability particularly important to, say, skiers like me.
1.2 The problems with Apple's approach: a single GPS location + no compass info
iPhones starting with the 3GS, iPod touches with the 4th generation and all iPads all have compasses, in addition to all video recording-capable iPhones' and all 3G-enabled iPads having GPS. Unfortunately, these are not utilized when shooting videos. This, unless you either use third-party apps (like that of Ubipix, see below), means you'll never know where the iPhone was when a particular frame of a video was shot and to which direction it was pointed.
The inability to save GPS / compass information of iOS is because of several reasons. In the following subsections, I explain them all. Again, this info doesn't truly needed by people that "only" want to know what AppStore app to select to be able to dynamically geotag their videos. They can safely skip the remainder of this chapter and move straight to chapter 2.
1.2.1 Video container restrictions
I've very often explained why the MOV / MP4 / M4V container Apple only supports is inferior to more advanced ones like MKV or AVCHD. Then, I haven't mentioned AVCHD also supports variable, continuously changing location (and compass) info storing with every single(!) frame.
MOV's recorded by iDevices, unfortunately, only support one, global location tag. It's this value that QuickTime shows like in the following dialog (via Cmd + I):
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(As with all the other images in the article, click for a much better-quality and larger one.)
It's worth pointing out that the, otherwise, great and highly recommended MediaInfo doesn't display this info:
Incidentally, there is something interesting here: the tagging time (11:11:53) is 12 seconds later than the recording/encoding date (11:11:41). This is because location data is not guaranteed to be present when starting recording the video – it can be stored in the target MOV file when it becomes available. This also means the coordinates you find in a video shot on an iDevice aren't necessarily that of the starting point but may be several (in this particular case, 12) seconds into the video.
Physically, the GPS coordinates are at /moov[0]/meta[0]/ilst[0]/[2] as can be seen in the following screenshot shot with IsoViewer:
Not being associated with any particular frame, this also means there can be only one instance of this data for the entire video stream.
Programmatically setting the metadata property of AVCaptureMovieFileOutput (see section "Adding Metadata to a File" in the official "AV Foundation Programming Guide") doesn't help either as it sets exactly this list element and not that of the currently recoded frame. That is, creating your own video recorder and continuously setting the metadata with the then-current GPS coordinates won't work. The MOV container (and Apple's limited API to manipulate it) simply doesn't support this.
1.2.2 What about the video framegrabs of the iPhone 5?
Unfortunately, not even the shots (technically, as opposed to more decent cameras like the GoPro 3 Black Edition, the Nikon System 1 cameras or newer Sony models delivering full-resolution still images, vastly inferior simple framegrabs) made by the iPhone 5 have dynamic location info. (They could as each of them does have a fully independent location tag.) That is, if you travel with a car while continuously shooting a video and, without stopping video recording, tap the still snapshot icon on your iPhone 5's screen, the 1920*1080 still shot stored will have the exact same location tag as that of the video – that is, the location it was tagged. That is, these shots will not have the actual location of taking the shot itself.
2. Third-party solutions readily available on iOS
2.1 Ubipix
Without doubt the best application to record dynamically geotagged videos even with compass info is the free Ubipix (AppStore link).
Basically, when you record a video from inside the app, it'll also record all the location and camera direction info along with the video recording. These recordings are stored in the /Documents/defaultFolder folder of the app. Recording one video will result in three video files to be created: the video recording itself (say, 1356684671.mov), a textual file (.txt) containing all the location and compass info and, finally, a PNG framegrab of the video of the same resolution as the video itself. The video file isn't encrypted, which means you can edit it before uploading (a probably important thing, should you want to remove the audio track before making the video public). You can even shoot video in another, much more capable app allowing for a lot more features (torch, snapshots on the iPhone 5, separate exposure / focus carets, a lot of additional settings on jailbroken devices in the stock Camera app via CameraTweak etc.) of the current iPhone model (say, the built-in Camera app or third-party ones like FiLMiC Pro) and, then, manually transfer the video to this Ubipix folder for later upload. (To create a compatible .TXT file with all the location / compass info in Ubipix's own format, you'll need to modify my location logger discussed in Section 3.2.) Also, you can shoot a video with an external camera and, after converting (with AVCHD videos, just remuxing via iVI) its video to a MOV container (if it isn't already shot using that one), do the same before upload.
After finishing shooting (which, again, may involve a conversion with an external tool or even transferring videos from another camera), all you need to do log in to your free Ubipix account in the Settings dialog of the iOS client (annotated by a red rectangle below):
(an iPhone 5 shot; as you can see, the app doesn't make use of the full screen estate of the newer, 16:9 devices)
and, then, selecting the video to upload and tapping the upload icon in the upper right corner. If you want to keep the video private, you'll need to tap the "Public" icon (the third from the top) before uploading so that it becomes "Private".
These two icons are both annotated in the following screenshot:
After tapping "Upload", you'll need to select a target channel; currently, only one is available ("Ubipix"):
After tapping it, just check the "Public" checkbox. Don't be afraid if you upload a private video, this won't make its visibility public:
Then, just tap the Submit button, also annotated in the above screenshot.
The video uploads and, after a while, becomes available. You'll be e-mailed by the unique URL of your video. You can access it both through the link and by logging in in both a desktop and a mobile (including iOS) browser, by tapping the "myTracks" link in the top right corner. You can also quickly navigate to your public videos on the main map if their location is unique. For example, the following shot shows three videos shot here in Finland (all the three by me), after clicking the circle with the number in it:
2.1.1 Ubipix problems, bugs and some fixes
220.127.116.11 Disabling audio
Note that the Settings dialog has an audio switch (annotated by a green rectangle below):
While it's even disabled by default, it doesn't seem to have any effect on the upload. That is, there is no way to disable audio upload. The only way to get rid of the audio track is manually editing the original files (removing the audio track) and uploading the edited versions.
For this, I recommend MP4Tools (albeit other MOV editor tools should also work). Just make sure you rename the .mov extensions to .m4v before dragging the files to MP4Tools and, after deleting the audio tracks, rename the files back to .mov. Then, the files become unplayable on the device but not after upload. All the example videos below (see section 2.1.2) have been processed this way before upload – this was the only way to remove private family member chat (albeit it was in Finnish so few would have understood it).
126.96.36.199 Other problems
- Compass errors can't be fixed by simply adding a constant bias (see below)
- Buggy iOS interface: with videos taking up more than one page (that is, with more than 5 videos), the filesize will be always the same on subsequent pages as on the ones on the first page. Some examples:
This is the first page of the list. Note the filesizes: 354.51, 6.79, 4.79, 8.94 Mbytes. Now, let's take a look at the second page (Ubipix organizes the videos by their shooting date):
The filenames and the shooting dates are correctly displayed, so are the thumbnails – but the sizes aren't. They're exactly the same as on the first page: 354.51, 6.79, 4.79, 8.94 Mbytes.
The situation is the same on the third and fourth pages:
Note that there are other, display-related bugs. For example, the date of the previous upload is also incorrectly displayed (in the screenshots right in the uploading-specific 2.1 section, 12/09/2012).
- no desktop or local map rendering capabilities – you'll always need to upload the video and watch the videos streamed from Ubipix's servers.
- there isn't any location-specific information (town / street names or even all locations shown on a map) in videos before uploading, unlike with the, in this respect, vastly superior GeoVid. (See 2.2 for more info on GeoVid.)
- limited recording time: 15 minutes. Note that, should you want to switch to the highest-quality (on iPhone 4S+es, 1080p) mode, it automatically switches back to 5 minutes. (You can always change this with the dedicated slider in Settings.)
- there's no way of downloading the video from Ubipix's servers as, say, an MP4 file. (Or, for that matter, in any other format.) This is unlike traditional video (or photo) sharing sites like Vimeo, YouTube etc. That is, should you want to archive your videos, you'll need to make use of, say, iExplorer to directly access the Documents/defaultFolder folder of the Ubifix app. (Needless to say, it's not possible to do this via iTunes as iTunes File Sharing isn't enabled by the app.)
2.1.2 Ubipix examples you can try right away
I've made three videos public so that you can check out how location / direction tracking works. They work just fine even without installing Ubifix on your iDevice. You'll want to use a desktop browser or an iPad for watching the examples – definitely not an iPhone / iPod touch. (See the next, 2.1.3 section for the why's.) All these videos have been shot on my iPhone 5 here in Finland, Iisalmi.
In-town video
Note that this video shows a compass at least 90 degrees off in the default "Digital compass" mode; everything else OK. (Of course, switching to the GPS Bearing mode this is fixed but, then, the camera's current direction isn't at all shown. See section 5. for more links to discussions on the difference between bearing (perfectly computable from at least two pairs of simple GPS coordinates) and true, compass-based camera direction.)
A big problem with Ubipix is the lack of any way to define a constant bias, which would have definitely made the camera direction display right with this and the following video.
Outside the town
In this video, particularly the 110 → 150m uphill can nicely be seen on the bottom graph: both the altitude and the speed (the car shows down while climbing the uphill). The following shot shows the position just before the uphill:
Finally, let me present you a video where the compass did work properly (instead of in a car, it's shot outdoors):
This also shows that, even here in the North-east, compass is working OK.
2.1.3 Playing videos after uploading
As has already been mentioned in Section 126.96.36.199, it's not possible to (meaningfully – that is, along with location / direction info) play back videos without uploading them first.
For playing the geotagged videos back, you won't need a separate application – just a Web browser. Even the iOS Safari will do, which nicely renders and updates the location / direction info, along with the speed / altitude ones, during playback, while playing back the video in a window, just like a desktop browser – at least on an iPad. An example screenshot:
Unfortunately, on the small-screen iOS devices (iPhones and iPod touch models), videos can only be played back in full screen mode and not in a window. This means you can't see the metadata dynamically changing during playback. You'll always need to pause playback to go back to the main Web view at video positions you want to see the then-current location / direction info. It's a bit slow but, if you really need to know where an object really is, works. (Nevertheless, you will still want to stick with an iPad or a desktop browser, which are all capable of non-fullscreen playback.)
An example screenshot of how the Web interface on the iPhone 5:
Note that tapping the Play arrow in the video will switch playback to fullscreen.
2.2 GeoVid
GeoVid (main homepage; AppStore link) is another application for dynamic geocoding. While it's, in some respects (mainly, local, before-upload metadata review support), vastly superior to Ubipix, I don't recommend it.
For example, if you do upload your videos, they won't (necessarily) become accessible. I've uploaded some videos of Finland. None of them become publicly accessible, as opposed to Ubipix's app. I wonder if one can at all make anything public. I've even searched for "Finland" and the like, without any success.
Also, it's VERY slow to upload – at least from here (center-Finland). Ubipix is waaaay faster on exactly the same network.
There are no accounts with private storage, unlike with Ubipix; that is, you can't just upload your videos to have proper, dynamic location / direction support for your own consumption only.
However, it has a definite advantage over Ubipix: it can display the route right inside the iOS app – without having to upload the title first. An example:
Also, it lists the locations of all recordings right in the video list – something also painfully missing from the Ubipix app. Some examples:
Note that it might take some time for these location names to be displayed in the list after finishing shooting.
3. Shooting with an external camera
While iPhone models starting with iPhone 4 have finally considerably narrowed the gap between iPhones and top Nokia models (the 2009 iPhone 3GS was the first iPhone to shoot any video while the early 2007 Nokia N95 already shot VGA video – almost two and a half year before Apple), they still suffer from some major problems rendering them pretty much incapable of shooting videos in a lot of circumstances:
- lack of stereo audio recording (many still and most video cameras do record stereo audio – and, yes, Nokia's top Symbian phones, even the early 2010 Nokia N8, too. Apple, you're at least three and a half years late, assuming the iPhone 5S/6 is released next Summer.) And I haven't even talked about high-amplitude audio recording (present in the Lumia 920 / Nokia 808), also missing from iPhones.
- lack of a wideangle lens while shooting hi-res video. We still have to live with an approximately 43mm, that is, pretty narrow field-of-view while shooting videos. While most (consumer) video cameras also start at around 40mm (this is probably their biggest downside compared to still cameras also shooting videos), consumer-priced (non-professional) still cameras generally start at a much-much better and wider 24...28mm, even when shooting videos. (Some – for example, the Nikon P500 - even start at 22.5mm ultra-wideangle.) And, yes, Nokia's recent, top phone models are much better in this respect as well: the Nokia 808 uses an equivalent 26mm when shooting videos, while the Nokia Lumia 920 uses 28mm. (Apple, another area you should do your homework.)
- lack of rugged enclosures easily attachable to the human body or cars, surfboards, helmets etc. Ever seen something like the GoPro Head Strap Mount or the Chest Mount Harness? I bet you haven't. They'd be extremely good for e.g. sports shooting but nothing is available. (Of course, without a wideangle lens, it's pretty much impossible to use any iPhone models starting with the iPhone 4 for action shooting. There are, however, wideangle / fisheye lens add-ons. Their quality – particularly of those cheap Chinese knock-offs -, of course, may leave a lot to be desired.)
All in all, there still are areas when it's just not feasible to use the iPhone for video shooting.
(NOTE: I'm comparing to Nokia's high-end phones only as, video recording-wise, they have always been considerably better than anything else on the market at the time. There would be no point in comparing the iPhone 5 to the, compared to even the iPhone 5, inferior, say, Samsung Galaxy III.)
However, you can still use your iPhones to record not only the GPS coordinates, but also compass (direction) information. The latter is painfully lacking from standalone GPS trackers; for example, from my personal favorite, the BTGP-38KM.
Of course, the direction of separate cameras and iPhones can render the compass information unreliable. (Unless you mount your iPhone on your camera or just keep them in stacked up in one of your hands, of course.) There may be cases, however, then the phone records true camera direction. An example is the above-linked GoPro Chest Mount Harness. If you put your iPhone in your shirt's (front) pocket, the screen facing your chest, it'll record reliable direction info, always recording the true direction of the camera. (If you don't have a pocket guaranteeing the iPhone's back will always face straight ahead, you can put your phone in any other pocket, assuming it's tightly staying in there and won't wobble. However, then, you'll need to apply a constant bias to the recorded data. Programmatically, it's not at all hard – or even if you export the data to, say, an Excel spreadsheet and do the addition there.) Of course, this couldn't be done with the Head Strap Mount (unless, in some way, you also fasten your iPhone on your head.)
3.1 Readily available AppStore apps
I've tested all AppStore GPS tracker apps containing the word "compass" in their description.
GPX Master
EveryTrail: Displays heading only in the summary screen – something easily computable using two track points (see THIS) and having nothing to do with the compass
GPS Tracker: depends on external service; not for local GPX logging
MapMyRun: same
Speedometer: speed only
GPS Cycle
GPS Device Data: free is ad-supported (Premium is $1); no logging, only full GPS data (incl. Compass)
GPS Stone
Maps+; $2.99 IAP: no sign of compass
None of these supports recording compass data. However, if all you need is location (not direction) recording, go for any of these titles where I haven't explicitly stated it's incapable of logging to a file.
3.2 No AppStore apps for compass logging: what now?
If you (or any of your friends) have a (paid) developer account, you're saved: I've written an app that does exactly what is needed. It records the full info of the current compass / location data whenever they change with the thresholds of five degrees (compass) and one meter (location) to avoid exporting "noisy" data and using too much storage. Now, a 10-20-minute session only uses some hundreds of kilobytes.
The entire source code of the project, available for re-compilation and deploying, is HERE. The app delegate's non-trivial methods (and one global variable) are as follows:
NSOutputStream *outputStream;
- (void)printStringToFile:(NSString *)stringToLog {
NSData* dataToStoreInAFile = [stringToLog dataUsingEncoding:NSASCIIStringEncoding];
NSRange dataRange;
dataRange.location = 0;
dataRange.length = [dataToStoreInAFile length];
uint8_t buffer [dataRange.length];
[dataToStoreInAFile getBytes:&buffer range:dataRange];
[outputStream write:buffer maxLength:dataRange.length];
- (void)locationManager:(CLLocationManager *)manager didUpdateHeading:(CLHeading *)newHeading {
// NSLog(@"currentHeading: %@c1", newHeading);
if (newHeading.headingAccuracy < 0) return;
NSString* newRow = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@: %@\r", [NSDate date], newHeading];
[self printStringToFile:newRow];
- (void)locationManager:(CLLocationManager *)manager didUpdateToLocation:(CLLocation *)newLocation fromLocation:(CLLocation *)oldLocation
// NSLog(@"locationLoc: %@", newLocation);
if (newLocation.horizontalAccuracy < 0) return;
NSString* newRow = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@: %@\r", [NSDate date], newLocation];
[self printStringToFile:newRow];
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
[self.window makeKeyAndVisible];
CLLocationManager* locManager = [[CLLocationManager alloc] init];
locManager.delegate = self;
locManager.distanceFilter = 1;
locManager.headingFilter = 5;
[locManager startUpdatingLocation];
if ([CLLocationManager headingAvailable])
[locManager startUpdatingHeading];
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory,NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDir = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
long long currTimeMs = [[NSDate date] timeIntervalSince1970] * 1000;
NSString* fileToRender = [documentsDir stringByAppendingString:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"/%lld-data.txt", currTimeMs]];
// NSLog(@"fileToRender: %@", fileToRender);
BOOL createSuccessful= [[NSFileManager defaultManager] createFileAtPath:fileToRender contents:nil attributes:nil];
if (createSuccessful) {
NSLog(@"File creation succesful!");
outputStream = [[NSOutputStream alloc] initToFileAtPath:fileToRender append: NO];
[outputStream open];
return YES;
The interface declaration:
@interface CompassDemooooAppDelegate : NSObject <UIApplicationDelegate, CLLocationManagerDelegate> {
UIWindow *window;
Note that this is really a barebones app. I haven't even created a view controller in the process – all the business logic, as has already been mentioned, is in the app delegate. Basically, it's as follows:
1, in didFinishLaunchingWithOptions, I initialize the location / compass reading of CLLocationManager. Also, I create a file, the filename based on the actual number of milliseconds elapsed since midnight Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), 1 January 1970 (that is, Unix time) so that it surely doesn't overwrite previous tracks. These tracks will, then, be accessible via simple iTunes File Sharing (as the .plist file of the project contains the UIFileSharingEnabled boolean with the value "YES".)
By the way, the .plist also contains an UIBackgroundModes array with a single element of "location" to make sure recording also continues while the phone is suspended or another app (even one using the location services) runs, including the built-in camera app.
2, the location callback, didUpdateToLocation, simply logs the full location data to the file.
3, the compass callback, didUpdateHeading, does the same to the compass data.
4, finally, applicationWillTerminate closes the output stream – this will be called upon terminating the app from the task manager. Note that you can access the content of the log file before closing the file and no harm will happen if it isn't closed.
Note that there's a helper method, printStringToFile, which does the actual file writing. It isn't using NSString's 'writeToFile' so that it doesn't need to first store the to-be-logged data in memory (to avoid losing this data entirely upon some kind of a failure, including the app crashing when it entirely runs out of memory) as is done in, say, HERE. Instead, it uses low(er)-level file writing with NSString → NSData conversions and [NSOutputStream write:maxLength], hence the somewhat longer code. As you may know, there isn't anything like PrintStream/PrintWriter.print(ln) (Java) or fprintf() (C(++)) in the iOS libraries.
Also note that, not having any UI components at all, all you'll see is a white screen while running the app. However, the logging will start right after you start the app until you kill it.
3.2.1 Enhancing my app
Should you want to make it more universal by exporting the GPS / compass data into a standardized GPX file (Wiki),
1, you need to be aware of that the GPX standard doesn't have any standardized way of doing so (this is also mentioned HERE). I recommend following the MikroKopter.de extension of the GPX standard explained HERE; most importantly, the <Compass> tag. (Note that the <Course> tag isn't based on the values the hardware compass reports. It's the standard bearing value the GPS unit reports and will always depend on the actual speed vector of the camera, not the (arbitrary) direction of it.) Of course, you can come up with your own tag extensions if you want to do so.
Instead of polling the current location and compass data in the compass and location callbacks, respectively, you can just store their previous value in a global or method-local-static variable so that all GPX records contain both the location (based on GPS) and the camera direction (compass).
2, instead of creating and writing to the GPX file directly, you can use free-to-use GPX creation libraries for iOS. I know only of them: GPX-Logger (homepage). Note that it uses the dynamic framework HERE. (More info & discussion HERE).
Let me know if you really need the recorder to record to a particular format but can't extend my app. If (and only if) I have some time, I create the enhanced version.
4. What about processing GPS (and possibly also compass) data in AVCHD files?
This section is only meant for people having a camera recording true, dynamic GPS (and, with some SONY cameras, also compass) data into AVCHD file structures. It will NOT be usable for people that only want to use their iPhones or their iPhone + another non-GPS/compass-capable camera. However, as this info is closely related to the subject of this article and the project it links to isn't well publicized, I decided to dedicate an entire section to it.
There is an app, AVCHD2SRT, for creating a frame-specific (timed) SRT subtitle file off existing AVCHD videos HERE. Note that the discussion HERE not only discusses it, but also the practical questions of everything related.
5. Other discussions
THIS thread talks a lot about the differences of the GPS bearing (easily computable via, say, MapSource) and true compass.
THIS discussion links to several (non-iOS/compass-specific) video mapping services.
UPDATE (01/01/2013): 1, I've played quite a bit with the (proprietary) location / direction metdata (the .TXT file) format of Ubipix so that I can both enable cutting from videos before uploading (something impossible now) with keeping the correct metadata and to be able to export right to this format from my own location / direction recorder app (see sources above).
Fortunately, video editing, while it's in no way supported by the Ubipix client, using an external MOV editor, can be done flawlessly. I used one of the best quick video editors, QuickTime Pro 7, for cutting out the first 116 seconds from a fireworks video I shot in Iisalmi, Finland, yesterday (it's online; link). The (cut) video I've saved from QT7Pro was without problems accepted by the Ubipix app.
Cutting the .txt file, however, was more problematic. It does need to be cut – when uploading the original TXT file with the heavily cut new video, Ubipix's server just wouldn't accept it – it silently refused it.
Basically, if you cut out X seconds from the beginning, you'll need to remove the first X number of "features" records from the file. A real-world example follows: here's the metadata file of my Iisalmi video, with the records 4...352 (the location / direction values of the fourth … 353rd second of the video) removed:
{"detail":{"title":"testwithcutlast120records1356983903","hashtag":"Test hashtag","group":"Test group","description":"Test Description","private":1,"instance":"Test instance"},"features":[{"geometry":{"properties":{"fov":51.06,"pitch":339.1122,"speed":5.781224,"decl":4,"time":1356983903743,"accuracy":5,"bearing":251.7188,"yaw":264.1093,"roll":285.6798},"type":"POINT","coordinates":[27.18814,63.55495,85.979]},"type":"Feature","vsec":"1"},{"geometry":{"properties":{"fov":51.06,"pitch":337.5637,"speed":5.539752,"decl":4,"time":1356983904726,"accuracy":5,"bearing":253.125,"yaw":264.1093,"roll":286.1889},"type":"POINT","coordinates":[27.18805,63.55494,85.90985]},"type":"Feature","vsec":"2"},{"geometry":{"properties":{"fov":51.06,"pitch":338.0775,"speed":5.313472,"decl":4,"time":1356983905726,"accuracy":5,"bearing":251.3672,"yaw":263.1093,"roll":287.5141},"type":"POINT","coordinates":[27.18797,63.55493,85.43353]},"type":"Feature","vsec":"3"}, ... ,{"geometry":{"properties":{"fov":51.06,"pitch":358.6461,"speed":0.149863,"decl":4,"time":1356984254986,"accuracy":10,"bearing":40.78125,"yaw":245.3681,"roll":234.0427},"type":"POINT","coordinates":[27.1858,63.55468,79.14551]},"type":"Feature","vsec":"354"}],"account":{"ver":"Ver:1.3","device":"XX:XX:XX:XX:XX","user":"default_user"}}
Here, it's the records starting with "geometry" and bounded by {}'s are the ones you'll need to recognize upon cutting. For example, in the above example, the first record is as follows:
And the second one (immediately following, separated by a single ",") is as follows:
Notice the last key-value pairs in these records: "vsec":"1" for the first, "vsec":"2" for the second etc. Even the key name (vsec) refers to what it is: "video second".
This means all you need is remove the X records of these records from the file, making sure the header (telling Ubipix the name of the video) and the footer (with the device ID (XX'ed out above) and some other stuff.) It's no problem if you don't recompute these values if you delete a section from the beginning of the video: "vsec" can safely start with, say, 116 (as below), it will still be considered as the first second of the uploaded video.
For example, with the above Iisalmi example, the resulting metadata file has become as follows (again, I've left out most of the inner records):
{"detail":{"title":"cutFIRST115recordsWITHOUTrenumbering1356983903","hashtag":"Test hashtag","group":"Test group","description":"Test Description","private":1,"instance":"Test instance"},"features":[{"geometry":{"properties":{"fov":51.06,"pitch":11.8216,"speed":1.32344,"decl":4,"time":1356984018724,"accuracy":5,"bearing":172.9688,"yaw":193.4087,"roll":284.5805},"type":"POINT","coordinates":[27.1875,63.55501,70.06348]},"type":"Feature","vsec":"116"},{"geometry":{"properties":{"fov":51.06,"pitch":11.78718,"speed":1.33215,"decl":4,"time":1356984019706,"accuracy":5,"bearing":181.0547,"yaw":187.4087,"roll":283.8172},"type":"POINT","coordinates":[27.18749,63.555,69.67194]},"type":"Feature","vsec":"117"},
With these changes, you can already transfer the MOV and the TXT data back to your iDevice and initiate the upload.
If you take a look at the video (as has already been mentioned, it's HERE), you'll notice the location data is a bit (some metres) off but the direction works just fine, as can also be seen in the following screengrab:
Note that the lens of my iPhone 5 might have been wet (the snow has constantly been falling); hence the strange silhouettes over the bright lights.
2, Note that one of the biggest problem with the Ubipix app is that it doesn't let access the torch control: it'll be lit whenever the app thinks it should. This can't really be fixed (other than waiting for my updated logger and doing all the shooting from the stock Camera app, with my logger running in the background). For the time being, just do the following: when starting shooting, point to the lens to a bright source of light so that the torch won't be light up. Then, you'll be free to continue shooting anything else. Then, you can just edit out the first 1-2 seconds (a strong light source to block the torch) using the method I've explained above.
BTW, another Iisalmi fireworks video I shot yest... I mean today uses exactly this trick to guarantee the torch remain unlit (to avoid much worse image because of the constantly lit snow falling close to the lens) in THIS video (Ubipix live video link).
A screengrab showing the light at the beginning (and also showing the infamous PurpleView effect of the iPhone 5's optics – now, with direct light in the field of view of the camera):
UPDATE (01/03/2013): A full, second article on my Ubipix-compliant logger is HERE.


text:
Starting spot doesn't worry Logano; Kenseth still looking for first win.
Making 750 starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is quite an accomplishment in itself.
Doing so without interruption is even more remarkable.
Jeff Gordon will make his 750th start at NASCAR's highest level in Sunday night's Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Gordon hasn't missed a race since he took the green flag in Cup competition for the first time, in November 1992 at Atlanta.
"It seems like just yesterday that it started right here, over 20 years ago," Gordon said. "I love this track, love racing here, so it's pretty cool to have 750 happening here."
If Gordon's streak remains unbroken, he'll surpass Ricky Rudd's series-record 788 consecutive starts in the 28th race of 2015, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Gordon's longevity, and the four series championships that have accompanied it, have earned the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet a number of enviable perks over the years.
Air Force One
Earlier this week, he got an invitation to tour Air Force One when President Barack Obama visited Charlotte, N.C.
"I was testing in Martinsville, and so luckily my mom and my dad were able to go as well as (wife) Ingrid and the kids," Gordon said. "They didn't expect to be able to say 'hi' to President Obama. They just thought they were going to go and have a tour. So it was quite a surprise and quite an experience for them.
"They've been talking about it all week and how cool it was. It's interesting these days. You know, you have a seven-year-old daughter (Ella), who missed a day of school and then goes back the next day and they say, 'Where were you?' and she says she was seeing the president and I went on Air Force One and they're like 'Oh, right, where were you?'"
Logano: Mid-pack start not a problem
In Friday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying session at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Joey Logano failed to make the final session of knockout time trials for the first time on an open-motor track.
Logano qualified 14th for Sunday's Oral-B USA 500 at the 1.54-mile track, but the winner of last week's Bristol race isn't particularly concerned about his starting position. Logano's No. 22 Team Penske Ford was fast enough to pace Saturday's first Sprint Cup practice session with a lap at 189.351 mph.
"You have to go fast for a long time here, but we were OK, even on the long runs, Logano said after the session, which was truncated by an afternoon rainstorm. "We never put new tires on it, so we kind of just kept working,
"We'll see. I think the 4 car (of pole winner Kevin Harvick) is super-fast, but I don't think we're far behind him."
Kenseth wants that win
Matt Kenseth is a likely Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifier whether he wins one of the final two regular-season races or not, but the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota would rather solidify his Chase berth with a victory.
In final Sprint Cup practice at Atlanta, Kenseth was headed in the right direction. He was fastest in the Happy Hour with a lap at 188.251 mph. Given that Atlanta is a track where the Gibbs cars traditionally have excelled, Kenseth has to like his chances in race trim on Sunday night.
NASCAR Wire, Reid Spencer


text:
In Focus has Hurricane Sandy: The Aftermath and The Big Picture has Hurricane Sandy: The Superstorm. Both are amazing photo sets and you should go look at them.
One of the things that strikes me about this is that I've been to so many of the places affected by the storm. I of course grew up on Long Island so I've been to NYC many times. I've vacationed at the Jersey shore for over 10 years. I've visited friends in Charleston WV who got tons of snow from Sandy and I've seen the statue in Annapolis shown in the photos. I've been over the bridge shown in the last photo below many times, and there was never a connection to the ocean before.


text:
Volunteers needed for Chapel Hill projects
Orland and Kay Chandler are looking for community help on projects at Chapel Hill in Belle Creek Township.
Volunteers are needed to help tear down a 1860s house donated for materials to restore the Chandler School. They are also looking for gardeners and someone to build a website.
For more information, call Orland Chandler at 414-975-3105.


text:
Proctitis is the inflammation of the anus and rectum area. Anal inflammation can occur when feces stick to the hair around the anus area or the cat is trying to pass dry stools or hard and sharp objects. Other causes can be mass amounts of diarrhea, parasites, insect bites, colitis, allergic or inflammatory disease, masses like tumors and polyps, or trauma.
Some of the symptoms for proctitis may be straining when trying to pass a stool, constipation, scooting, pain when trying to pass a stool, blood in the stool, and excessive licking and biting of the anus area. Due to the rough tongue of the cat, ulceration and other forms of discomfort may also occur from the licking.
The treatment for Proctitis is typically directed at the underlying cause. Should hair and feces be present at the anus region, clip them away to air out the skin. Ointments and creams can be applied to the anus area to reduce irritation. If the underlying cause is parasites, the cat should be dewormed. If the underlying cause is an infection, antibiotics can be applied. If the underlying cause is allergic or inflammatory disease, anti-inflammatory medication can be applied. Stool softeners or a low fiber diet can be used to make it easier for the cat to pass a stool. Should the cat keep licking the affected area, your veterinarian can give you a bad tasting ointment to apply.
The information contained on this site is for the sole purpose of
being informative and is not and should not be used or relied upon as medical
advice. Seek the advice of your vet
or other qualified pet care provider before you decide on any treatment or
for answers to any questions you may have regarding a feline medical symptom or medical condition.


text:
Saturated Fat Versus Monounsaturated Fat and Insulin Action
|Tracking Information
|First Submitted Date ICMJE
|May 29, 2012
|First Posted Date ICMJE
|June 5, 2012
|Last Update Posted Date
|December 2, 2015
|Start Date ICMJE
|April 2010
|Primary Completion Date
|November 2015 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Current Primary Outcome Measures ICMJE
|Whether increased palmitate balance (as measured by intake and the rate of [1-13C]-PA oxidation) causes increased insulin resistance and increased inflammatory signaling by peripheral blood mononuclear cells [ Time Frame: up to 4 yr ]
Insulin sensitivity, inflammatory signaling, palmitate balance, and incomplete oxidation of palmitate in lean and obese young adults.
|Original Primary Outcome Measures ICMJE
|Same as current
|Change History
|Complete list of historical versions of study NCT01612234 on ClinicalTrials.gov Archive Site
|Current Secondary Outcome Measures ICMJE
|We will examine the link between palmitate intake and balance and oxidative stress measured using muscle and peripheral blood markers of oxidative stress and antioxidant responses. [ Time Frame: up to 4 yr ]
activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and heme oxygenase 1 in skeletal muscle in response to the diets.
|Original Secondary Outcome Measures ICMJE
|Same as current
|Current Other Outcome Measures ICMJE
|Not Provided
|Original Other Outcome Measures ICMJE
|Not Provided
|Descriptive Information
|Brief Title ICMJE
|Saturated Fat Versus Monounsaturated Fat and Insulin Action
|Official Title ICMJE
|Palmitate Metabolism and Insulin Resistance
|Brief Summary
|High intakes of saturated fat are associated with diabetes. Our work has shown that the two most common fatty acids in the North American diet, palmitic acid (saturated fat) and oleic acid (monounsaturated fat) are metabolized differently and have opposite effects on fat burning. The proposed study will examine biochemical and molecular mechanisms for how a high saturated fat diet versus a low saturated fat/high monounsaturated fat diet alters the action of the hormone, insulin, in skeletal muscle.
|Detailed Description
Palmitic acid (PA), impairs insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle, and replacing PA in the diet with oleic acid (OA), a monounsaturated fatty acid (FA), may be beneficial. The first objective of this project is to understand the effects on lipid metabolism and skeletal muscle lipid composition, insulin signaling, and inflammatory signaling of two common variations in FA composition of the diet: (1) The typical intake of North America where PA and OA are present in equal proportions (HI PA diet). (2) The Mediterranean FA composition in which PA is much lower and OA much higher (HI OA diet). PA may induce insulin resistance in skeletal muscle cells via its accumulation in lipids within muscle cells and via activation of inflammatory signaling. The second objective of this project is to assess the hypothesis that a high intake of PA will down-regulate its own one-carbon (initial) oxidation, leading to increased inflammatory signaling and decreased insulin signaling. However, there is literature evidence that FA may induce defects in insulin signaling, if FA are not completely oxidized; therefore, the third objective is to assess the hypotheses that a high PA diet may decrease complete oxidation of FA and possibly accelerate initial FA oxidation. A double-masked, cross-over trial of the effects of a high PA diet versus a high OA/low PA diet in 16 overweight or obese subjects and 16 lean subjects (aged 18 - 40 yr) will be conducted to investigate the following Specific Aims:
|Study Type ICMJE
|Study Phase
|Not Provided
|Study Design ICMJE
|Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Prevention
|Condition ICMJE
|Intervention ICMJE
|Dietary Supplement: High palmitate or high oleate diet.
High palmitate diet composition: Fat, 40.4% kcal; palmitic acid, 16.0% kcal; oleic acid,16.2% kcal. High oleate diet composition: Fat, 40.1% kcal; palmitic acid, 2.4% kcal; oleic acid, 28.8% kcal
|Study Arms
|Publications *
* Includes publications given by the data provider as well as publications identified by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number) in Medline.
|Recruitment Information
|Recruitment Status ICMJE
|Enrollment ICMJE
|Completion Date
|November 2015
|Primary Completion Date
|November 2015 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Eligibility Criteria ICMJE
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
|18 Years to 40 Years (Adult)
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers
|Contacts ICMJE
|Contact information is only displayed when the study is recruiting subjects
|Listed Location Countries ICMJE
|United States
|Removed Location Countries
|Administrative Information
|NCT Number ICMJE
|Other Study ID Numbers ICMJE
|R01DK082803( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
|Has Data Monitoring Committee
|U.S. FDA-regulated Product
|Not Provided
|IPD Sharing Statement
|Not Provided
|Responsible Party
|Craig Lawrence Kien, University of Vermont
|Study Sponsor ICMJE
|University of Vermont
|Collaborators ICMJE
|Not Provided
|Investigators ICMJE
|PRS Account
|University of Vermont
|Verification Date
|November 2015
ICMJE Data element required by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and the World Health Organization ICTRP


text:
Chernobyl Diaries
Director: Bradley Parker
Running time: 87 mins Released: 22nd June 2012
About Chernobyl Diaries
A group of six young holidaymakers in Ukraine make the unwise decision to go off the beaten path and hire an 'extreme' tour guide (there's a lesson here: package holidays are safer). He offers to take them to Pripyat, an abandoned workers' town near the site of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. After the disaster in 1986, the residents left everything behind and the town's once orderly homes and municipal buildings are now empty and decaying. The gang decide that they want to gawk at this macabre spectacle. When they are denied entry at a military checkpoint, Uri sneaks them in anyway. Wouldn't you know, it turns out the place isn't so deserted after all, and soon the idiotic group have their only vehicle sabotaged before being attacked by unknown assailants. They should've gone to Ibiza like everybody else!
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text: >> has someone tried to compile and run the Hurd on top of RT-Mach? >> Any experiences? Hurd runs on top of our version of RT-Mach. We fixed binary incompatibility with CMU Mach 3.0. But, as Roland said, RT-Mach does not support multiboot. So, we ported a Hurd boot program (hurd/boot/boot.c) to our RT-Mach. This boot program can boot Hurd as 2nd OS server from Lites, which is an OS server compatible with 4.4BSD-Lite and FreeBSD 2.2.8. For more information, see http://info.isl.ntt.co.jp/rtmach -- Satoshi Moriai, NTT Laboratories, Japan


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Sorry, Children of Israel. No Exodus for You
If the rabbis urging a ban on dovish Jews in N.Y.'s Celebrate Israel parade had been in charge of the Exodus from Egypt, many of us Hebrew slaves would have been turned away.
Imagine this: You're a Hebrew slave in Egypt. Moses issues a call, summoning you and all the members of your household to prepare your livestock and a few...
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- Double occupancy is defined as two adults staying in the same room.
- A full hearty Vermont breakfast will be served in the dining room during regular season for $6 for our guests. During slower times, there will be a complimentary continental breakfast in the Lobby.
- Children age 6-12 stay for free in a room with a paying adult.
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- All rates are exclusive of state tax, resort fee, and gratuities. Rates are subject to change


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An international radar defense manufacturer is bringing jobs to Howard County.
A ribbon-cutting was scheduled Monday for ELTA North America in Fulton.
The company is a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries. It is affiliated with ELTA Systems Ltd., the world's fourth-largest radar company.
U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski says ELTA plans to create 100 jobs over the next four years.
Published at 7:46 AM EDT on Sep 10, 2012


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Paul McCartney, Nancy Shevell Celebrate Weekend Wedding In London
Paul McCartney is once again a married man. Paul and his bride, Nancy Shevell, tied the knot Sunday at the Old Marylebone Town Hall in London. Nancy wore an ivory dress with matching shoes while Paul was in a blue suit for the occasion. In sealing their commitment, People.com says Paul gave Nancy a Neil Lane diamond and platinum eternity band. Two of Paul's daughters were involved in the ceremony. Stella McCartney designed the bride and groom's outfits, while seven-year-old Beatrice was the flower girl. Guests included Ringo Starr, his wife, Barbara Bach, and George Harrison's widow Olivia, as well as Paul's brother Mike, Nancy's son Arlen, and Barbara Walters — who is Nancy's cousin.
As he and Nancy left the Town Hall Paul told the crowd gathered outside that the ceremony "was terrific." The newlyweds then hosted a reception at McCartney's home. They also plan to have another reception in New York in the coming weeks.
Their wedding took place on a date that already had significance to Beatles fans. Sunday would have been the late John Lennon's 71st birthday.


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Talks to ease tensions planned
Politicians on all sides in Northern Ireland are to be invited to private talks in Cardiff next week in a new attempt to ease sectarian tensions on the streets of Belfast.
Police confirmed that meetings would take place next weekend. Academics from the University of Ulster are also believed to be involved in the new initiative.
The moves follows serious trouble in Belfast over Christmas and New Year after the city council's decision to restrict the flying of the Union flag to designated days.
Security chiefs are also increasingly worried about the prospect of further violence in the coming months linked to disputed parades close to loyalist and nationalist interface areas.
The Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness have also announced the setting up of an all party working group with an independent chairman to discuss flags, parades and how to deal with Northern Ireland's past.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said they would be meeting with key stakeholders in Cardiff to discuss a range of issues in relation to policing in Belfast.
A statement added: "The attendee list has not yet been finalised. As a Police Service, we believe it is important that we listen to the views expressed by our stakeholders and the community. We also want to ensure constructive lines of engagement are established and remain open.
"There are no further details at this stage."
A spokesman for the Progressive Unionist Party, the political wing of the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force, some of whose members were centrally involved in the street disorder, confirmed they had been invited to attend. No decision had been made.
He said: "There is a lot of scepticism about what can be achieved in such a short space of time, but it is better than doing nothing. Therefore, I think the space needs to be given for the initiative to take place."


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MAYWOOD, Il. - Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine Professor Katherine L. Knight, PhD, one of the nation's leading immune system researchers, has received the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Immunologists (AAI).
The award is given in recognition of a career of extraordinary scientific accomplishment, as well as outstanding leadership and service to the AAI. This is the highest honor the AAI Council awards to an AAI member.
Knight and other 2013 Career Award Recipients will be recognized at IMMUNOLOGY 2013™, the AAI Centennial Meeting, May 3-7 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Knight's primary research interest focuses on two critical components of the immune system, antibodies and B lymphocytes. She also has expanded her research to include studies on how microbes regulate the immune system and how certain bacteria protect us from infectious diseases. She also is working to develop a vaccine for Clostridium difficile (C. diff.), the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections.
Knight is passionate about mentoring students and faculty, and has written and spoken widely on the topic.
Knight is chair of Loyola's Department of Microbiology and Immunology and founder and co-director of Loyola's Infectious Disease & Immunology Research Institute. She has had continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health for 46 years, and NIH funding for her lab totals $6,047,185. She has served on and chaired many NIH review panels.
Knight earned her PhD in chemistry from Indiana University. She was appointed to the faculty of the University of Illinois Medical Center in 1968, and was recruited to Loyola in 1989. Knight is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was named Senior Scientist of the Year by Loyola University Chicago in 2012.
Knight has been an AAI member since 1968. She was elected to the AAI Council in 1991 and was AAI president from 1996 to 1997. She has served as associate editor of The Journal of Immunology and as a member of the Awards, Education, Membership and Nominating committees. She also has been an AAI delegate to the International Union of Immunological Societies and its representative to the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology Board.


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Ramesh T A
Ramesh T A (28th August 1950 / Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India)
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A Competition Of Life!
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Fill the whole place with zealous mood!
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A New Converse in Rate-Distortion Theory
The fundamental problem in non-asymptotic rate-distortion theory is to estimate the minimum achievable source coding rate at any given block-length k compatible with allowable distortion d. This paper shows new finite-block-length converse bounds applicable to lossy source coding as well as joint source-channel coding, which are tight enough not only to prove the strong converse, but to find the rate-dispersion functions in both setups. In order to state the converses, the authors introduce the d-tilted information, a random variable whose expectation and variance (with respect to the source) are equal to the rate-distortion and rate-dispersion functions, respectively.
Provided by: Princeton Software Topic: Networking Date Added: May 2012 Format: PDF


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DeStress The Mess Survival Kit – Hormones, PMS, Menopause
DeStress The Mess Survival Kit – Hormones, PMS, Menopause
Availability: In stock
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Have you ever considered making some changes in your lifestyle to deal with the hormonal issues that come up as we age? Did you know there are many things you can do right now to help relieve hot flashes, memory lapses, cramps, aches and pains, and mood swings? This kit focuses on natural remedies and holistic approaches that will help you relieve the results of hormonal changes and stress.
BONUS- Personal Survival Kit Chat Sessions – 30 minutes $50 for first one-on-one session . Sessions can be done by phone or skype.
- 21 day calendar of tips
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- DeStress The Mess Affirmations and Scripture
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- Great informational handouts specific to the Survival Kit Topic
- FREE Access to the Monthly DeStress The Mess Newsletter


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Following the campaign's six-month anniversary, Fight the Fakes last week announced 11 new partners, bringing the total number of member organizations to 25.
"The problem [of counterfeit medicines] is so big, disperse and complex that it requires a sweeping coordinated global response," wrote Scott LaGanga, executive director of the Partnership for Safe Medicines and SVP public affairs and advocacy for PhRMA in a blog published by The Hill on Saturday.
As one of the most accessible healthcare providers in the community, pharmacists are an ideal resource for consumers on the risks of illegal Internet drug sellers. That was a key message that the National Association of Chain Drug Stores stressed in a statement submitted to a congressional panel.
A coalition of organizations that includes major retail pharmacy and drug manufacturing groups is warning consumers against purchasing drug from foreign, online outlets.
LifeScan announced that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a permanent injunction against Pakistani distributors of counterfeit OneTouch Test Strips and awarded the company damages of $3.3 million.
Google has removed advertisements for websites that sell drugs without prescriptions, following a series of warning letters from a state attorney general, according to published reports.
Keynote speeches by pharmaceutical industry and regulatory leaders got top billing as more than 140 government, healthcare industry, law enforcement and patient advocacy officials gathered to find ways to combat the spread of counterfeit medicines.
Sugar and chalk. That's what Pfizer researchers found in a pill that was supposed to be Cytotec, but was, in fact, a crude knockoff seized from a counterfeit drug lab in Peru.


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Cost of Prom
A recent report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, estimated that the average cost of prom is a little over $1000 per teen. What was even more surprising is that families earning less than $30k per year were reporting they planned on spending close to $2,635 (9% of their annual income on prom)
Here is the article: http://www.ajc.com/lifestyle/average-prom-cost-tops-1418698.html
Do you have teens that are attending prom this year or did you have teens attending in the last few? Do you find these estimates to be accurate?
I would probaby say that we probably spent 800 on prom for two teens this year.
Wow. I know the cost of prom tickets has gone up, but this is still a bit over the top. I have a few years still, my oldest is in 7th grade. I don't know about averages, but I know that this is no where near what we will spend on proms. I plan to help with the tickets, and give a set amount for the dress and other expenses. Anything my kids want over and above that, they will have to earn.
last year though my son graduated from 8 th grade. I was shocked at some of the families, custom made dresses, limos, etc....just for 8 th grade graduation. I guess I'd understand that for college, as that is an accomplishment, but 8 th grade? I won't even go into the class party, extravagant wouldn't begin to describe it.
LOL dh and I went on the cheap. Junior year I think my dress was $150, my shoes were $30, and my jewelry was around $30. A friend did my hair for free, and my mom did my nails and makeup. We went out to eat for about $70. Dh's tux was $50 to rent at a discount place, and my corsage was...actually I don't know lol. Our tickets came out to $40.
So junior prom was about $370.
Senior prom tickets were cheaper since DH was a guest (he was a college freshman at the time). So tickets were $30, dress was $200. His tux was about $70. Hair and nails and makeup were all done at home, I recycled my jewelry, but got new shoes. I think they were around $60? And we did go out to eat, but some really nice couple next to us paid for the meal...
Even added together, my proms aren't $1000
That is insane. If my kids want to spend that much, they better get jobs to pay for it.
Quoting 3lilmonsters88:
LOL wow. When I went to senior prom in 2006. It only cost about 300. That was for my dress that was $75 gotta love Debs, my shoes were $15 from payless, my jewelry from Claire's was like $20 and tickets. Then my aunt who does hair and nails done mine for free and her friend did my makeup for free.


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Characteristic emission
Revision as of 21:16, 3 October 2005 by WikiConvertor (Talk)
Characteristic emission --> characteristic radiation
monochromatic radiation that is produced when an electron is ejected from an atom and another takes its place by jumping from another shell; the energy of the photon is the difference between that of the two shell positions.
Synonym: characteristic emission.
Please contribute to this project, if you have more information about this term feel free to edit this page.


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Lord Renfrew will be giving the 2009 SAFE Beacon Award Lecture, "Combating the Illicit Antiquities Trade: the 1970 Rule as a Turning Point (or How the Metropolitan Museum lags behind the Getty)". Mike Boehm has commented on the forthcoming lecture in "Getty's antiquities policy gets kudos vs. the Met" (LA Times blog January 1 2009).
Renfrew has already criticised James Cuno for not accepting 1970 as a key date. (For wider reactions to James Cuno's views see here.)
But times are changing and key bodies are choosing the earlier date. The American Association of Museums (AAM) encourages the use of 1970 for the acquisition of antiquities. The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) advocates the use of 1970 for the acquisition of antiquities as does its Object Register.
I have discussed 1970 against the 1983 deadline here; after all, material from North American museums that was returned to Italy was acquired from 1971 onwards. And what happens to disputed material that was acquired before 1970?
Renfrew seems to have New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) in his spotlights. He has no need to go further than the exhibition celebrating the Philippe de Montebello Years. It is also worth reflecting on the collecting histories of the ex-MMA pieces that appeared in the Nostoi exhibitions in Rome and Athens (see also "Orphans and the Berlin painter"), in addition to the Morgantina silver.
Of course there is a marked difference between the MMA and the J. Paul Getty Museum when it comes to the objects that they have returned to Italy. The Getty has embraced transparency and has provided full disclosure (see Gill and Chippindale on the return). Will the MMA follow this important lead?


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Get DVD Talk Feeds
The Story:
Mowgli's adventures take a quick, abbreviated turn here. Roddy McDowall narrates the tale of the king and queen wolves of the jungle who find a young human boy "cub" and decide to raise him as their own. But, newborns always have to be brought before the pack and deemed worthy of keeping by at least two members. And, if that's not problem enough, there's a nasty white tiger who plans to use the misfit human as a tool to turn the rest of the wolves against their leader so he can overthrow their government. The 25 minute length of this feature doesn't allow for much time to develop Mowgli's story, and our narrator even says they have to skip a couple of years because the full story could fill a book (get it?). But, as a result, you don't become all that attached to this presentation of the story. It is dark, bland and most likely unentertaining for children.
Now for A Very Merry Cricket. If you don't know who he is, the original story of how he came to New York is recapped by his friends, Tucker the Mouse and Harry the Cat in the first five minutes. In short, this blue cricket can play violin with his wings, and wowed New York City a while back, but then returned home to Connecticut. Now, Harry and Tucker are seeing that commercialism and greed are destroying the Christmas spirit in New York City, and are sure Chester C. Cricket can return that spirit again with his beautiful music. So they travel to Connecticut to convince him to come to New York City and work his magic. It's amazing how often the theme of holiday commercialism was touched upon in Christmas cartoons back in the 60s and 70s. Little did we know back then what would become of the world today. Even so, the theme feels really forced in this special, and just an excuse to bring the cricket back. This is a gloomy cartoon, and not going to put you into the Christmas spirit at all because it barely hints at the holiday. However, the pay off is at the end, When Chuck Jones finally gives us a collage of holiday in the city imagery that is worth watching even if you just skip to the last chapter break to do so. The other bright side is the familiar voice talents of Mel Blanc.
The DVD
This series of Chuck Jones Kipling/Cricket combos all suffer the same fate in video and sound. The menus are detailed but lackluster. The menu sound is great, but the cartoons themselves, presented in full frame (as intended) are grainy, and show their 30 year old age—specs, dust and hairlines. Color is washed and drab and blurring appears now and then. And there are also commercial fades.
This mono is clear but hollow, and needs to be turned up loud.
You get 8 chapter breaks for each cartoon and the same exact cartoon previews that are on the other volumes in the set, all of which begin at the insertion of the disc, and are not selectable from the menu for some reason.
Final Thoughts:
Mowgli's Brothers/A Very Cricket Christmas continue the release of two rare Chuck Jones cartoon series on DVD. Unfortunately, this was not a strong selection for a combo, because neither episode is very appealing for kids or adults. They are both dark and moody installments, and neither is compelling story wise.


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Dion Phaneuf doesnt know what to expect when he returns to Calgary Thursday for the first time since he was traded.
But he cant for the life of him understand why anyone would boo him.
I dont know why there would be any negative (reactions) it wasnt my choice to move, said Phaneuf on the eve of his teams three-game western jaunt.
I had a lot of great times there and made a lot of great friends and played a lot of hockey in that building.
I wouldnt expect a negative response.
Prepare to be surprised Dion.
A polarizing figure throughout his four-and-a-half year stay in Calgary, Phaneuf was often booed as a Flame in the months leading to his shocking trade last January.
He was booed three weeks into his stint in Toronto, where the recently-named captain still has just two goals and 15 points in 39 games.
Heck, he was even booed by coach Ron Wilson yesterday, albeit mockingly. Brian Burke has yet to chastise Wilson for his right to vociferous free speech.
Wilsons been around long enough to know what Phaneuf should expect. After all, with Dion the expectations have always been impossibly high.
Telling the Sun earlier this year that Darryl Sutters morning voicemail informing him of the trade was the best thing that ever happened to me, Phaneuf insists he was in no way taking a shot at the organization that drafted him ninth overall in 2003.
Its part of the business, said Dion of the seven-player swap that landed Calgary Matt Stajan, Nik Hagman and the recently-departed Ian White, among others.
It was a business decision and I have no hard feelings. I had a lot of real good times out there and have a lot of respect for the guys who play there.
Phaneuf is trying hard to downplay his highly-anticipated return, pointing out the focus shouldnt be on him.
Its not me against Calgary, its our team going in to win a hockey game, he said.
While its tough to say which team is heading in a worse direction, its safe to say the only appeal to this battle of bottom-feeders is Phaneufs return, giving local scalpers respite from a season of plummeting demand.
I think itll be crazy, predicted Leafs sniper Fredrik Sjostrom, who spent two years as a Calgary Hitmen and one with the Flames before being lumped into the Phaneuf deal with Keith Aulie.
I think the fans in Calgary still appreciate him quite a bit so I d be surprised if he get booed. When I was there, he was popular. Hopefully they treat him nice.
There will certainly be plenty of noise starting well before puck drop when a raucous contingent of Leafs fans are sure to get the building rocking early. They always do.
Then, as the players slide out, you can expect things to really heat up as the controversial defenceman hits the ice in blue and white.
Right or wrong, there will be plenty of boos directed at Phaneuf if for no other reason than the former Norris Trophy candidate is wearing another teams jersey. Thats usually the way it goes regardless of how you departed.
Some will certainly applaud Phaenuf for a stay here that saw him run this town for three years before a monster salary and his ongoing defensive lapses made him a scapegoat on (what still is) a team in decline.
It should be noted that trying to find logic in the action of fans can often be an exercise in futility. Some may throw waffles, even if they have no idea why.
Sometimes fans just boo because its funny. They paid their money, they feel its their right and there are no other forums to simply yell at someone you are either angry at, jealous of, or simply trying to agitate.
It makes little sense, but mark my words there will be plenty of booing.
Im looking forward to it, said Phaneuf.
So are the fans.
Eric Francis appears regularly as a panelist on CBCs Hockey Night in Canada


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Quite simply, facilitation is the act of assisting groups run effective meetings. However, as with any seemingly simple task, the reality of the situation is that running an effective and efficient group process - one that includes a variety of personalities, emotions, ideas, biases, positional power, and personal influence - is rarely straightforward. It is often most productive to bring in an outside facilitator to coordinate your sessions in an unbiased, timely, structured, professional fashion.
Several of Delta Partners' associates have acquired professional certification as facilitators, and can provide the critical direction needed to make decisions and reach goals in a group environment. Some examples of recent facilitation sessions include:
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If you think a professional facilitator might be useful for your group, please click here to contact us for a free, no-commitment consultation.


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Going Gluten-FreeAugust 2, 2013
The Wait Is Over
Comments (0)Posted by Beth Hillson
Today, the FDA released standards for gluten-free labeling and gluten-free consumers across the US are dancing in their supermarket aisles.
The new rule will require products bearing a gluten-free label to contain less than 20 parts per million (ppm), a level research has found to be safe for most people with celiac disease. This is the same standard adopted as part of the Codex Alimentarius in 2008, and now used in the European Union. Canada has adopted the same standard.
According to the FDA, companies are encouraged to apply these standards immediately when using gluten free on their labels. However, companies opting to use a gluten-free label will be required to meet the 20ppm standard by August, 2014.
Once in place, celiac and gluten-sensitive consumers will be able to choose products with confidence, says the American Celiac Disease Alliance which led the decade-long effort to set a standard for gluten-free labeling.
The regulation will allow consumers to shop more easily for safe products in an ever-expanding gluten-free market where, last year, sales reached $4.2 billion dollars."
Time to party!!!
For full press release, click here.
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this is in loving memory of my pet rats clover and ivy . ivy died of a tumor but they were still very old. i will get 3 more though in the next week. RIP clover and ivy my little fluffballs
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Titanfall Hands-on: Can it overthrow Call of Duty?
It's been long believed (by some, that is) that if any game had a chance to overthrow Call of Duty, it'd be EA/DICE's Battlefield franchise. While that very well may be true, a third game has entered the mix – Titanfall, an upcoming first-person shooter for Xbox One and PC.
Developed by members of the team behind the original Call of Duty, Titanfall has quickly become the hot-ticket item for next-gen – have you seen Titanfall!?
I have, and it's basically Call of Duty on steroids. That's not necessarily a bad thing, either.
At PAX Prime this weekend I was thrown into the fray of a 12v12 deathmatch that saw me scale walls, call down titans (giant mechs that I could hop into), and jetpack from rooftop to rooftop. All of this is done with fluid, fast-paced gameplay that rivals the pace of Call of Duty.
Let me be quite clear, I was thrown into the fray with very little setup. We were shown a brief video prior to the match, but going in I had little clue of what the actual goal was. So I went into the match with a traditional first-person mindset: shoot anyone not on my team. I was told prior to the match that Titanfall overcomes its lack of a single-player campaign by incorporating certain elements into the multiplayer that you'd otherwise find in a single-player game. I honestly didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but then again, there's only so much you can see in a 10-minute demo. If anything, my brief time with the game gave me a good sense for how it plays and whether or not it actually lives up to the hype.
First off, gameplay feels very familiar. Anyone who has played Call of Duty should have a solid grasp for Titanfall from the get-go. Weapons, although futuristic, shoot like weapons in CoD and physics such as running and weight have generally the same feel to them.
Where Titanfall differs is the map layout and, well, these giant mechs known as Titans. The one map I played on had a focus on vertical design, emphasizing Titanfall's parkour-like mechanics, such as the ability to run and scale walls and even jetpack across some of the wider alleys from rooftop to rooftop. Even with such drastic additions, the overall mechanics of Titanfall's movement are quite similar to Call of Duty's pace – as is the combat.
Prior to entering the match, I was able to select both my character's and titan's loadouts, so it seems customization will have a role in the game (although I wasn't able to tinker with too much). Like movement, gunplay and combat also have a very similar quick and crisp feel to Call of Duty. Movements are precise, aiming is probably more accurate than CoD, and titans add a whole new level of chaos.
Titans are basically giant mechs that rain havoc on the map. And ultimately, the titans add a new layer of gameplay depth. You no longer have to worry about other soldiers, but now you have these powerful mechs to deal with. Despite the overall offensive power of Titans, they are susceptible to damage. Regular soldiers are equipped with anti-Titan siege gear, giving them somewhat of a fighting chance, and because these titans are so powerful the majority of fire is focused on them. And on top of that, you have enemy titans focusing you, so it's not like you can run around forever in these things; there is a good balance to the game.
I can't say for certain if Titanfall will be the CoD-killer that everyone is waiting for. After all, it definitely won't win over the PlayStation community as it's only been announced for Xbox One and PC. But, I do believe it has all the right elements to be a very successful first-person shooter.
I have seen Titanfall. I have finally played Titanfall. And I am now impressed with Titanfall.